As promised, I am back again to discuss a few of the strategies I employed as Payroll Manager and some of the questions I asked myself along the way. Let’s start with a few simple things that can quickly help you move forward with your work.
Become Excel Savvy. In many instances we obtain the data we require in a spreadsheet for continued analysis and manipulation. Becoming an “advanced” spreadsheet user is most important. There are a multitude of functions available that are incredible time-savers and also mitigate the possibility of errors. Experiment with the various functions available or better yet, take a course. You will be surprised how easy Excel functions are to utilize and you will be more than pleased with the results of your “spreadsheet safari”.
Survey your colleagues. Send out a questionnaire to your colleagues via email or through the associations you belong to asking how they run their processes. Or perhaps pick up the phone and inquire about their experiences. Leveraging off the knowledge of others who have successfully worked through the same challenges you are now facing will put you on the road to saving time and money.
Include your staff in problem resolution. There is no one better than your front-line workers to be part of the review team. They work with the system and the processes and have real experiences, real frustration, and real opinions on what the problem is and what the best solution or result should/could be.
Back to the 5 W’s. In my last blog I asked a lot of basic questions involving the who, what, where, when and why of how to better understand and find solutions to the technical challenges that come our way as Payroll Managers. Today I am going to catapult us forward into the question that inevitably faces many of us throughout our careers. A big question that most shy away from or simply put off confronting as long as possible.
And the question is...
This question creates a whole new series of questions, such as:
- Who needs to be involved in the decision to change our system?
- What are we looking for in a new system?
- Where do we look for a new system? Survey colleagues? Survey, Accounting / Business Management firms? Search on the Internet?
- When is the best time to do it?
- Why do we want to change?
- Why do we need to change?
The wealth of knowledge we have at HRPLink is second to none when it comes to understanding what it is like to be in your shoes. That’s because many of us have been in your shoes. literally! Having worked as school board payroll managers in Ontario, our sales team know what it is like to be confronted by these questions first-hand.
Whether you are looking to discuss your short and long term goals or are just looking for a sincere and sympathetic ear, we are here to help and always have time for a chat.
Claude Clement, Subject Matter Expert HRPLink … claude@hrplink.com
(Thanks to Silvie Belanger for her wonderful editing skills) HRPLink … silvie@hrplink.com
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