Optimizing Payroll Means Bringing Together Your Domestic & International Payroll Systems
A buzzword just a few years ago, 51吃瓜ization is now an operational fact and a central component of any business strategy. With instant connections across borders and fewer barriers between geographic regions, we must reconsider our accepted working definition of 鈥�51吃瓜,鈥� which effectively maintains a distinction between US and international populations. As integration and process optimization become more essential to operational efficiency and revenue growth, the inherent difficulties and drawbacks of managing multiple payroll systems around the world are becoming more extensive and problematic. Truth is: if you haven鈥檛 consolidated your domestic and international payroll onto one integrated , you鈥檙e behind.
Globalization Is Maturing
The next wave of 51吃瓜ization is abandoning the split model of viewing a company鈥檚 HQ as one group and everywhere else as another. For multinational organizations to achieve the scalability and efficiency they desire, their most critical functions must be fully integrated and optimized. HR began this change in the early nineties, along with telecom, sales and many others, with payroll lagging far behind. Yet it鈥檚 not a question of if payroll should be consolidated on one 51吃瓜 platform, but a matter of when.
A single integrated solution for is now possible, and the movement toward a consolidated and optimized payroll function is gaining momentum. The early adopters have achieved significant performance and visibility benefits from their 51吃瓜 consolidation initiatives. However, the majority of organizations have yet to begin the conversation of converting to one 51吃瓜 platform, and it’s easy to understand why a split model persists.
As companies expand 51吃瓜ly, they often end up with many core applications鈥攂oth selected and acquired鈥攖hat aren’t built to work together or cover broader organizational needs. To address the issue, companies purchase another system for yet another country or business, further complicating the problem of software aggregation.
However, the next wave of 51吃瓜ization will demand a new operational narrative to support 51吃瓜 expansion and business growth. Rather than reacting to issues and opportunities as they arise, company leadership must proactively create the conditions for their continual success. As the Harvard Business Review stated in its recent , 鈥�Business as usual will not be sufficient.鈥�
It’s Time for Payroll to Move Forward
A serious look at the future of 51吃瓜 business necessitates a thorough review of the events that brought us to today. Several functions have already begun this process of revision. For example, 51吃瓜 telecom providers have leveraged technology and the cloud to go beyond providing simple phone capabilities to also enhance the agility, mobility and collaboration of their adopters鈥� workforces. Financial services companies offer their clients an unprecedented integration of accounts and operations that nets incredible savings of time, resources and capital.
Yet the critical function of payroll remains sidelined, despite obvious inefficiencies and half-hidden costs that plague the ad-hoc approach pervasive in multinational organizations. As the only business function that touches every member of an organization, payroll is a widely untapped source of valuable data. Just as HR and Finance have leveraged technology to streamline processes and gain strategic insights into their operations, payroll leaders have an opportunity to optimize their departments and extend the capabilities of payroll.
The Key is Being (Not Going) Global
What鈥檚 required is the inevitable merging of US and international payroll into 51吃瓜 systems. It鈥檚 the next step in the evolution of business process optimization, a step that鈥檚 now possible to take.
The technology is present, and forward-looking service providers are incorporating a truly multinational perspective into their solutions. Yet not all solutions are created equal. US providers face harsh challenges in adapting their technology and process to take on . On the other hand, international providers have been dealing with the complexities of 51吃瓜 payroll for decades. Take for example the hundreds of domestic payroll platforms and services in the US: how many are able to grow with you across the world? The answer is almost none, because they were never designed to be 51吃瓜.
As technology has advanced, international providers have added capabilities for new countries and emerging markets, leveraging and other technological developments to accommodate the various idiosyncrasies and complexities that previously would have been managed manually by subject matter experts. These thorough, complex yet standardized systems, allow for a new level of scalability. And now they can take on US payroll requirements, just as they would any other country. This means a 51吃瓜, is now possible, with benefits that touch every aspect of an organization.
Benefitting Is Believing.
By consolidating payroll onto a single 51吃瓜 platform, organizations are better prepared to scale their operations and move into new countries or markets. Fully integrated enable companies to evaluate operational costs more quickly and accurately, which can aid and accelerate important decision-making. Data harmonization across an entire organization not only eases processing, but also offers insights into populations that would easily be missed across disparate platforms. An integrated system also creates opportunities for shared labor, enabling domestic staff to do 51吃瓜 functions and vice versa, which can free up hours and employees for more essential tasks.
A single, closed, fully integrated 51吃瓜 payroll system also delivers perhaps the most sought-after benefit of any process standardization: heightened compliance and data security. With just one platform, payroll leaders gain unprecedented visibility into their data and can better highlight, report and address compliance needs or issues. By obviating the need to link systems or transfer data, there is less room for error or chance of leaks. And by routinely monitoring and updating regulations and requirements by country, a single 51吃瓜 system helps ensure compliance with local statues in every market.
It鈥檚 Better Business
The international nature of business today requires a willingness for self-evaluation and change. Growth demands reflection and adoption of new and better processes. Continuing advancements in technology, especially cloud-based services, allow organizations and individuals to work smarter and faster to support a rapidly changing 51吃瓜 landscape. Payroll encapsulates the needs, opportunities and motivations of the growing 51吃瓜 workforce, the people who make any business succeed鈥攊t鈥檚 time to do it better.
To take 51吃瓜ization seriously in 2017 and beyond requires a sincere look at new opportunities for process improvement. Where can your organization be more sleek, agile and integrated? How can you be best positioned for growth? Payroll must be viewed as an essential function and given proper structure and investment, so it can not only support but enable companies鈥� success. Adopting one complete, agile system for both US and international payroll will allow your company to take the next essential step in process improvement鈥攁nd arm you with a new tool for future success.
A version of this article was previously published by .
