Since January 1991 we have been listening to the challenges of the middle market community; a growing number of companies whose needs have advanced beyond the well-known, well-loved software that most of their team members have used for years and years; because they now need more functionality and their needs have become more complex.
Many told us they had four, five or more diverse programs, and that most of these programs were un-integrated. During this time, many of my blogs have been written to address the needs of the Microsoft and Dynamics communities, in an effort to convey information in a straight forward style.
If your company’s needs are more complex, please feel free to reach out to our team to address those needs.
But if you are among the many who need to transition to a more robust ERP package and need to get a sense of how others have evaluated their ERP needs and accomplished that journey, please read on.
Clients tell us all the time how tricky Human Resources and Payroll can be.
In certain industries they staunchly keep their payroll in house, in others, they are always outsourced. Most companies have some HR services in house, but it’s become so tricky that many companies now hire outside HR consultants to review their methodologies.
Lately, so many of us have been working remotely, and that complicates everything, in every area and especially in HR & Payroll.
According to GovDocs.com, the development of payroll as a service goes all the way back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Prior to that time bookkeeping services were used to track sales and business purchases, but that was eventually expanded to track all business expenses, including payroll.
Many businesses began using payroll services in the early 20th century. It wasn’t until after 1982 when the American Payroll Association was founded that automated payroll services became available, in large part due to the expansion of computer services.
GovDocs.com states that ‘Today, there are about 2,000 payroll companies in the U.S., serving nearly one-third of all businesses. These payroll companies provide a variety of services for employers, such as payroll processing, HR support, employee benefits administration and workplace solutions.’
That’s a ton of people, especially since most of us couldn’t name more than five or ten companies in that industry. Fast forward to today:
HR & Payroll teams have been tasked with doing more and more, and are now trying to do more and more while working remotely.
At best, it’s a big ask; but many companies are now looking at having their employees (and even applicants) enter and update their own information, and in some cases download their own W-2s.
It’s an innovative change and puts an end, once and for all to complaints from the employees that their personal data is incorrect. ERP has always included HR & Payroll modules, but in order to make HR & Payroll self service the companies would have to maintain online portals for their employees.
The security to safeguard all that information is pretty steep and the company would also need to cover annual software user costs as well. Outsourcing just the company’s payroll has become very popular, and the price ticket on that can be pretty substantial.
Because all of these options have pretty significant price tags, another option has become very popular: web based HR, Payroll, Applicant Tracking, and more. Clients tell us that they consider all the costs for in house HR, Payroll & Applicant Tracking, outsourced HR & Payroll services, HR Consultants and more when considering their options.
While at first glance the online web based services look a bit pricey, things seem to fall in line when you consider all the costs.
These are the top red flags clients share:
- Red Flag One: Their employee base is growing, they have automated Payroll, but HR and Application Tracking still involves tons of paper.
- Red Flag Two: Their departments require 2-3 or more full time clericals, and they are always swamped.
- Red Flag Three: They can’t keep up with employee status changes and are frustrated by complaints.
- Red Flag Four: They need better reporting re applicant job sites to better utilize advertising expenses.
- Red Flag Five: They need to automate & streamline their job application process.
- Red Flag Six: They need to receive applicant documents in digital format, from the applicant.
- Red Flag Seven: They need to automate and streamline their offers and on boarding process.
- Red Flag Eight: They need reviews, goals and warnings if any documented.
- Red Flag Nine: They would prefer to have a few highly qualified HR/ PR people instead of an ocean of clerks.
- Red Flag Ten: They need to accomplish all of this for approximately the same amount.
Thanks for taking the time to review ‘Top Ten Red Flags Our Clients Share Regarding Human Resources & Payroll’ but if there are additional questions you need to address, please let me know;
I’m here to help you Move Your Company Forward