Navigating the Payroll Function's Path Forward: A story of hope

We recently sat down with our COO, Rudi De Roeck, who shared his unique perspective on the current state of the payroll function. Drawing from his 40 years of experience navigating the payroll trenches, Rudi painted a story of hope, rather than one of despair.

"Everyone is familiar with Dante's Inferno and the 9 circles of hell he describes," Rudi begins. "To make the payroll function attractive to new  talent, we will have to avoid them having to step through a gate with the sign 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here' above it."

It's a daunting challenge, but one that Rudi and the Paybix team are determined to tackle head-on. They are ready to attack each of those nine rings with unwavering determination, armed with a strategic plan to set the payroll industry on a path towards a brighter future.

The first phase, aptly named the "Foundation," lays the groundwork for lasting change. Technology, people, and processes – these are the three pillars that must be firmly in place.

"Unlike for 'soft HR', there are not dozens of ways to achieve the goal for 'hard HR'," Rudi explains. "Technology is the genesis for an accurate, compliant, and timely payroll. And so, payroll technology must meet the highest standards. Full stop."

But technology alone is not enough. Payroll talent is a scarce resource, and companies must prioritize the optimal training and deployment of their teams. Centralization, Rudi suggests, can be a powerful tool, allowing payroll activities to be performed more efficiently across geographies.

With the foundation firmly in place, the function can then shift its focus to the "Acceleration" phase, tackling challenges such as service delivery models, governance, and performance insights. This will help the payroll function soar to new heights, leaving the depths of the underworld behind.

The final push, the "Promotion" phase, is all about elevating the payroll profession within the organization. Through advocacy, budgetary support, and a sharp vision and roadmap, Rudi believes payroll can be recognizedas a strategic partner, rather than just a back-office function.

"By addressing the 9 circles, you can help ascend the payroll function towardsa brighter future, making it an attractive and rewarding career path for new talent," Rudi concludes, his eyes shining with optimism.

It's a bold and ambitious plan, to be sure. But for those willing to take on the challenge, the payroll function may just emerge from the depths, ready to shine as a beacon of innovation and excellence.

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About Paybix

Paybix offers integrated payroll solutions to multi-country employers, based on its global payroll platform Epix. The Paybix platform unifies and digitizes global payroll operations leveraging on digitized and localized payroll data exchange with ICPs. The beauty of the platform is its plug-and-play nature, allowing seamless integration with any ICP and minimizing the implementation effort to be done by payroll administrators. The platform reduces significantly the time spent on monthly payroll processing both for the employer and its ICPs and offers detailed insights into the composition and labor cost of an international workforce. Paybix has partner agreements with numerous ICPs, covering in total more than 100 countries.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us. If you want more insights in our unified processing offer using Epix you can check this out.

Would you like to attend one of our live demos? Then make sure to check our monthly events here.

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