Employers should strive to achieve consistent and usable systems
for transmitting and collecting payroll and career-advancement data to employees in different countries, speakers
said May 7 at the 2013 American Payroll Association Congress in
Grapevine, Texas.
For payroll and related data to be useful, employees must be able to work with the information on tablet computers and mobile
phones, as well as on desktop and laptop computers, said Chris
Bradshaw, vice president of Automatic Data Processing Inc.'s GlobalView Implementations
(Americas).
Employees are increasingly interested in businesses having an
effective web presence for mobile devices, which makes it even more
important that the employees are able to access the information
they need using these systems, Bradshaw said.
Standardizing the acquisition and delivery of data from one
country of operation to another can improve the degree to which
informed decisions can be made, Bradshaw said. Consistent
systems, rather than customized systems, can cut costs, he
said.
The employer-employee relationship can be made more effective if
employers have consistent payroll processes, such as pay
slips, for the different countries where employees work,
Bradshaw said.
Expanding employees' points of access to payroll information
also can improve the perception that the employer's global
electronic payroll systems are useful, Bradshaw said.
Live online chats and other forms of social
media are some of the ways that employers can expand how
employees access services, Bradshaw said.
An audit of existing systems should precede efforts
to modify payroll systems to accommodate a global workforce.
The audit would determine what should be adjusted, said Leslie Fier,
director of global payroll at Pall
Corp. of Port Washington, N.Y.
Periodically analyzing the effectiveness and accuracy of
existing processes also can help employers to manage its global
workforce, Fier said.
Determining before a revision plan is implemented whether
sufficient resources are available to complete the systems or
process revision is essential, Fier said.
Developing a detailed timeline for completing systems or process
revisions can help employers effectively accomplish the revisions,
Fier said.
By Howard Perlman