Our friends at Keypay have provided a guest blog on the value of the employee experience and how to enhance it using the right payroll software or bureau.
The employee experience is the new customer experience
A key trend we can see across all industries is an increased focus on delivering enjoyable and differentiated customer experiences. Businesses have been investing in technology and new talent to improve the customer experience as a way to boost loyalty, market share and revenue.
In an increasingly connected and time-poor world, human interactions are key to business success – and this isn’t any different for the workforce. In the same way that brands can drive customer loyalty through interactions with people, organisations can apply this same principle internally to drive performance within their own workforce.
The employee experience is equally as valuable as that of the customer – by improving the employee experience, we drive employee morale, productivity and retention.
Payroll and the employee experience
Payroll is a vital part of any business – everyone needs to get paid. In order to process a pay run, lots of different types of employee data is required, such as timesheet data, bank details and leave taken. If we improved the experience and journey of collecting and processing this employee data, this would be highly beneficial for employers and employee morale. So where should we start?
Looking beyond the payroll horizon
Remember all of that employee data we mentioned? Well, as you’ll probably know, collecting and processing this data is known to be a clunky and frustrating job. If employees need to source pay slips or update their details, they often have to contact their employer or payroll bureau – which means a distracted employee that is engaged in unnecessary admin rather than focusing on their work.
Employers have the opportunity to look beyond the horizon of payroll, and create a better relationship with their employees. By using an all encompassing payroll solution that covers things like employee self service, time and attendance, leave management and expense claims, the employee experience can be completely transformed. With full ownership of their data, employees will have the time to focus on more strategic tasks and productivity will increase. Alongside that, employers will spend less time on chasing timesheets and employee data.
By outsourcing payroll services to an employee-focused bureau, employers won’t have to worry about payroll admin tasks, or having to connect all of the employee data for the pay run. The result: employers have more time on their hands to grow their business.
Empowering employees
Whether you’re running your own payroll, or seeking outsourced payroll services – you should ensure the right technology is being used to improve efficiencies and enhance the payroll experience. Look out for a bureau or technology that offers:
- A cloud-based platform: Ensure employees have instant access to their data via an employee portal. You’re guaranteed to have an extra level of security – and you won’t have to think about password-protecting or encrypting documents via email. It’s a much easier, more secure, and more efficient experience for both you and your employees.
- Employee notifications: Do you have to manually email or distribute paper forms to notify employees of policy changes? With the right technology, documents can be managed via an employee portal and responses can be easily tracked in the cloud, rather than in an excel spreadsheet.
- Integrated time and attendance: Evaluate the way your employees are capturing their timesheets. Source solutions or payroll bureaus that can streamline the flow of data from employees to the pay run. Don’t waste your and your employees’ time with manual data input when it can be captured via an app and pushed straight into the pay run.
Embrace the employee experience
Focusing on the employee experience via an employee-focused payroll bureau or software is an instant win for employers. A system that captures the entire employee experience will improve efficiencies and streamline the journey for employees.
Employees are empowered to manage their own data, meaning they’ll be less distracted by back and forth emails to change their personal details, or filling in forms to request leave. With less time wasted, employees are more engaged and therefore far more productive in their roles. What’s more, by outsourcing payroll to a bureau, employers can reduce admin time and put even more focus into enhancing the employee experience in other areas of the business.
Seeking a bureau that offers an all-encompassing payroll solution will improve the employee’s working life and create an exceptional and valuable employee payroll experience.
About the author
Kate Brown is Marketing Manager at KeyPay Cloud Payroll. KeyPay is a cloud-based payroll and workforce management system offering time and attendance, employee self service, rostering and automated award interpretation in an all-in-one platform.