COVID-19 has driven significant societal and organisational changes that leaders were once hesitant to even consider. As the world moves towards an endemic stage, business leaders are taking the opportunity to relook at their work flows, leveraging on the lessons and practices executed during the pandemic. What does the future of work look like in the aftermath of a pandemic?
McKinsey Global Institute recently published a report on key work trends in the post-pandemic era, exploring the changes and future trends brought about by the pandemic. The study looked at labor markets in 8 countries: China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom and United States – in which the cumulative population accounts for around half of the entire world’s population and 62 percent of global GDP.
WORK FROM HOME AND ONLINE MEETINGS WILL CONTINUE
In the post-pandemic work, work from home arrangements and virtual meetings are likely to continue, albeit less frequently during the peak of the pandemic. According to a Gartner, Inc survey of 317 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Finance leaders in 2020, close to 3 out of 4 CFOs plan to shift at least 5% of their previously on-site employees to permanently remote positions post COVID-19. CFOs, who are under pressure to minimise costs, recognise the cost benefits of a remote workforce. The same idea resonates with a lot of employees today. In fact, a study ran by Harvard Business Review in 2020 on how workers can become more productive revealed that during lockdown, workers are more productive in the short term. Employees were able to focus better and take responsibility of their own tasks.
However, there are certainly challenges and concerns raised such as team management or relationship building. Hence, the hybrid working model came about, in which employees have the flexibility to work remotely on certain days and on-site for other parts of the week.
COMPANIES ARE ACCELERATING USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND AUTOMATION
COVID-19 has resulted in organisations scrambling to set up remote accesses for employees in bid to keep operations going as countries go into lockdown. It also casts a spotlight on the level of technology that organisations have put in place internally. In organisations where technology is readily available, the biggest challenge is integrating new habits and management practices for employees to adapt and work in partnership with the technology available to them. At the same time, organisations face the difficulty in maximising employees’ potential while ensuring that they stay engaged and connected.
While the pandemic has shown how technology can augment and complement work, it does not replace the human touch that certain industries and roles need. Consider how telemedicine, education and even door-to-door delivery have leveraged on technology to facilitate business operations. According to McKinsey’s global study on 800 senior managers across multiple industries, two-thirds have indicated that they intend to increase their investment in automation and artificial intelligence. Technology today no longer merely substitutes administrative and mundane work processes, but acts as a collaboration tool within the workplace.
JOBS WITH HIGHER HUMAN TOUCHPOINTS ARE LIKELY TO REDUCE IN THE POST-PANDEMIC ERA
During the peak of the pandemic, frontline employees in non-essential services such as bank tellers or post officers shifted to a virtual work arrangement. As employees and customers gradually adapt to this type of virtual services, business leaders are recognising the benefits of such hybrid arrangement – where the majority of their services can be executed virtually with an in-person stationed at work premises to address critical or urgent issues. Organisations are able to reap savings on rental and labour costs without compromising on their level of customer service.
ORGANISATIONS SHIFT THEIR FOCUS TO REDESIGNING JOBS
Given that the hybrid working model looks to stay, organisations need to look at redesigning jobs to adapt to the new way of working. The pandemic has shown how resilient and adaptable people can be, assuming new roles and even contributing to opportunities in different business functions and industries. Organisations need to consider how to motivate and continue to offer new opportunities to employees. This starts with doubling down on relooking and redesigning work scopes and tasks to drive remote work opportunities.
At the same time, we also saw how organisations and their payroll management schemes continually adapt and keep on top of the ever-changing schemes implemented by the Singapore Government to support employees through this difficult and uncertain time. Digitalisation, automated work processes and flexible working arrangements were some of the adjustments that organisations had to make in order to ensure employees are still paid their salaries in a timely and accurate manner.
Considering the way COVID-19 has impacted businesses and operations, organisations may have identified certain limitations in terms of HR operational processes when it comes to working remotely. As a result, many organisations and HR professionals recognise that there is a need to improve their payroll operations. Here are some of the payroll management trends that we can expect after the COVID-19 pandemic.
INCREASED NEED FOR CLOUD-BASED PAYROLL SOFTWARE
The move towards a remote-working arrangement during the pandemic means that running payroll on excel spreadsheets or on-premise payroll software becomes extremely challenging and complex. The first limitation is the lack of accessibility, in which payroll staff are unable to physically go back to office to use the organisation’s payroll software. The second limitation is data security. Payroll contains sensitive and confidential information. Processing payroll outside of the organisation’s IT systems and servers exposes the data to potential security breaches and hackers.
The pandemic has highlighted an imperative need for advanced payroll systems that are accessible to employees regardless of location or geographies. Cloud-based payroll software addresses those limitations by allowing remote access to payroll data, eliminating the need for payroll staff to be physically present in the office while ensuring that the necessary data security controls are in place. Most cloud-based payroll software are also able to integrate other HR functions such as time-tracking and tax filing as well as regular software updates to ensure compliance with changes in employment laws and statutory contributions. This allows organisations to streamline standalone HR processes onto a unified HR platform, ensuring accurate and compliant payroll despite remote work arrangements.
ROBUST REMOTE DATA SECURITY
While businesses gradually adapt to the new norm of hybrid working, data security within payroll software becomes an increasingly critical focal point for organisations today. According to Shred-It’s 2018 State of the Industry report, they found that more than 80% of C-suites in North America believe that the risk of a data breach is higher when employees work remotely. As organisations move towards adopting a hybrid work arrangement, in which employees are allowed to work a certain number of days remotely and the rest of the days in office, this means having to overhaul internal security controls to strengthen data procedures. Particularly in the case of payroll processing, where payroll staff have to handle sensitive and confidential payroll and employee records, it is imperative to introduce new data security protocols as well as educate employees on data security procedures.
Some of the new data security controls that organisations can put in place include multi-factor authentication (MFA) which requires the user to go through a two or more steps verification process before they are able to access the payroll system. Other controls could include introducing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) instead of using unsecured WiFi networks to access payroll if it happens to be a cloud-based payroll platform. Besides implementing new data security protocols, payroll staff should also be trained on the internal data security procedures and well-equipped with the necessary knowledge to handle potential payroll data breaches.
INTEGRATION OF PAYROLL SYSTEM WITH HRMS
The shift towards hybrid in-office and remote working also stresses the need for integration of payroll software with other HR functions, such employee attendance, leave application, and expenses management. Organisations can consider platforms such as Human Resource Management System (HRMS) that supports the full spectrum of payroll functions.
Remote working means that there are certains limitations if HR functions were executed on individual software or platforms. This could include delayed payroll processing times, inaccurate employee records, failure to accurately capture employees’ reimbursement, delayed expenses reimbursement and more. By integrating payroll with the organisation’s human capital management system (HCMS) or HRMS, this facilitates accurate tracking and record-keeping of employees’ details and payroll information. This also means that salary items such as leave applications, expenses claims or allowances are automatically captured during payroll processing. The result? Minimal payroll errors, high payroll accuracy and timely salary disbursement which in turn leads to happy and engaged employees
When considering the impact that the COVID-10 pandemic had on payroll, it is clear that traditional payroll processes will change. While it is difficult to predict what the exact changes are, organisations need to be agile and adapt quickly to the changes. Besides automating administrative processes and leveraging on technology to streamline workflows, it is also crucial to ensure that payroll remains accurate and compliant at all times. In these current times where hybrid-remote working becomes the new norm, organisations have to find ways to ensure payroll remains highly efficient and cost effective.
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