Eliminating errors in the payroll and personnel administration process is consistently rated as a top goal among employers that we talk to. Unfortunately errors are often categorized as "so-and-so's mistake" and efforts are made to double check the results next time or to just be more careful.
In an interesting and illuminating study by The Hackett Group called "Workforce Management and Payroll Performance Studies" and published in the APA magazine PayTech, February, 2010, points out that Top Performers (the top statistical group with respect to efficiency and effectiveness in the payroll process) focus on root cause of errors rather than temporary fixes. And the top three root causes for payroll adjustments that occur due to time collection errors are 1. Validation at the source 2. Greater accountability of frontline managers and 3. a streamlined process of employee data maintenance between HR and Payroll administration.
In short, automating time collection the right way can lead to a dramatic improvement in your payroll performance and drive a significant number of errors out of the process. Put another way: Using a time and attendance system can help HR and finance managers get what they most want - fewer mistakes.
The article goes on to add an interesting perspective on what makes this strategy so effective: automating the time-to-gross process "streamlines the end-to-end process, resulting in more touch in operations and less touch in corporate payroll. The higher touch model in operations ensures accountability and leaves the decision making in the hands of those who are closer to the details, thus more qualified to make decisions." By pushing responsibility back out to operations, where this stuff happens, payroll administrators can actually improve their results and focus on higher level tasks. Wow.
So how does a small to mid-sized organization do this? By deploying a modern day time and attendance system. It's funny, even to this day, at the end of 2011 we find companies that when we talk to them about Time and Attendance, they respond with something like "You mean punch clocks?" Well, yes.... and no. The hardware has come a long way since this blogger punched in and out of his job as a grocery bagger using a paper punch card. Time clocks today come in a variety of forms, all electronic, including hand and finger print readers, proximity readers, web entry with IP address restrictions, telephony, and on and on. Finding the time entry device that works for you is just the start.
The truth is it's the software that the hardware connects to that makes the difference. The right hours are captured for the right employee, reviewed and approved by the right manager, and flows in to the right payroll and HR record. In addition, decisions about time off requests and schedule changes are made by the right person with the correct and up-to-date information. Better accuracy and better decisions - sounds pretty good.
Let's be clear. There is a lot that can be accomplished beyond reducing errors when deploying time and attendance in your organization. Doing it right can help you enforce your workplace policies evenly and fairly, stay compliant with state and federal labor rules, manage and reduce overtime, manage attendance and schedules, and of course make your payroll process more efficient and reduce costs.
But lets pull this back around to the idea of reducing errors. Automated time and attendance can reduce errors - one of employers' highest stated goals - by eliminating data entry errors, of course, but also by pushing the ability and responsibility back out to operations where the action it is happening, and out of the administrative department that usually has to deal with the information after the fact and from a position where they can not see what is happening (Did John really work 10 hours that day? When Linda clocked in late was that because she forgot or because she was late?) And finally by making sure that the data in the time and attendance system is in sync with (hopefully real time) or the same as data in the HR and payroll system, corrections, misunderstandings and re-work can be avoided.
The good news is that being a Top Performer actually isn't that difficult. It just takes a little automation and a clear understanding of where errors come from. Getting rid of them turns out to be a snap.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Workflow automation - Your new best friend
An interesting thing happened on the way to the cloud... Enterprise systems, big iron that was used to crunch numbers, store and retrieve data and render reports, developed a new trick. And it's a big one. Sometimes the biggest shifts are the most subtle, and I have to say, I think this one sort of sneaked up on everyone. But now that it is here, Workflow Automation is a big deal and about to change your life.
What is Workflow Automation? More than the buzzword from a caffeine-addled 20-something's term paper, Workflow Automation (let's call it WA) is the next step in making Systems actually useful to the people who use them. Let's review.
As I mentioned earlier, computer systems were first developed to handle routine but laborious computational tasks. Hence the name Computers. Then, in the late 70s storage devices began to be developed that allowed computers to get better at storing lots of data. A little later, relational databases were developed to manage, query and report on that stored data. And since then, almost all enterprise systems have been built off of finding new types of data to store and report on, sometimes combining that with computational power to do things to that data.
I contend that Workflow Automation is a whole new type of use of computing technology that can dramatically transform the lives of people who use systems to run organizations. What workflow automation is, quite simply, is ability to set up rules, events, conditions, roles, and tasks that allow the system to guide users through multi-step processes. A workflow is, of course, a series of steps required to accomplish something, for example, hiring a new employee. Workflow Automation allows you to define those steps ahead of time, indicate the order of the steps and who is responsible, and remind and prompt those people when they need to perform those steps. It automates many of the processes that an organization needs to do, so that people in the organization are freed up to think.
For organizations interested in creating processes and making sure those processes are followed consistently and that a record of that is maintained, WA is crucial and extremely helpful. For individuals who would like reminders and want to be thorough in how they carry out their work, without the crushing burden of post-it notes and calendar reminders on every available surface of their office, WA is the ticket. For organizations with that are highly dispersed, or even virtual, that also need to manage risk, workflow automation can be a savior.
Most importantly, for personnel departments that are constantly bombarded with date-driven, business-critical tasks with low tolerance for error, Workforce Automation can be essential. Whether it is the benefits review process, the hire/fire process, time off request process, performance review process, payroll process, or any of the many other duties dumped on the backs of payroll, accounting and HR administrators, workflow automation can be the ticket to greater peace of mind and higher departmental performance.
See? Technology really can be your friend. It just took a little while....
What is Workflow Automation? More than the buzzword from a caffeine-addled 20-something's term paper, Workflow Automation (let's call it WA) is the next step in making Systems actually useful to the people who use them. Let's review.
As I mentioned earlier, computer systems were first developed to handle routine but laborious computational tasks. Hence the name Computers. Then, in the late 70s storage devices began to be developed that allowed computers to get better at storing lots of data. A little later, relational databases were developed to manage, query and report on that stored data. And since then, almost all enterprise systems have been built off of finding new types of data to store and report on, sometimes combining that with computational power to do things to that data.
I contend that Workflow Automation is a whole new type of use of computing technology that can dramatically transform the lives of people who use systems to run organizations. What workflow automation is, quite simply, is ability to set up rules, events, conditions, roles, and tasks that allow the system to guide users through multi-step processes. A workflow is, of course, a series of steps required to accomplish something, for example, hiring a new employee. Workflow Automation allows you to define those steps ahead of time, indicate the order of the steps and who is responsible, and remind and prompt those people when they need to perform those steps. It automates many of the processes that an organization needs to do, so that people in the organization are freed up to think.
For organizations interested in creating processes and making sure those processes are followed consistently and that a record of that is maintained, WA is crucial and extremely helpful. For individuals who would like reminders and want to be thorough in how they carry out their work, without the crushing burden of post-it notes and calendar reminders on every available surface of their office, WA is the ticket. For organizations with that are highly dispersed, or even virtual, that also need to manage risk, workflow automation can be a savior.
Most importantly, for personnel departments that are constantly bombarded with date-driven, business-critical tasks with low tolerance for error, Workforce Automation can be essential. Whether it is the benefits review process, the hire/fire process, time off request process, performance review process, payroll process, or any of the many other duties dumped on the backs of payroll, accounting and HR administrators, workflow automation can be the ticket to greater peace of mind and higher departmental performance.
See? Technology really can be your friend. It just took a little while....
Friday, September 9, 2011
Software-as-a-Service. Really?
One new-ish term of art that has always bothered me is the curious label of Software-as-a-Service. To that, I say, Really? Software as a service? I don't think so. Software as a Subscription, maybe. But Service? Whoever invented that term obviously wasn't from the service industry. Hmmm, maybe they were from the software industry....
No doubt that delivering software over the internet has made our business lives easier. Fewer upgrades, less worry about backups, no more hardware upgrades or software incompatibilities. But let's be honest, getting the software delivered to your desktop (or smart phone! - see previous post) is a subscription, and only a start.
Any enterprise level software worth its salt needs to have human expertise supporting it to make sure customers get the most out of the software. Otherwise, systems languish, are underutilized and end up not delivering on their promise. They become a disappointment.
Service, real service, around software delivered via the cloud helps customers configure the software to their unique needs, answers subject matter questions relating to the use of the software, and finds ways to extend the usefulness of the software throughout the user's organization. In the end, real service attached to software-as-a-service helps a business get better, more efficient and more productive by intelligently using the software. Simply sending a user id and password and considering the job done doesn't get you there.
Enterprise software companies have created huge new business value and opportunity by delivering their product over the internet. Those companies that think that their job ends there will find that value greatly diminished over time as their customers struggle to implement these powerful tools. Those companies that figure out that the job has just begun when the customer hits the On button will find significant opportunity to develop loyal customers whose businesses are transformed by their new, true Software-AND-Service partnership.
No doubt that delivering software over the internet has made our business lives easier. Fewer upgrades, less worry about backups, no more hardware upgrades or software incompatibilities. But let's be honest, getting the software delivered to your desktop (or smart phone! - see previous post) is a subscription, and only a start.
Any enterprise level software worth its salt needs to have human expertise supporting it to make sure customers get the most out of the software. Otherwise, systems languish, are underutilized and end up not delivering on their promise. They become a disappointment.
Service, real service, around software delivered via the cloud helps customers configure the software to their unique needs, answers subject matter questions relating to the use of the software, and finds ways to extend the usefulness of the software throughout the user's organization. In the end, real service attached to software-as-a-service helps a business get better, more efficient and more productive by intelligently using the software. Simply sending a user id and password and considering the job done doesn't get you there.
Enterprise software companies have created huge new business value and opportunity by delivering their product over the internet. Those companies that think that their job ends there will find that value greatly diminished over time as their customers struggle to implement these powerful tools. Those companies that figure out that the job has just begun when the customer hits the On button will find significant opportunity to develop loyal customers whose businesses are transformed by their new, true Software-AND-Service partnership.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Less is More
Everything wants to be efficient. It is a law of nature and a law of business. The path to efficiency is to eliminate waste. And waste comes in two main forms - Steps and Stuff. This post is about Stuff and the virtuousness of getting rid of as much stuff as possible. We will talk about getting rid of Steps in another post.
We all are comforted, in some part, by our stuff. It has a way of making us feel safe, or well off, or not alone, or something. Americans in particular have a love affair with stuff. Witness the $20+ billion self-storage industry. But Stuff is not free. Stuff needs space, it deteriorates, it gets stolen, it rusts, molds, gets eaten, needs to be insured, hides other stuff, occupies our mind and requires our attention. Stuff sits and a lot of it is waste. Stuff needs to go.
One of the untold stories of the last century of enterprise and technology is the dramatic reduction in use of stuff. You heard that right - dramatic reduction. Before I explain that, remember that efficiency is a law of nature - "Over the long haul, the most efficient wins". Let me rephrase that by saying "Over the long haul, she who uses the least amount of stuff to accomplish the same end, wins".
So how can I say that less stuff is used today? Think about the most obvious example of media. Digital media has almost completely replaced the hard material, space consuming CDs and DVDs (which by the way replaced previously even more Stuff). Kindles and eReaders are dramatically reducing the number of bookshelf hogging, dust collecting paper books. In fact, all of my music, movies and books can now fit in my (Relax Fit) front pocket. Smaller house anyone?
And what about those smaller houses? Houses, and skyscrapers for that matter, now require considerably less building materials than they did 100 years ago (on a square foot basis). Material engineering and innovative design have allow us to building much trimmer, graceful structures that would have been impossible previously. All with less stuff. The list of industries goes on and on: the computer industry, agriculture, transportation, energy - all do more, create better products, deliver more value - using less stuff.
So how does this relate to the administration of your personnel function? I thought you'd never ask. The inevitable march toward Less Stuff includes your department as well. Your department - payroll, HR, benefits admin - wants to use less stuff. It needs to use less stuff. (It wants to do less Steps as well, but as I said, we'll get to that at another time).
Here is a list of stuff that you can, and should reduce:
1. Computer (IT) Stuff. Managing payroll and HR requires big, beefy computer systems, right? Not anymore. Systems to manage your personnel function are moving to the cloud meaning less stuff in your business and office. Less computers, less cabling, less backup devices, etc. By moving your systems to the cloud, you reduce your IT footprint in your business significantly. Your business just got more efficient.
2. Paper Stuff. Yes, you need a document retention policy, so don't take this to mean you don't. But by intelligently digitizing documents and records (converting paper to electrons) and sharing them, you dramatically reduce the cost of storing files, protecting files, shipping files, copying files, and looking for files. All of these actions cost you real money. By reducing paper waste, you dramatically reduce your costs, gain office space and clarity of mind.
3. People . Yeah, I had to say it. But you already knew it because the people you had were probably already reduced anyways, leaving you to do everything. But the reality is, you need to do your job and you're probably are not going to be given a ton of people resources to get it done. That is were technology is your friend. Today's workforce management systems allow considerably leaner personnel departments to get more done than before by automating tasks, pushing responsibilities back out to employees and their managers, and delivering more consolidated information back to you. All with less people. You know what? I bet you never liked having to manage all those clerks anyways! Less people is more efficient.
Less is More. Make a vow to do something nice for yourself and good for your business - get rid of stuff. You may find you never want it back.
We all are comforted, in some part, by our stuff. It has a way of making us feel safe, or well off, or not alone, or something. Americans in particular have a love affair with stuff. Witness the $20+ billion self-storage industry. But Stuff is not free. Stuff needs space, it deteriorates, it gets stolen, it rusts, molds, gets eaten, needs to be insured, hides other stuff, occupies our mind and requires our attention. Stuff sits and a lot of it is waste. Stuff needs to go.
One of the untold stories of the last century of enterprise and technology is the dramatic reduction in use of stuff. You heard that right - dramatic reduction. Before I explain that, remember that efficiency is a law of nature - "Over the long haul, the most efficient wins". Let me rephrase that by saying "Over the long haul, she who uses the least amount of stuff to accomplish the same end, wins".
So how can I say that less stuff is used today? Think about the most obvious example of media. Digital media has almost completely replaced the hard material, space consuming CDs and DVDs (which by the way replaced previously even more Stuff). Kindles and eReaders are dramatically reducing the number of bookshelf hogging, dust collecting paper books. In fact, all of my music, movies and books can now fit in my (Relax Fit) front pocket. Smaller house anyone?
And what about those smaller houses? Houses, and skyscrapers for that matter, now require considerably less building materials than they did 100 years ago (on a square foot basis). Material engineering and innovative design have allow us to building much trimmer, graceful structures that would have been impossible previously. All with less stuff. The list of industries goes on and on: the computer industry, agriculture, transportation, energy - all do more, create better products, deliver more value - using less stuff.
So how does this relate to the administration of your personnel function? I thought you'd never ask. The inevitable march toward Less Stuff includes your department as well. Your department - payroll, HR, benefits admin - wants to use less stuff. It needs to use less stuff. (It wants to do less Steps as well, but as I said, we'll get to that at another time).
Here is a list of stuff that you can, and should reduce:
1. Computer (IT) Stuff. Managing payroll and HR requires big, beefy computer systems, right? Not anymore. Systems to manage your personnel function are moving to the cloud meaning less stuff in your business and office. Less computers, less cabling, less backup devices, etc. By moving your systems to the cloud, you reduce your IT footprint in your business significantly. Your business just got more efficient.
2. Paper Stuff. Yes, you need a document retention policy, so don't take this to mean you don't. But by intelligently digitizing documents and records (converting paper to electrons) and sharing them, you dramatically reduce the cost of storing files, protecting files, shipping files, copying files, and looking for files. All of these actions cost you real money. By reducing paper waste, you dramatically reduce your costs, gain office space and clarity of mind.
3. People . Yeah, I had to say it. But you already knew it because the people you had were probably already reduced anyways, leaving you to do everything. But the reality is, you need to do your job and you're probably are not going to be given a ton of people resources to get it done. That is were technology is your friend. Today's workforce management systems allow considerably leaner personnel departments to get more done than before by automating tasks, pushing responsibilities back out to employees and their managers, and delivering more consolidated information back to you. All with less people. You know what? I bet you never liked having to manage all those clerks anyways! Less people is more efficient.
Less is More. Make a vow to do something nice for yourself and good for your business - get rid of stuff. You may find you never want it back.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Proving my previous point
Just to prove me point re the post below, I am now posting this via my smartphone!
What do your employees and Angry Birds have in common?
One of the big story lines in the last five years in technology has been the rise of the importance of the consumer. For nearly two decades it was the Enterprise (business) that dictated how and where technology progressed. This was the heyday of Microsoft - consumers were allowed to participate, but it was business that drove how technology developed. That all changed with a little device called the iPhone. People clamored for them, fell in love, and then demanded that their employers figure out a way to accommodate and incorporate their use "at the the Enterprise level". In technology, the consumer now reigns supreme.
With accounting and payroll systems, typically technology laggards even in the old Enterprise world, the question is, how deep into corporate systems will consumers and their smart phones go? Hard to imagine stodgy old personnel management systems, with their big databases, high transaction volumes, need for airtight security all administered by back office staff tasked with grinding out reports, checks and ledgers going the way of Angry Birds and Google Maps, right? Think again. It's happening and it is happening fast.
Just as many are rightly embracing the move of corporate systems to the cloud, the smart phone ecosystem (namely Google's Android and Apples iOS) is extending those systems into the hands of the people. Actually, by making the giant leap from on-premise corporate servers to the web and cloud-based applications, moving things to the phone turned into a tiny leap. It's happening and anyone who has employees better be ready to provide tools and information to them via smartphone platforms. And anyone who provides tools and services to employers better be ready to help them with this.
So what are some examples of employer tools delivered via smart phone platforms? How about a manager being able to view which of their employees are clocked in or out at any given moment? How about an employee requesting time off and a manager approving or rejecting that time off, both via their smartphone? What about submitting a simple payroll to your payroll processing partner via your smart phone? What about an employee reviewing, via their smartphone, their PTO balance, the time punches for the week, or their previous pay stub? All of these things are either available today or in development. You can bet that more will come.
What seemed unlikely just a little while ago, is now happening, and happening fast. Employers, and those that serve them, had better stay alert. Because like Angry Birds, their employees want to be on a smartphone as well...
With accounting and payroll systems, typically technology laggards even in the old Enterprise world, the question is, how deep into corporate systems will consumers and their smart phones go? Hard to imagine stodgy old personnel management systems, with their big databases, high transaction volumes, need for airtight security all administered by back office staff tasked with grinding out reports, checks and ledgers going the way of Angry Birds and Google Maps, right? Think again. It's happening and it is happening fast.
Just as many are rightly embracing the move of corporate systems to the cloud, the smart phone ecosystem (namely Google's Android and Apples iOS) is extending those systems into the hands of the people. Actually, by making the giant leap from on-premise corporate servers to the web and cloud-based applications, moving things to the phone turned into a tiny leap. It's happening and anyone who has employees better be ready to provide tools and information to them via smartphone platforms. And anyone who provides tools and services to employers better be ready to help them with this.
So what are some examples of employer tools delivered via smart phone platforms? How about a manager being able to view which of their employees are clocked in or out at any given moment? How about an employee requesting time off and a manager approving or rejecting that time off, both via their smartphone? What about submitting a simple payroll to your payroll processing partner via your smart phone? What about an employee reviewing, via their smartphone, their PTO balance, the time punches for the week, or their previous pay stub? All of these things are either available today or in development. You can bet that more will come.
What seemed unlikely just a little while ago, is now happening, and happening fast. Employers, and those that serve them, had better stay alert. Because like Angry Birds, their employees want to be on a smartphone as well...
Monday, August 8, 2011
Not blah blah blah
Why Us? is the most important question to be able to answer in business. And Why You? is the most important question to ask when selecting a partner for important business processes relating to your personnel function. Often the answer is sounds something like “blah blah blah”. Here is our answer. You decide for yourself (or give us feedback on what you think of our answer at info@paynorthwest.com !)
1. We think our technology is the best in the market and will make your job easier.
2. We are small and hungry so we walk over hot coals to serve our customers.
3. Our ownership is uptight and conservative, so we have taken extreme measures to make sure that every tax return, every dollar and every calculation we touch is right. Every time.
4. Our “thing” is being an Expert Partner. We acknowledge your expertise, and bring ours to the table. We think by partnering with you, we can help you succeed, look good, and be a better employer.
Sound interesting? Give us a call or contact us at sales@paynorthwest.com. Sound like “blah blah blah”? Let us know at info@paynorthwest.com. We’ll try to get better.
Friday, August 5, 2011
PayNorthwest launches new Employer e-newsletter
So it took a bit of work, but PayNorthwest finally launched it's Employer e-newsletter. Part of our "secret recipe" (okay, not so secret) is Knowledge, as in our mantra: Systems-Knowledge-Service. We usually refer to the Knowledge that our staff has of all things payroll related. But we also believe in our clients knowledge and sharing! That's the power of partnership. So, in an effort to add a little bit of knowledge and to share, we created the Employer e-Newsletter. This monthly tome will hopefully be chock full of helpful tips, updates and information that helps our business community and clients better manage the personnel side of their business.
We hope this adds just a little bit to the conversation. If you would like to check it out, go to: http://www.bizactions.com/n.cfm/page/e116/key/174585615G2701J4667353/ Hope you like it.
We hope this adds just a little bit to the conversation. If you would like to check it out, go to: http://www.bizactions.com/n.cfm/page/e116/key/174585615G2701J4667353/ Hope you like it.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Fortune Bank posts nice feature on PayNorthwest
Hey, really nice feature of PayNorthwest by one of our partners - Fortune Bank. Check it out:
https://www.fortunebankwa.com/about/customers/paynorthwest.asp
Payroll companies and banks work closely together and they both handle and move a lot of funds on behalf of their clients. Having a responsive and atuned partner like Fortune Bank really makes a nice difference. And thanks to them for this nice little feature of our growing company.
https://www.fortunebankwa.com/about/customers/paynorthwest.asp
Payroll companies and banks work closely together and they both handle and move a lot of funds on behalf of their clients. Having a responsive and atuned partner like Fortune Bank really makes a nice difference. And thanks to them for this nice little feature of our growing company.
What it takes to get it right
We understand that we have to be nails when it comes to payroll tax compliance for our clients. For many employers looking a payroll service bureaus, getting the taxes right is job one. Here's what we have done recently to make sure that we can offer the highest level of assurance to our customers: we have just signed a multi-year contract extension with MasterTax - then leading payroll tax platform in the US. MasterTax is used in-house by many Fortune 500 companies such as Starbucks, General Dynamics, Cononco Phillips to name a few. It is also used by us. Why? MasterTax supports over 10,000 Federal, State and Local payroll taxing agencies in the US. That's pretty much all of them.
But that's not all.. Part of the trick is knowing which taxes come in to play and for this, employers need to look at exact address of work and home locations. To solve this problem, PayNorthwest also utilizes a sophisticated tax engine that employs geo-spatial mapping to determine exact locations, to then determine tax jurisdiction.
But that's not all.. Part of the trick is knowing which taxes come in to play and for this, employers need to look at exact address of work and home locations. To solve this problem, PayNorthwest also utilizes a sophisticated tax engine that employs geo-spatial mapping to determine exact locations, to then determine tax jurisdiction.
But that's not all. We then apply the most important ingredient - human intelligence (our people) to make sure it is right. So that's how we nail it for our clients - sophisticated systems combined with human intelligence. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone...
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