Integrating
HR and payroll
for strategic advantages

Integrating HR and payroll for strategic advantages

In addition to the significant divergence in opinion about payroll’s capabilities, there’s a substantial disconnect between perception and reality concerning Human Capital Management (HCM) integration.

In CPCR, a lack of integration between systems was another pain point for 13% of respondents. Interestingly, 79% of board members surveyed as part of Workday´s SAGP believe their organization operates on a unified HR platform.

However, the perspectives of mid-level and frontline managers significantly differ, with only 68% and 54% respectively, sharing this belief. The reality is that most companies rely on multiple systems, integrations and vendors, leading to fragmented and inefficient processes.

Does your organization use one platform for HR and payroll?

^Source:^{Workday’s Strategic Ascent of Global Payroll (SAGP)}

The primary obstacles to achieving true integration are rarely financial, with only 35% citing this as an issue (3rd lowest ranked issue).Instead, the challenges stem from ensuring the solution aligns to the overall business needs (46%) data compatibility issues (41%) and different regulations across global business units (41%).

Curiously the most junior/frontline managers felt that lack of in-house skills is a much stronger barrier than senior or mid management. To overcome these hurdles, businesses need to partner with a provider capable of ensuring successful integration and upskilling.

To keep pace with business growth, companies need adaptable systems. Nearly 50% of Workday´s SAGP respondents across various departments wanted a payroll system that evolves with changing company needs – particularly, global expansion.

What barriers/challenges has/would your organization face when implementing an integrated payroll solution?

^Source:^{Workday’s Strategic Ascent of Global Payroll (SAGP)}

However, with several different departments often owning pieces of payroll, successful integration and adoption require more than just technology. Instead, it’s about a holistic HCM approach that matches the needs of different departments with innovative, scalable and adaptable solutions.

For businesses operating in multiple countries, outsourcing payroll can be a strategic solution. CPCR found that the more countries where businesses have staff, the more likely they are to outsource payroll and increase the number of payroll vendors used.

Benefits can include increased skillsets, reduced complexity, and improved compliance with local regulations. However, some organizations still struck a cautious note, as shared in CPCR, with 12% suggesting it was too much work, 10% unable to put together a compelling business case, and 8% suggesting vendor issues were a pain point.

Additionally, attempting to transform payroll to the cloud in-house can bring its own set of challenges, including significant costs, risks, and a failure to fully harness its true potential.