Payroll landscape is shifting from legacy on-premise system towards a cloud-based offering
With the advent of globalization, corporate giants flagged of their operations across different geographies, acquiring and collaborating with different organizations. While businesses race to set up operations in lucrative markets across the globe, the inevitable challenge of maintaining local competencies and adhering to local regulations is imperative.
With rapid advancements in technology, the payroll landscape has shifted from legacy on-premise system towards a cloud-based offering. Emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Chatbots are enabling payroll processes to automate repetitive, mundane manual tasks which are both time and resource consuming.
Business benefits of multi-country payroll outsourcing (MCPO) -
• Reduced operational expenses - Integrated systems significantly reduce expenditures related to technology support, induction of local human resources etc. Outsourced vendors also offer predefined strategy support for meeting compliance changes and swift execution of the process.
• Effectively meeting local regulations - Streamlined payroll systems ensure stringent compliance with local and global employment regulations. Any updates or amendments to legal protocols can be instantly tracked and enacted into process systems distinctively.
• Centralized communication - Data-driven information enables local country teams and headquarters to make informed performance management decisions involving payroll. Industry-leading reporting tools empower employers to benefit from consolidated global reporting and make strategic decisions regarding performance and costs.
• Increased security - With a centralized panel for managing employee payroll, the risk of an employee data breach is minimized. Payroll operations across the globe can be monitored precisely while the entire process becomes user-friendly and can be accessed instantly by the HR department.
• Enhanced employee satisfaction - Offering employees a unique global payroll experience enables increased employee satisfaction. A majority of MCPO vendors offer tools like Employee Self Service Portals which promote employee engagement. Features such as instantly available pay slips as well as localization of data in native language of employees further contributes to employee retention.
Top factors to analyze before inking a contract with an MCPO vendor
Shortlisting an MCPO vendor is a challenging task, but with a clear vision of your requirements and a fair understanding of the outsourcing business models, it can be a smooth process. Technology expertise and training - A host of MCPO players offer a range of solutions including cloud-based products to meet the customised requirements of clients. It is essential to analyse the strength of the vendor in payroll systems to support the global as well as local compliance. Scalability - Picking an MCPO vendor which offers scalable, tailored solution as per the specific requirements of a business would be a step in the right direction. Flexible payroll models can be scaled up or down in case of change in business operations or workload. Track record - It is also essential to verify the credentials of an MCPO vendor including its client experience. Since outsourcing is all about experience and service delivery, overlooking the company’s experience in addressing the challenges of its clients could prove a futile investment. Traditionally, payroll at organisations has remained an internal and a more manually driven process. With technology evolution, organizations have been evaluating the outsourcing of processes. Amongst the many complex tasks which are being outsourced, payroll outsourcing features to be amongst the most preferred at enterprises today.The article is published in this platform
