Organizational inefficiencies, particularly in global payroll, could be concealing data that help inform strategic decisions
Business processes at multinational companies are inherently complex, thanks
to the sheer breadth of operations. With business units and functions
traversing languages, cultures and time zones, it can be difficult to identify
where in the organization to streamline processes.
But no matter how complex the business, streamlining is key to staying
competitive and meeting changing customer needs in today’s increasingly global
economy.
Given how entrenched data is within business processes—in today’s digital
landscape, it’s essentially everywhere—streamlining any processes involving
data helps improve accuracy and uncover insights to better inform strategic
decisions. Additionally, streamlining processes helps the bottom line: It’s
been widely cited that companies lose 20% to 30% in revenue every year due
to inefficiencies .
We’ll take a look at what steps companies can take to see more data benefits
from streamlined processes—and how global payroll is a prime area to start.
Evaluate functional silos to find overlap or connections between groups and systems
Business activity rarely happens in a vacuum, with processes often crossing
organizational and functional boundaries. However, many businesses operate
with multiple separate silos, each with their own data, leadership, processes,
cultures and goals.
This system of silos adds to the organization’s overall complexity, making
global priorities and objectives difficult to manage. It’s bad enough when
there is division, but at some organizations, there’s also a lack of
communication between the silos, data and the systems within them. In fact, 81% of business leaders say problems arise because they have different
internal systems and applications that don’t “talk” to each other across the organization.
When the company attempts to introduce new organization-wide initiatives,
silos can have a negative impact on the programs’ success because information
is slowed from a lack of communication.
A lack of communication and an increase in complexity can also lead to data
inconsistencies and errors, duplication of effort, and internal process
confusion.
Imagine how much more could be accomplished in an organization if knowledge
workers didn’t waste up to 50% of their time hunting for data and
identifying and correcting errors
.
In addition to hampering organization-wide initiatives, data errors and
inconsistencies can also introduce a host of new problems, including:
- Risk and compliance issues
- Production slowdowns
- Lower quality of services
A good example of where companies can find functional overlap across silos
is in payroll. For many organizations, payroll data and
functions fall within both HR and finance departments, yet they’re often split between the two, with each unit
claiming “ownership” of payroll—and sometimes performing duplicate work.
Payroll discord across silos is such a widespread issue that in a recent
global survey of business leaders, 82% of respondents agreed or strongly
agreed that integrating HR and finance data is a top priority.
As it should be.
If payroll data within each department doesn’t match the other, the company is
exposed to all kinds of noncompliance and other potentially damaging
repercussions.
And beyond guarding against risk, payroll data accuracy that comes from
departmental cooperation gives the company the ability to perform predictive
or prescriptive analytics to better inform strategic business decisions.
Migrate from manual processes to technology-enabled integrated workflows
A company’s manual processes are another area that organizations can evaluate
for efficiency gains. Especially if they overlap silos, manual processes can
put data and other important company functions at risk of security breaches,
duplication through uncontrolled versioning, and problems with data integrity.
A way to improve manual processes is to implement technology-enabled
workflows. The more comprehensive the technology, the more benefits the
company can gain from transparency and streamlined communication across the
organization.
When manual processes are integrated into digital solutions, the organization
can gain better access to and insight from data. Many technological solutions
can act as a “single system of record” for the company, providing:
- Access to real-time data
- Enhanced reporting tools
- Integrated global operations
Having a global view into company processes and data means leadership can use
insights to make better decisions and become more effective in strategic
markets. Streamlined, technology-enabled processes also help prevent mistakes
that are prevalent in manual workflows, and thus, help prevent security and
compliance issues.
These benefits make it hard to argue for the status quo of manual processes,
and more organizations are opting to go digital— 49% of decision-makers say
becoming a digital business gives them the advantage of better managing
business performance through data availability and visibility.
Just like with silos, payroll is a good example of where companies can improve
outcomes through technology-enabled workflows.
Especially for global organizations, moving from manual payroll processes to a
technology-based managed payroll solution not only provides valuable
intelligence, but also gives the company a level of agility to be able to
respond to the data and have a positive impact on the business’ strategic
direction.
Address challenges with a careful approach to change management
Whether it’s finding ways to break down barriers across functional silos or
modernizing manual processes, it’s important to remember that organizational
change is never without challenges. It’s an often reported statistic that 70% of all organizational change projects fail.
But just because change isn’t easy doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.
The benefits that come from carefully planned, successful change almost always
outweigh the barriers—real or perceived—facing the project.
First, any organizational change must have a purpose—and that purpose
shouldn’t ever be, “change for the sake of change.” What are the current
internal systems, infrastructure or processes that need improvement? Or what
external forces will bring challenges to the organization that will require
internal response?
In addition to a clearly defined purpose, there needs to be a careful plan for
the organizational change, one that includes action steps and accountability
for completing them. An important consideration in this planning stage is how
communication across the business units, leadership and employees will be
achieved.
Communication is important because employees not only will be affected, but
they will also play a crucial role in any change program’s success.
And although the purpose and plan for change might seem obvious to a company’s
leaders, if management is not clearly communicating them to employees, it’s
hard to get organizational buy-in. Unfortunately, this is a common misstep,
and nearly two-thirds of leaders aren’t openly sharing the challenges to the
organization that are prompting the change.
In the case of payroll, where we’ve already discussed the overlap between HR
and finance data and departments, and how a technology-enabled solution can
improve outcomes, there’s also a strong requirement for careful change
management. Especially in cases where there is friction between HR and finance
teams, a clearly communicated change strategy could also help promote buy-in and collaboration between the two.
Yes, the organization can see significant gains from changes to the global
payroll function, but if they are not executed properly, there’s risk: of errors, of noncompliance, and worst of all, of employees not being paid correctly or on time. Communication and support from all involved, as well as defined checks and processes, are critical.
Look to payroll as you prioritize processes to streamline
As the examples show, payroll is an area ripe for opportunity when it comes to
streamlining business processes at multinational organizations. A streamlined global payroll solution can ease the friction between HR and finance silos and their
data and can remove the risks involved with manual payroll processes.
And perhaps most importantly, streamlined global payroll can provide comprehensive data and reporting insights about workforce spend to better inform strategic
business decisions.
To learn more about the advantages of a global payroll solution, including
compliance across borders, integration with HCM software and improved processes and at
multinational organizations, contact us
now.
安排免费咨询
我们的全球解决方案顾问可以评估您所面临的挑战，并向您推荐有利于 您达成目标的后续步骤
联系我们