How Far Has Tech Gone In HR & Payroll

Strategically, HR is an all encompassing infantry unit catering to every productivity goal of the company. From sourcing, selecting, negotiating, hiring, training, retaining and paying the onboarded talent, the job of HR is in fact as vital as the year-end’s profitability. But HR tech hasn’t always been in the limelight and it is why the industry only started making some headway around about the 1990’s.

But as far as tech adoption goes, the HR load is light if it was a 2 to 5-men enterprise but when a corporation employs 30, 50, 100, 500 and employees numbered into the thousands, it calls for a comprehensive solution to store and process staff records as well as generating everything from a payslip to statutory reports.

Further, companies that opt to process HR matters in-house should also be mindful if the hired HR team is well versed enough to execute according to the domestic legislations. Falling short in this area may attract unwanted consequences such as fines from the government departments. As such, practising HR and adopting HR tech to supplement the tasks at hand requires depth and experience to do the job well.

Evolution of HR Tech

A quick look at how far technology has come to support the HR practice will inform us that perhaps now is the time to really look at what technology can offer to our workplace.

1979 – the launch of SAP R/2, integrating HR functionality together in the same ERP database with production planning, materials management and financials; not a standalone module.
1987 – establishment of Peoplesoft, the first HR Management System (HRMS) in the world.
Early 1990s – The HRMS market emerging with ERP vendors like Oracle and JD Edwards introducing HR ERPs covering all functions like core HR, recruiting, learning, US payroll, and reporting. Smaller ERP vendors followed suit globally with customisation for specific markets.
1994 – Monster launched the first-ever online recruitment website.
Rest of 1990s – moving from client-server technology to the web and opened up HRMS to users outside of HR (or HRMS employee self-service) where HR systems became more specialised eg. recruitment-only.
2000 – 15% of organisations have adopted employee self-service HR technology with early adopters like Pfizer, Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
2003 – LinkedIn is founded, the first professional social media site.
2005 – 50% of organisations have adopted employee self-service HR technology.
2015 – 90% of organisations have adopted employee self-service HR technology.
2018 – 85% of job applications were made via job boards.
2019 – 92% of HR leaders believe the future of providing excellent employee service has to include chatbots.

Source: hrmsworld.com, ubisend.com, www.statista.com

With HR Tech going through rapid adoption especially in the last decade, it beckons for those in the practice to sit up and listen because the time is now ripe. By that it means Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has just entered the fray and if one is not paying attention to this development, competitors may surge ahead leaving conventional teams myopic with merely processing macros in a spreadsheet like it was 1999.

This is inline with a Forbes article published in September this year which mentioned that “as HR technology becomes increasingly integrated, I predict companies will look for more automation capabilities, and those who succeed in creating technology for this sector will find ways to create efficiencies for HR professionals through automating workloads while also improving the employee experience.”

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), HR's Turbo Boost

Automation or RPA is in fact the new kid on the HR-block. What it can do while the HR Manager is cosying up to dinner and the World Cup fever after hours will quite literally blow one’s mind away.

Take for example payroll processing, RPA, when programmed to its intended scope, will perform like the payroll processing department in the office without the need of any human supervision and much less human labour.

From matching names, tallying salaries, calculating claims, emailing designated “managers” to verify pay raises, reading responded emails and finally executing the “pay” command, all these can be done with zero human intervention.

Although this may sound far-fetched just 20 years ago, it is not entirely so in 2022 because even instant messengers of the chatbots have made their presence felt in this era. Case in point, the implementation of an AI-driven chatbot in a particular company has reduced inbound HR enquiry emails by 43% from about 100 emails per week, offloading the unproductive menial work of answering leave balance, procedure to submit claims etc from the HR officers (Director, VP, Managers etc) that serves 100,000 employees across 75 countries (source: ubisend.com).

Not to be mistaken, by removing the “human” element from the HR process is in no way negating the HR professionals from their responsibilities but instead, liberating and empowering them to be even more autonomous and strategic in carrying out HR practices.

With more time in hand, HR practitioners can focus on formulating dynamic strategies so corporate goals like annual targets and quarterly performance can all be levelled up. To that end and according to achievers.com, “Recognition, Health & Wellness, Learning and Development – these are a few of the emerging areas of HR technology that have become crucial to engaging and retaining top talent”. When these are technologically-enabled, it will extend yet another dimension to the equation – data.

HR's Big Data In The Making

Employers armed with such data possess a high level of knowledge about the performance of the company because the metrics provided from here will go on to prompt about the next steps eg. how to re-engage before a top performer exits for another opportunity. Retention hence becomes an area that was once run by interaction and intuition but now substantiated through data analytics. The same Forbes article mentioned earlier also concurs to such an all encompassing expansion of the HR Tech industry where it suggests the next phase of this space would require “analytics, AI, integration with a suite of HRIS and HRM solutions and an employee-first mindset—the keys to truly complete workforce management.”

Where will HR Tech go from here? According to peoplemattersglobal.com, “the best platforms are about modernising the employee experience. Even small companies use HR software now to up their employee experience strategy, and price is no deterrent (given the heavy competition in the market). HR software will easily be a $43 billion industry by 2026.”

If you haven’t already, now is the time for your HR department to up their game and play ball!

Payroll Payroll Outsourcing

給与計算業務を社内で行う際に知っておくべきこと

What Businesses Need to Know About Running Payroll

COVID-19のパンデミックが信じられないことに2年目に突入し、人命と生活の両方に影響を与え続けています。

この環境下で、世界中の企業は間違いなくビジネスプロセスを見直しています。

多くの企業は、このような苦境の中で直面している変化に対して、積極的に対応しようとしています。

企業は、サービスを提供する方法においてスピードを維持しながら、顧客とのつながりを保ち、サービスを改善し、ポートフォリオを拡大し、成長を促進する方法を見つける必要があります。しかし、私たちが直面しているパンデミックの環境下では、大きな動揺、不確実性、混乱が企業内に生じます。

給与計算は、ビジネスの中核となる恒常的な業務であるため、どのようなビジネスにおいても重要な要素です。その継続性を確保することが何よりも重要です。この点を考慮して、社内で給与計算を行っている企業が注意すべきポイントをまとめてみました。

1. 給与計算チームの責任とスキルセットが明確になっていることを確認する。

可能な限り最高の給与計算チームを持つことが重要です。

給与計算チームのマネージャーは通常、チームを監督しますが、その規模は組織によって異なります。マネージャーは、すべての給与支払いを確認・承認し、給与に関する問題について対応します。

また、法律や規制の変更、企業ポリシーの更新、給与体系の明確化など、さまざまな問題について従業員を教育します。

マネージャーはチームメンバーそれぞれの責任とスキルを記載したリストを作成しておく必要があります。そうすることで、作業名簿やスタッフの空き状況、ロックダウンや混乱による変化が生じた際に、タスクを迅速かつ容易に再配分することができます。

特に、個人やチームがリモートで仕事をする必要がある場合、給与計算業務が中断されないように、リモートアクセスの認証方法と業務プロセスを明確にして共有する必要があります。

給与計算のSaaS（サービスとして利用されるソフトウェア）を利用している場合、通常、SaaSにはタスクスケジューラ機能があります。これを活用することにより、チームリーダーは、個々のスキルや就業時間に基づいて、給与計算処理のタスクを割り当てることができます。

2. クラウドのデータストレージとともに、ハードウェアとソフトウェアを最新にしておくことが重要です。

Having up-to-date technology hardware and software, along with your cloud data storage is critical

これは優先順位の高い問題です。

給与計算プラットフォームを自社運用している企業は、以下の点を確認してください。　

給与計算チームは、給与計算プラットフォームとデータストレージにVPN（仮想プライベートネットワーク）で安全に接続する必要があります。VPNは、インターネットへの安全な接続を構築します。

チームが安全なVPNを使用することで、すべてのデータトラフィックが確実に暗号化されます。これにより、ハッカーの侵入を防ぎ、デバイスが攻撃を受けにくくなります。

今日、働く場所というのは、在宅勤務を考慮しなければならないように、ますます柔軟になってきています。このような状況下では、ネットワークへのリモートアクセスを可能にするために、堅牢なセキュリティシステムが必要となります。

また、こういった取り組みをサポートするために、従業員に定期的なトレーニングを提供する必要があります。利用方法やセキュリティ、システムの一般的な弱点や脅威、それらへの対処法などについて全員が理解できるようにします。

さらに、ストレージソリューションも必要になります。データの送信や処理だけではなく、それらの記録を維持することが求められます。ストレージソリューションは、データへのアクセスを容易にし、給与計算の際に最も重要となる信頼性を確保します。

3. 環境変化に対応する

パンデミックの環境では、世界中の政府が事態の進展に合わせて対応します。

各国政府はこれからも、国民を守るために随時、新たな規制の発表や変更を行っていくでしょう。例えば、マレーシアでは、COVID-19のパンデミックにより、国家的なロックダウン措置がとられたことを受けて、政府は景気刺激策を打ち出しました。

それだけではありません。規制当局への申請期日の延期や賃金補助、社会保障費の変更など、様々なことが起こりえます。これらは給与計算を複雑にする可能性があり、私たちが随時対応する必要があります。こういった変化にしっかり対応できていれば、違反や罰則を受けることは避けられるでしょう。

どうやったら給与計算をシンプルにできる？

この問いこそが、アウトソーシングが有効な戦略であることを証明しています。

アウトソーシングを利用することで、企業は重要な管理業務から解放され、ビジネスの推進に集中することができます。アウトソーシングを利用すれば、ハードウェア、ソフトウェア、人員を追加する必要がないため、コスト効率も高くなります。

ここでは、給与計算をアウトソースするとはどのようなことなのかを見てみましょう。

1. 初期設定

給与計算をするための要件調査を行い、組織固有のニーズとサポートのカスタマイズ方法を調査します。そして、これをサポートするために、給与計算処理プラットフォームを設定します。

そして、給与計算に関連するデータを取得し、プラットフォームへの移行作業を行います。スムーズな移行を実現し、潜在的な問題を早期に発見するために、システムとデータをチェックするためのテスト運用を並行して実施します。

2. 毎月のオペレーション

初期設定が確立されると、初回の給与処理が可能になります。これには、従業員への給料の支払い、必要な書類（給与明細を含む）の作成、法定報告などの業務が含まれます。

また、クライアントや従業員からの問い合わせに対応するためのシステムや手順を確立します。

3. 各年度で行う業務

各年次の税務申告書の作成と提出を行います。マレーシアでは、EAフォーム（annual employee tax return）とフォームE(annual employer tax return)というものがあります。

4. レポーティング

クライアントへの報告書には、業務の中で発生した差異、給与の調整、手当や控除など、給与に関するすべての関連情報が含まれます。

リスク管理の重要性

パンデミックは大規模な混乱を引き起こしました。全国的にロックダウンも実施されました。実店舗を持つ企業は、ビジネスの要点をデジタル化できない場合に、特に今後の展開に苦慮します。

そして、それは売上の低下につながります。

また、サプライチェーンの混乱や、こうした問題を回避するためのリモートワークの導入も進んでいます。

今回のパンデミックの影響で、企業は基本に立ち返る必要があります。

企業は、リスク管理に改めて焦点を当てながら、事業価値を保ちつつ、コストを削減しようとする傾向にあります。デロイトの最新レポート「グローバル・アウトソーシング」によると、「コスト削減が最優先され、クラウドやロボティック・プロセス・オートメーションが重要視されている」とのことです。

結論として、このような状況下で生じる混乱、悪影響、不確実性を最小限に抑える方法は色々と考えられます。給与計算のアウトソーシングの利用とデータのデジタル化は、組織がこういった環境のなかで前進するために有効な手段になるでしょう。

Author Bio

ファリズ・アブダラは人材派遣事業とペイロール・HRアウトソーシング事業を展開するCXLグループのCEOです。

テクノロジーを駆使しCXLグループの進化を主導するとともに、人ならではの暖かみを重視した組織開発に取り組んでいます。

Source: Deloitte Report on Global Outsourcing

Payroll Outsourcing

What Businesses Need to Know When Running Payroll Internally

As the COVID-19 pandemic rolls unbelievably into its second year, continuing to affect both lives and livelihoods, organisations around the world are undoubtedly rethinking the way business processes are done. This has certainly hit home for many organisations as they strive to proactively manage the changes they find themselves facing in such disruptive times.

Organisations need to remain agile in how they deliver their services, stay connected to their customers and find ways to improve service delivery, expand their portfolio and drive growth. But in the pandemic that organisations have been facing for some time, there is even more upheaval, uncertainty and disruption.

Payroll is a critical component of any business given that it is a core recurring business activity. Ensuring its continuity is of utmost importance. Taking this into consideration, we’ve put together some key points that every business that runs payroll internally should take note of.

1. Ensure your payroll team is defined and mapped out against responsibilities and skill sets.

It is important to have the best payroll team possible.

Your payroll manager typically supervises a team, the size of which might vary depending on the organisation. The manager reviews and approves all payroll payments and provides advice on payroll issues.

The manager also educates employees about various issues such as changes in legislation or regulations, updates on corporate policies and clarifications on pay structure.

As such, he/she needs to have a list of all team members and then map them out based on their responsibilities, skillsets and contact details. By doing this, tasks can be quickly and easily redistributed if there are changes in the work roster, availability of staff, in the event of lockdowns or any disruption.

Particularly where individuals or teams are required to work remotely, remote access credentials and processes need to be clearly defined and communicated so that payroll operations may continue uninterrupted.

If your organisation uses a payroll SaaS (software-as-a-service), there would typically be a task scheduler feature within. This would enable the team lead to assign payroll processing tasks based on the skillset and availability of team members even if they work remotely.

2. Having up-to-date technology hardware and software, along with your cloud data storage is critical.

These are twin concerns that should be high on your list of priorities.

Organisations that are still running their payroll platform on-premise should ensure that their payroll team has a secure VPN (virtual private network) connection to the payroll platform and data storage. A VPN creates a secure connection between you and the internet. So when your team uses a secure VPN, they ensure that all data traffic is encrypted. This keeps hackers away and ensures devices are not as vulnerable to attacks.

Today, the definition of a workplace has become increasingly flexible as organisations have to consider work from home arrangements. In lieu of this, a robust security system is a must when remote access is allowed into the network.

Alongside this, employees need to be provided regular training and communication to support this initiative. This ensures that everyone is on board in terms of use, rollout, security, common weaknesses and threats and how these may be addressed.

Furthermore, a storage solution is needed. Your organisation is not just transmitting and processing data. You will also be required to maintain records, all of which are processed, transmitted and stored electronically. A data storage solution ensures that your data is easily accessible and can be relied on which is of paramount importance when processing payroll.

3. Keep abreast of regulatory changes especially in a dynamic environment.

During a pandemic, governments around the world are responding to the situation as it unfolds.

Governments have been and will likely continue to make weekly, sometimes, daily, announcements and even, changes to regulations, to support the population. For example, in Malaysia, the government introduced stimulus packages as a response to the national lockdown measures put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is not all. Other announcements have been and may continue to be made. These include the deferment of regulatory filing dates, wage subsidies as well as changes to the social security contributions. All of these need to be tracked as they can complicate payroll processing. When these are managed well, infringement and penalties can be avoided.

How can payroll be made simple.

This is where outsourcing can prove to be a valuable strategy.

It enables an organisation to remove critical administrative tasks from their core concern, freeing them up to focus on driving the business forward. Outsourcing can prove to be more cost-efficient as it negates the need for additional hardware, software and manpower for this task.

Let’s take a look at what happens when an organisation decides to outsource payroll.

1. One-time payroll activities.

These include conducting a business requirements study on the organisation to evaluate their specific needs and how support can be customised. The payroll processing platform will then be configured to support this. This includes establishing rules and protocols.

Relevant data will be captured and a migration exercise carried out. Dry runs to check the system and data would be conducted in parallel to ensure a smooth transition and to catch potential issues early.

2. Recurring payroll activities.

Once everything has been established, the first payroll processing can occur which involves crediting wages to the appropriate employees, creating the necessary supporting documentation (including payslips) and statutory reporting.

A system and protocol will be established to manage both client and employee queries as these surface.

3. Annual payroll activities.

The scope includes the preparation and submission of the annual tax returns. In Malaysia, these include the annual employee tax return (EA form) and the annual employer tax return (Form E).

4. Payroll reporting.

The pandemic has created massive complications. National lockdowns have been and continue to be enforced. Brick and mortar businesses continue to struggle with moving forward especially if they are not able to digitalise key aspects of their business.

This can lead to revenue loss. There have also been supply chain disruptions and the introduction of remote work to get around these challenges.

The fallout from the pandemic signals a return to basics.

Organisations are shoring up value and driving costs down, with a renewed focus on risk management. The latest Deloitte report on Global Outsourcing confirms that “cost reduction is back on top and that cloud and robotic process automation are table stakes”.

In conclusion, there are many ways organisations can minimise the disruption, negative

impact and uncertainty that is present in these volatile times. The use of outsourced payroll and the digitalisation of data can work well to help organisations navigate forward successfully.

Optimise Your Payroll Management with Outsourcing

In conclusion, there are many ways organisations can minimise the disruption, negative impact and uncertainty that is present in these volatile times. The use of outsourced payroll and the digitalisation of data can work well to help organisations navigate forward successfully.

Explore outsourcing with us to find out how your organisation can benefit from the expertise and technology that we have to offer. CXL Payroll & HR Outsourcing service guarantees compliance, reliability and security of your company profile. We’re committed to help you improve your payroll process that can optimise your resources, talent, knowledge and tools.

Author Bio

Fariz Abdullah is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CXL Group. The organisation consists of two divisions— Contingent Workforce and Payroll & HR Outsourcing. Under his purview, Fariz has transformed CXL Group into an HR organisation that believes in the importance of advancing through technology but with a deep focus on the human touch in an increasingly digital era.

Payroll Outsourcing