“Parallel Run is SO LAST YEAR”. This has got to be one of my favourite comments from the HR technology consultancy team this year.
In recent writing, I’ve waded into a hefty debate about the role and rationale for payroll (take a read here for article 1 and article 2) and hence it is time for a fashionable update for the fun of the payroll or HR systems professional themselves.
Many of us will be familiar with the basic method of making system changes to a payroll, whether this be in the context of introducing a new HRIS service, migrating part of the organisation across on harmonisation, acquisition or tidy-up, implementing new schemes or calculations for absence, pensions, holiday/overtime, or integrating with other systems. Once the build is in place – in a “parallel” environment, we mirror and match a couple of pay periods (commonly two or three) in the old and new system side by side. This is, of course, called ‘the parallel run’.
Look to an exact match (allowing for rounding, but sometimes to the penny), examine and correct the variance until you are good to go. Everyone does it like that but do they need to?
I’m hearing a growing voice that perhaps they don’t. But just as this year’s onesie is next year’s comfort blanket, I wonder if the best of the project thinking isn’t taking a turn against this approach. One of the best of P3C consultants has argued this for years to me and delivered some sound results in major projects. But the voice is getting louder, and I’m convinced. I’ll be supporting an offer to clients that parallel runs are, yes, a bit pre-2017 for sure, and that we are wise at least to look at other options.
The option comes down to testing, testing, testing.
The testing model says we don’t seek to replicate exactly any one or more payroll periods and argues that (a) we can’t and (b) we achieve nothing in so doing. There is an instinctive (c) and we have a lot to lose. You may add a (D) that we’ve no clue what on earth else to do. In brief, I’ll take each on in the words below.