Although companies may be experiencing operational difficulties, the last ripple effects of the global health crisis should not materially affect companies in the midst of transformation projects if they are given the right attention.

In a global payroll transformation, the goal is to align and centralise payroll and HR functions for multiple countries, consolidating them through a global or regional organisation, to capitalise skills, resources and tools to leverage common process and practice across countries.

Ian Sparrow, VP Payroll Strategy at ADP, recently explained that although companies may continue navigating operational difficulties, the global health event should not materially affect companies in the midst of transformation projects given the right attention. "This situation is not driving any significant new impacts that can't be managed through a solid project plan," he said.

There are many people and systems involved in transitioning to a shared payroll and HR organisation. From communicating the upcoming change to employees and training them on new systems to bringing operations on board for data migration and system implementation, ADP's global transformation teams have the experience and expertise to guide clients through the process. The key, says Sparrow, is to continue to track milestones. "Deliverable milestones tell you where you are in the project, and these data points help identify if deliverables will get off track and then proactive measures can be taken to compensate and continue moving forward." Keeping momentum up is important: slowing down activities is fine, but stopping can create challenges as restarting projects often creates delays or redundancies of good work already completed

3 Steps to Keeping Global Projects on Track

  • Track project milestones.
  • Communicate openly and regularly between client and provider.
  • Look to slow or phase projects when needed to adjust milestones rather than stop.

Every project should have checks and balances that allow managers to monitor progress and maintain momentum. Even in a situation like the current environment, a well-managed, well-controlled project with good check points can be successfully implemented. For organisations thinking about global payroll transformation, now can still be a good time to begin planning. This is an ideal time to look at whether your organisation is best prepared to handle things like furloughs, legislative changes, and alternative pay methods should something like this happen in the future.

As a leader in global Human Capital Management, ADP works with businesses in more than 140 countries on these transformational projects every day to support multi-country payroll and HR. During the global health crisis, there were many potential opportunities for disruption of ADP's activities, however due to the company's robust global business resiliency programme, essential services and operations were sustained while maintaining a safe work environment for employees. This is due to ADP's strong infrastructure, long term investment in business continuity preparedness, and legislative expertise. Partnering with ADP on global payroll transformation can help you keep payroll running even when it's not business as usual.

Original article by ADP Spark.