Payroll Strategy Development: Payroll on a Page Part 2 - Customer

The success of any business is defined by its ability to meet the satisfaction of its customers needs. 

Replace the word ‘business’ in this statement with ‘payroll operation’ and read the statement again. Did we just beautifully marry the payroll department with a customer centric approach? Hear me out…  Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas starts with a look at customers by answering three questions: First, who are our customers? Second, what type of relationships do we have with them? And third, how do we reach them?

1. Customer Segments

Here we simply take a moment to consider who our value proposition targets. In other words, [customer] in the opening statement. This inherently also requires a review of what exactly we have to offer said clients. If we look from the inside out, we’ll typically see something like this:

Employees: confidentiality; accuracy and timeliness; records (payslips, taxes, etc.); benefit information; query management

Managers: reports; consistency; company policy application; query management; compensation budget control

HR: advise; compliance; pay reviews; overpayments; underpayments; leaves of absence; query management; benefits management; compensation budget control

Finance: year-end reporting; executive management compensation; general ledgers; compliance; record keeping; compensation budget control

Governments: timely and accurate reporting; compliant calculations

2. Customer relationships

Now that we have an idea about who our customers are, let’s think about what type of relationship we have with each of them. More specifically, what is the value-add that we bring to the relationship with each of our customers. This must, at a minimum, include record keeping and digitisation; coupled with curating sensitive employee data. Speaking of the data that the payroll department have, we are beginning to see how payroll analytics are shaping societies, for example pay policy changes based on equal pay audits. In recent times, we’ve also seen payroll revalidate its seat at the table by being quick and efficient with providing its customers with tax information concerning the impact of remote working. Omnichannel approaches to reaching our customers requires that these channels be integrated, which quite often requires payroll systems to plug into other systems, and not the other way around. No one is replacing their ERP or HCM because the payroll system cannot automatically integrate.

3. Channels

Businesses need omnichannel solutions. We know that simply by looking at the multitude of ways we connect with, for example, our banks. Post, e-mail, telephone, internet portals and various social media platforms.

Organisations are under constant pressure to establish a presence on the latest social media platform to reach their customers. Payroll services, though, not only have to communicate with a plethora of customers; they also have to communicate with these customers through interconnected and integrated channels. Primary examples of which are the Single-Touch Payroll system in Australia, and the RTI system in the United Kingdom.

Consider the characteristics of each customer segment to establish the most appropriate way to interact with them. Some interactions might be governed by local laws, like the requirement to submit tax reports to authorities via mail or on an online portal. Others might depend more on the appetite for tech investment at your organisation; leveraging the latest and greatest HR chatbot usually comes at a hefty price.

Any way you look at it, customer service represents your brand image, mission, and values. The reward for suffering through months of payroll tax preparation and filings, suffering through the subsequent months of audits, and still maintain the highest customer service for your employees, is that you get to call yourself a Payroll Professional.

P.S: If none of the above convinced you that the opening statement applies to payroll, here’s what the Merriam-Webster dictionary had to say:

References

1. Osterwalder, Alexander; Pigneur, Yves; Clark, Tim (2010). Business Model Generation: A Handbook For Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Strategyzer series. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470876411. OCLC 648031756. With contributions from 470 practitioners from 45 countries.