CIPP future of payroll research report 2020

CIPP future of payroll research report 2020

FUTURE OF PAYROLL RESEARCH REPORT 2020 The CIPP’s Future of Payroll report has been made possible through the collaboration of a high number of payroll professionals within the United Kingdom, and the support of JGA, Workday and Zellis

Produced by Lora Murphy, policy and research officer, CIPP

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

CIPP FOREWORD Our third Future of Payroll report falls within a challenging year for the payroll community. Payroll professionals have quite literally been keeping the UK paid through the coronavirus pandemic, as have payroll colleagues across the globe. And, whilst this has been challenging and has felt like a thankless task over the months since national lockdown on 23 March, it is no doubt changing the future of the profession. The survey which informed this report was distributed approximately eight weeks into lockdown, and therefore the results give some insight into how payroll is being affected by world events.

Ken Pullar FCIPP Chief executive officer, CIPP

Whilst traditionally seen as a threat, respondents to this year’s survey confirmed the opportunities that they saw through the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation. Payroll professionals recognise that there is value in automating more transactional aspects of the role to enable them to focus on the human role of payroll, such as dealing with queries coming into the department. When asked about their payroll software strategy, respondents confirmed that they would seek specialist payroll software which integrated well with other specialist software, such as time and attendance or expenses. Therefore recognising this as a favourable approach to ensure skills of developers are not diluted and that software can be adapted quickly to deal with frequent changes to legislation, as was seen with some technology in relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). What is also apparent for 2020 is that employees are demanding more transparency in respect to pay, which has led to the introduction of various pay gap reporting. However, organisations don’t always follow this belief, with 59% stating that pay strategies should be confidential. It will be interesting to see if this changes over the coming years. Pay on demand remains very topical, increasingly so during the current global pandemic. But results show that this is not something that payroll professionals are looking to introduce in their organisations. Essentially, payroll professionals have concerns regarding the long-term financial wellbeing of employees where pay on demand can encourage them to fall into a cycle of debt. We recently ran a roundtable on this topic and will continue to discuss this theme throughout the coming year. Unsurprisingly flexible working and work-life balance are more important now than in previous years. Perhaps more so for payroll colleagues who have been working 12 hour days, seven days a week over recent months. Respondents stated that there have been more requests for home working than ever before, something which will no doubt increase as we come out of the national lockdown and pandemic.

It would be remiss to consider the future of payroll without considering the skills required of payroll professionals, and positively payroll professionals recognise the need to develop their leadership, technological and remote working skills.

Finally, there is still work to be done to recognise the value of payroll. Positively 60% stated that payroll is represented at board level; however, just 9% said that this was through the role of a payroll director. The remaining 51% split between finance and HR.

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HOWWILL TECHNOLOGY ENHANCE THE PAYROLL PROFESSION?

Workday foreword At Workday, we’re delighted to continue to partner with the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) for this year’s Future of Payroll report . Getting the results from this research is a highlight every year, and it’s interesting to get an insight into the trends that are fast emerging. The pressures on the payroll function continue to increase as the world changes, and as the way people work continues to adapt. Technology advances are bringing new solutions and pressures, and ensuring compliance with legislation continues to be a challenge. What strikes me in this year’s report is that payroll is starting to play a different role within organisations, and I think this is closely linked to payroll professionals embracing the change.

Daniela Porr Senior product, marketing manager, Workday

The challenges that 2020 is bringing to the workforce – and payroll professionals – have a special quality. We see them responding to COVID-19 and the related compliance and legislation changes, while managing the shift to remote work, a remote economy and remote payroll. We also see them taking measures to protect and support their workforce, and their businesses, as they prepare to recover and emerge from the crisis stronger. Responding to changes quickly requires a high level of agility, flexibility and resilience – and it’s impressive to see the payroll function responding in this way. Crises like this often intensify and speed up trends that were apparent before. And so it’s especially encouraging to see respondents are positive about technology, and embrace these advances as a way to enhance their role. Modern systems, including Workday, allow the use of automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence. And these technologies are seen as a way to make payroll more effective – freeing up time to focus on the more strategic elements. As a result, the value of the payroll function is increasing. It’s becoming increasingly recognised within organisations as payroll professionals can focus on strategic tasks, and become more involved with other departments. At Workday, we’re already seeing HR, time, absence, payroll, compensation and finance work closely together in some organisations. We’re also seeing more payroll departments have a seat at the table. They’re able to become a part of the conversation as they deliver unique insights based on real-time payroll >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18

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