5 payroll challenges your recruitment business can conquer
Your back office is the back bone of your business.
It will determine whether you grow straight and strong, or whether it’s a rocky and bent ride that throws you off balance at some point.
A huge part of that back bone is your payroll systems and processes, and your ability to bring in, and send out, the right amount of cash at the right times. Thankfully, the days of filling in the ledger with ink by candlelight are long gone and technology has made life easier, but that’s not to say we still don’t face challenges. A host of common mistakes and challenges remain and how we deal with them says a lot about the type of employer you are and will be.
Here’s some challenges and what you can do to conquer them:
Choose your software carefully
Test, test and test it again. When you’re demoing software ensure you feel your way through the system. You wouldn’t buy a tux or a dress without trying it on, and your payroll software is exactly the same. Get your back-office employees to do this with you as it will mean they’re bought into the process, which is important as they’ll be the ones using it the most. It might be an amazing piece of software, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for your business model. Find a system that is designed specifically for recruitment and all its stages.
Don’t make decisions alone
It takes teams of people to run your business and you cannot do it alone, which goes to say, don’t make decisions without involving your staff, especially back-office and payrolling decisions. Depending on the size of your agency, you can change the payroll date for some, or even change it to the end of the month if this will help your people. They might love you and your culture, but let’s be honest, would they be there without getting paid? Probably not, so let them in on payroll decisions.
Know your tax codes
Ensure your teams understand the wide variety of reasons codes can change, and that the system you’re using can take these differences into account. This is 100% something to bear in mind if you’re looking to implement a new system. Wrong tax codes happen too often and result in costly recalculations and fines to HMRC, not to mention your employees being over taxed which will make even the brightest person grumpy. Which brings us onto our next point...
Apologise and be kind
Payroll is hard because no one likes their money to be messed with. People are sensitive about money and therefore when things go wrong, tempers flare in a matter of seconds. Things will go wrong sometimes. This is especially true if your system isn’t fully automated. When things do go wrong, it's important to discuss it with your staff to settle over or underpayments. Communication is vital, and people have the right to know about the money they have earned.
Don’t forget other countries
If you’re recruiting globally, or even just across Europe, remember that local payroll law is different everywhere and you need to consider this. Again, if you’re searching for the right system and you do recruit across countries, make sure your system can handle that and keep you updated on local legislation.
Payroll is never easy, and we wish we had a magic wand for you to wave over the whole thing, but the closest you’ll get is an incredible system that automates as much as possible while eliminating the chance for human error. Consider your payroll software your new fairy godmother.
