Life and work in the current climate are vastly different to the way things were pre-pandemic

A direct consequence of all this transformation is businesses of all sizes – companies like yours – finding it difficult to keep pace with how quickly payroll and HR functions are evolving. It’s becoming clear: what got you to this point may not necessarily carry you forward.

Your HR and finance teams are, no doubt, working tirelessly to support employees through these seismic shifts – from navigating the complexities of remote working, to coping with the rising cost of living and a multitude of additional COVID aftershocks. At the same time, you’re dealing with ever-changing regulations, supply chain challenges, increased demand for flexibility and training, and some very concerning talent shortages.

It’s even more intense for mid-sized companies

It can feel like an uphill struggle when you’re responsible for and running payroll for hundreds of employees without the big budgets, teams or tools that enterprise organisations have access to. It’s understandable that the thing that often gets neglected in these types of situations is payroll (which is, ironically, the most important factor your workforce cares about).

With all this in mind, it’s easy to understand why payroll is now more complicated than it used to be, and both employers and employees are feeling the fallout. Findings from our People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View1 research highlight that payment errors are becoming more acute. A quarter of workers (24%) say they’re always or often underpaid, 23% are always or often paid late and, disturbingly for employers, 20% are always or often overpaid.

The key to success is threefold:

  • How your business chooses to rise to these new challenges
  • Who you choose as your outsourced payroll partner
  • The nature of the relationship you build with your provider

Both the risks and potential cost of making a mistake are too high to disregard.

In this guide, you’ll explore three big changes that your payroll and HR teams should be ready to handle, and discover the questions that you as decision makers should be asking.

1. The ADP Research Institute, People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View