Should you integrate your payroll and HR software? It’s a question we get asked a lot at Phase 3. An integrated system merges HR and payroll activities for maximum efficiency, so you can say goodbye to spreadsheets and disconnected systems.
Over the last couple of years, there has been a huge increase in businesses adopting technology but it’s resulted in an overwhelming amount of different systems. The number of platforms and software that have been introduced into the workforce, as a result of remote working, have left many workers with a feeling of software fatigue. With many platforms not being utilised, the functionalities and benefits often get forgotten. This has led to a disconnect between workers and their platforms, but as HR and payroll both serve an incredibly important role in every business, this disconnect needs to change.
With HR and payroll not being integrated, businesses could be exposed to unnecessary risks as well as day-to-day processes being hindered. It also makes it harder to get valuable information about employees. An integrated system helps you achieve total workforce management, giving you a complete and accurate view of employee data. As an added bonus, it also improves employee experience.
Here are 5 benefits to integrating your payroll and HR software:
1. Increase productivity
By integrating your HR and payroll software, you can cut out menial admin tasks by automating processes. For example, your software can automatically remind employees to add pay amendments such as overtime or expenses, ensuring deadlines aren’t missed. By removing human intervention from manually inputting information, you have more time to focus on your people.
More often than not, HR professionals are highly trained in recruitment, retention, employee experience, employee wellbeing, training, and education. All of which are absolutely crucial to the success of any business. However, instead of focusing their efforts on more strategic tasks, HR employees spend a good portion of their day solving employee problems related to payroll or benefits.
2. Data security and compliance
It’s incredibly important to ensure that you’re safeguarding sensitive data and not breaching GDPR legislation. Especially when working from home, HR professionals may use spreadsheets and emails when inputting and communicating sensitive data. This leaves businesses open to harmful intervention, as data can quite easily fall into the wrong hands. Avoid this potentially harmful mistake by sharing data and important updates solely through a secure software that will keep you safe.
3. Reduce the paperwork burden, minimise the room for error, and prevent employee dissatisfaction
Human error is unavoidable but managing two databases means more room for mistakes to occur. With payroll and HR software remaining separate, this doubles the amount of manual inputting that needs to be done. This costs employers and employees time as well as opening them up to mistakes, especially within payroll. When it comes to paying people correctly and on time, there isn’t much room for error. People look forward to their payday, so it’s frustrating when they don’t get it on time or there’s a mistake. In fact, The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) revealed that 21% of employees would switch jobs after being paid late or incorrectly. With recruitment and retention being such a point of contention for businesses right now, many just can’t afford this risk. With software integration, changes are automatically updated in both systems, significantly reducing the risk of error.
4. Ensure business continuity
Say the person managing your payroll suddenly quits or is off sick for a prolonged period of time. How would you ensure your employees got paid on time? Software integration means payroll can be automated, helping to build business resilience against these unpredictable situations.
If you find yourself caught out in this situation, you can also utilise our business continuity service, which guarantees that no one ever misses a payday.
5. Keep all documents in one place
How easy would it be if employees could find their payslips in one place? Every payday, HR teams are inundated with requests for payslips, as well as historic payslips when employees are submitting mortgage applications. With software integration, employees can receive monthly payslips in their emails automatically as well as a self-service offering, allowing people to access historic payslips themselves.
How Phase 3 can help
Looking to integrate your payroll with your current HR software? With our specialist knowledge, we can advise on integrating the two. If you’re not currently using HR software but are interested in learning more about how it can benefit your business, get in touch with our HR software consultants for a quick chat. We’ll learn about the needs of your business and employees, finding the HR software that would be best suited. We can also help to integrate the software with your payroll system, as well as onboard it all for you and your team. Alternatively, if after all things considered you don’t feel like you need to integrate the two, we can run the payroll side of things for you on an ongoing basis.
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