Why Use a Consultancy?
In today's complex business landscape, efficient payroll management is more critical than ever. But is getting a second opinion worthwhile for businesses in 2024? Today, I want to explore the reasons behind why one would want to approach a consultancy when trying to wrangle an unruly payroll.
What we typically see across any industry and sector is, as companies grow and the regulations evolve, many organisations find themselves grappling with outdated systems. This means compliance risks, operational inefficiencies, or even missed pay cycles. This is where payroll professionals will find themselves working their normal day to day role, while also having to be project managers and acquisition specialists. However, leveraging an independent payroll consultancy can make a significant difference.
Every business has its unique set of challenges when it comes to payroll. While sometimes it can be good to lean on any communities or ex-colleagues that you have access to, the experience from a good independent consultancy can be invaluable when tasked to provide the required customised solutions that address specific pain points where the solution may not be immediately obvious.
At TLG, we remain entirely confidential on the specifics of the work we do and the clients we do it for. But I can provide an example where we worked with a UK-based public healthcare company. With around 20,000 employees, the issues they were dealing with were industry standards: decentralised processes and outdated technology. What they needed was a centralised payroll system that would give the right teams the right oversight. However, running business as usual already took up all the payroll teams contracted hours. At the time of our first contact with them, the project had been ongoing for half a year but had only reached RFI stage with a few software vendors. These vendors were one that were already known to the wider team from before and most would admit that their offering was not exactly fit for purpose.
By streamlining processes and implementing modern solutions, independent payroll consultancies can help businesses achieve significant cost savings.
Many businesses struggle with outdated payroll systems that are not integrated with their HR and finance software. Running a project to introduce a system that is not fit for purpose can waste time, money, and resources that would only result in tech debt that would need to be addressed a few years down the line. In the above example, TLG were able to use their market knowledge to do a more thorough and dedicated search of the whole market. Independent consultancies are uniquely positioned to guide companies through the process of modernising their technology stack because they don’t have to adhere to the monopolies created by the largest vendors. After a selection process from shortlisted suppliers, the implemented system resulted in a 35% reduction in processing times, which more than paid for the extension to the project by bringing in a third party.
Accurate and timely payroll processing is crucial for employee morale and satisfaction. As much as we wouldn’t like to admit it, not a lot of people would stick around to work if you stopped paying them. Sometimes, the systems that we used in the past are outgrown by a business’ success. Managing older legacy contract fulfilment, changing laws around minimum wage and sick pay, maternity pay; there are a lot of reasons why time can not favour a system that isn’t flexible. As businesses grow and evolve, their payroll needs change. Independent consultancies can provide solutions that are scalable and adaptable to future needs that payroll professionals may not realise are possible.
Often times, the work needed to patch up the leaks doesn’t leave the wriggle room to look for better ways of working.
If you feel that your company could make use of an objective third party in your selection process, get in touch today.