Interconnected HR and Payroll systems: the foundation for driving engagement
The Great Resignation is upon us and, unless you avoid the internet and all news, the Australian job market has had plenty of warning. It was just over a year ago when a Microsoft article shocked everyone by claiming more than 40 per cent of the global workforce were considering leaving their employer.
Fast forward to 2022, and the recent NAB Behavioural Insight Report says more than one in five Australians have changed jobs in the past year, with a further one in four considering doing the same.
It’s more important than ever to keep employee engagement high. And one of the easiest and most effective ways to keep employees happy is to ensure the payroll and HR departments are meeting their requirements and are responsive to their needs.
Paying people accurately, on time, every time.
What does payroll have to do with employee engagement?
Long gone are the days when people land a job and stay there 'from hire to retire'. The modern employee wants to feel happy and engaged with their work and the company they work for. Employee engagement has been shown to be directly related to productivity and therefore, a business’ profitability.
Along with encouraging and supporting employees, giving them the tools to build their own success and allowing them to grow and develop in their roles, there’s one other crucial element to consider: getting pay delivered correctly and on time, without fail.
In fact, according to our research, just over one third (39%) of payroll managers now view payroll as a driver of engagement and retention (Source: 2020 Payroll Survey, The Access Group)
How employee-friendly is your current payroll set-up?
Ensuring accurate and timely pay, each and every pay cycle is crucially important. And people’s experience with pay directly impacts how they feel about working with an organisation. If people have continual issues with your current systems, you might want to look into how to fix the problem. Just a few of the things employees expect from their payroll include the ability to:
- Self-service their payslips
- Easily update important information
- Book in, change or request leave.
Fail to address these basic expectations and you risk a disengaged workforce with ample opportunities to go elsewhere. The simple solution is to have interconnected systems that talk to each other.
Why so many disconnected systems?
Organisations will typically have multiple systems managing their people. This happens for many reasons with some of the most common being:
- Old software or legacy systems making it difficult to share data
- Prohibitive costs associated with large system updates, or
- They’re just unaware of the benefits of interconnectivity.
With The Great Resignation in full swing, there’s a real opportunity for companies genuine about positive employee engagement to give themselves a real competitive advantage by taking the time to review and optimise their payroll processes.
Interconnected systems go beyond just paying people
Hassle-free pay runs, with the right money going to the right places at the right time, mean happy employees. However, happy employees are only the beginning. Let’s look at some of the other benefits of a fully integrated payroll system.
Payslips = work done
Employees want to look at their payslips and see the hours worked are equal to their pay. This may also include overtime, penalty rates and leave payments.
Seamless pay runs
Employees are paid accurately, on time, their superannuation is paid correctly, and they can easily access their payslips or update important information, such as a change of bank accounts.
For the business, not only are your employees being paid on time, your new fully-connected systems are increasing reliability and accuracy.
Compliance
No business wants the ATO knocking on their door for underpaying employees. You only have to read the news to see how common this has become, even though Fair Work’s Modern Award document has been in place for more than a dozen years! If you employ people on different awards, rates and penalties, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks if your systems aren’t fully integrated.
When systems are interconnected, compliance is easier to get right.
Increased productivity
Your staff aren’t having to spend time fixing and correcting easily avoidable mistakes. The employee with the wrong pay isn’t wasting their time emailing back and forth, trying to fix it.
This means productivity increases across the business because people can actually get on with their own work, instead of following up ongoing payroll issues.
Long-term planning
When systems are working and people are doing the jobs they’re employed to do, you can start to see the bigger picture. Having an interconnected system means information: everything from accurate operational costs to staff performance will help you plan for future growth and help you retain the great staff you have by keeping them engaged and happy.
Let’s face it, technology is updating at lightning speed so taking the time now to connect all the relevant systems around payroll, could be the very thing that sets you apart from every other company or business in your sector.
If you’re starting to wonder if you could improve your own payroll systems but want a little more information, why not download our free e-book ‘How Payroll Can Drive Employee Engagement’. This invaluable tool could be the very thing that keeps your valued employees exactly where they are.
Fully engaged and happily working for you.
Are you equipped to deliver the perfect payslip?
Delivering accurate payroll, every time is no easy feat. And having an interconnected system is just one driving factor for success. Take our payroll software quiz to see how well your system is prepared for today’s payroll challenge.
