In a very vibrant environment, we had a perfect agenda and mix of speakers:

• Optimizing Staffing and Recruitment Strategies, by Nick Day (JGA Recruitment)
• Essential Compliance Updates for Payroll Providers, by Mat Akrigg (CIPP)
• How customer demands are changing, by Lara Smart (LSC Group)
• The Importance of Technology for Enhanced Payroll Services, by Trevor Townsend (Payzaar)

In this blog, I’ll summarise the key insights that inspired attendees and left me thinking while boarding the plane back to Amsterdam: 

Are customers' expectations aligned with what providers can, or must, deliver?

Insights from our event

(These will make you want to join one of our next events!)

I thought payroll was complex; try solving the talent jigsaw!

If you have ever listened to Nick Day’s podcast, you know how passionate he is about the payroll industry and attracting, recruiting, engaging, and retaining top payroll talent. You should see him live! Wow, that man has a lot of energy and is a super engaging speaker.

He gave real insights into how companies and payroll service providers can attract talent, including where talent is located, who they follow, which companies have gained talent, and how. He then posed the question: 

Are you looking in the right places? 

We (myself included) assume everyone is on LinkedIn and responds to each message; nope, not anymore. Especially not Gen Z who even use TikTok for company engagement and recruitment!

So, where do you find them to them attract them?

The key here is to be super visible, generate brand awareness, and engagement, and show how the culture game is played. However, you would then need to “penetrate” the social networks, like the old-fashioned ones, to find them and get them to react, which isn’t easy. 

So, just like you outsource payroll to best-in-class providers, do the same with attracting talent; just message Nick and he and his team will take care of you.

Once you have attracted and recruited your talent, the next challenge awaits: 

How do you keep them engaged? 

A very relevant quote from Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft) was shared to summarise it all:

‍“A company’s ability to adapt to change is proportional to its ability to attract, retain, and develop the right talent.”

So, invest in your people, my friends. At the end of the day, payroll is a people’s game.

The UK is supposed to be one of the “less complex” countries

The King’s Speech. Do you remember that movie from 2010? I’ve watched it like 10 times already, it's a great movie. But I can never watch it again, as Mat gave us a run-down of the King’s Speech related to the UK legislative updates, which included (amongst others):

• Pension Schemes Bill
• Changes to the National Minimum Wage (NMW)
• Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
• Employment Rights Bill
• Neonatal Care Leave and Pay
• Hours worked on RTI
• Mandating payrolling benefits

Not only did Mat make this topic extremely interesting, but he also made me realize again that delivering a compliant payroll is super complex. If you think of all the legislative changes that focus on securing employment rights in line with the current state of society, you truly appreciate the payroll providers.

However, it’s hard to keep up to date with all the changes. Those changes often require change from their customer’s side in HR policies, processes and how the relevant data is shared with the providers, who can interpret and process this to compliant outputs.

My plea, therefore, is that providers inform their customers fully and customers give their providers the right data. Don’t forget: Rubbish in, non-compliance out, and it does take two to tango.

Customer demands are changing; do providers adopt them? 

Lara smartly presented the change in customer demands, what this means for a provider, and how they should adapt to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Her call to action for providers was to recognise one size does not fit all and, with that, be super transparent about your core strengths:

• Do you knwo what they are? Ask your customers.
• How well do you leverage them? Ask your customers.

Get down from the ivory tower and get out there! Ask your customers and engage with them. Yes, that can be scary, but they are the ones to ask. This can be done through measurements like CSAT, NPS, or CES.

Aside from your customers, Lara also shared great insights regarding innovation and the need for customers to focus on operational excellence (to drive down operational costs). The framework shared impressed me; it is simple yet all-encompassing: automation, people and relationships, cost-effective investment, and pay-on-demand. Review this as a provider and see how you stack up against these customer demands.

If you need help figuring out where to start, contact Lara. She helps out with each side of the business, as she has been there.

Meet the customer where they are, and you’ll succeed

Our very own Trevor, in unique Trevor style (he should trademark that!), delivered insights on how top services require tech that supports both providers and their customers; the best of both worlds, so to speak.

The custom environment remains complex:

• Despite huge investments into global HCMs, a multitude of systems are loosely connected or siloed.
• Change is the default setting that generates “work”. But, do more with the same, or less.
• There continues to be a great push for globalization but, simultaneously, a pull toward hyperlocalization; it's a bit of a dilemma.
• The employee experience does become a topic for attracting and retaining company payroll talent.

So, how do providers respond to those? He argued that overcoming the challenges of off-the-shelf software with limited control, email and spreadsheet-based processes, and overall inefficiency, drives down profitability while not meeting customer expectations. 

So, what now?

It’s all about data and adaptable microservices. Payroll providers with great services may go a long way, but in the end, they aren't there to stay (that rhymed, by the way!) Trevor, therefore, proposes combining services with connectivity based on no/low code: this is adaptable, deployable, and scalable. You can then meet your customers where they need you in their complex and hybrid landscape.

So, what’s next?

We are already planning our next in-person event, so be on the lookout for an invite in your inbox and on social media (should we also get on TikTok?). 

To answer the question I asked myself while boarding the plane back home: Are customers' expectations aligned with what providers can or must deliver? I would say:

• Customers are finding out what they want, need, and don’t need.
• Providers are getting clearer on bridging the gap between supply and demand.

It’s a matter of time till the gap is bridged. How soon? It depends on the appetite for change. Let’s watch this space closely! I for one, sure will. 

See you in Barcelona (Oops, did I just give it away?)