In the on-demand GPMI webinar Global Payroll Elevated: Why Technology Is Key, sponsored by Alight Solutions, experts walked participants through their global payroll functions to help them find a way to achieve a technology-driven operating model.
During the webinar, Pete Tiliakos, Global Payroll Product Strategy Leader at Alight, and Amber Hassid, Vice President of Payroll Solutions at Alight, broke down the key elements of technology-enabled managed services and how they can be used to achieve a modern global payroll infrastructure to improve business outcomes.
Tiliakos asked participants at the beginning of the webinar about some of the payroll challenges their organizations are facing today. In a quick poll taken before the presentation, 46% of attendees believed that “intensifying compliance demands” were their biggest challenge, followed by 37% who referenced “manual processes.”
“It’s an incredibly tense time to be operating payroll,” Tiliakos said. “In my 30 years in this space, I haven’t seen this volatility going on. [However], I think the beauty of all of this is that it is making organizations take a step back and think about how, why, and what they do around HR and payroll.”
Tiliakos added that he believes many of the current challenges in payroll stem from the global mobility that is taking place and that organizations of all sizes are increasing operations in new locations under the most complex and demanding requirements in the history of the industry.
“We’re seeing a tremendous number of firms getting pulled into locations where there is a global payroll need where there wasn’t before, whether that’s mergers and acquisitions or fundamental growth acquisitions,” he said. “Also, organizations can now really look for talent anywhere. That’s great for everyone, but it is creating an extra level of complexity for payroll.”
More companies today are looking at payroll modernization because, as Hassid believes, they’re interested in consolidation and standardization and “bringing everything as close to one system” as possible.
“They’re looking at one platform and one provider,” she said. “They want to enhance compliance, build efficiencies, and move away from the outdated infrastructures and bring technology to the next level. The payroll technology that is coming to market now really elevates global payroll…to include better integrations into HCM and better transmittal of data across the world.”
Hassid said that if a company’s payroll department is “riddled with inefficiencies,” it’s not bringing its best value to its employees because a lot of time is being wasted on things like manual reporting.
“If you can encourage the enhancement of technology, you can then transform your position within your own organization,” she said.
Tiliakos adds: “Tech is certainly the key to that. We want payroll modernization to be more agile, resilient, and scalable. We want payroll to be able to pivot with the organization. Modernization provides you with a future-forward infrastructure and the ability to build upon your investment. When the data flows well, everything is more efficient and effective.”
Register for the free on-demand webinar Global Payroll Elevated: Why Technology Is Key today.