Human resources and payroll professionals don’t have it easy! Not only do they have to deal with the standard challenges of running an office, but they also have to deal with the specific requirements of employment laws.
From writing employment contracts to sending out tax forms, HR and payroll professionals are responsible for so much more than just employee-related processes. In order to help you overcome these challenges, we’ve put together a list of five common issues that HR and payroll professionals face every day at work, as well as some suggestions on how to deal with them.
1. Unclear Employee Roles
In a lot of companies, everyone seems to have a different understanding of their role—even those who are high up in an organization. An employee’s actual job responsibilities should be communicated clearly from day one. An HR professional can help drive home employee expectations.
When expectations are clear, employees can manage their time more effectively and take pride in their work because they know exactly what’s expected from them at any given moment. Businesses that have well-defined roles for each employee tend to see higher levels of productivity, which leads to greater profits overall.
Direct reports do not understand company policies: It goes without saying that every member on your team should be aware of your company’s culture and processes; however, it is equally important that direct reports understand how you expect them to approach certain situations.
2. Conflicting Policies
As an HR professional, one of your main tasks is to keep company policies—particularly those concerning hiring, compensation, training, performance management, time off, etc.—as consistent as possible.
But what happens when you have multiple HR teams across different offices or departments? Having clear lines of communication among all employees is essential for overcoming these types of challenges.
Plus: It’s important to understand how policy violations happen and why; that way you can keep watch for violations earlier on rather than later.
3. Disorganized Records
Records are just that—records. They’re evidence of how a business has operated in a given time period. When you have disorganized records, it becomes hard to calculate your costs for an accurate payroll or invoice. It can also lead to errors when calculating taxes on payroll payments, which could land you in hot water with local authorities.
If your books are disorganized, start by putting all of your pay stubs into separate files by employee name. From there, organize them chronologically so all of your transactions are easily accessible and dated if necessary for audits or legal proceedings. Make sure to add notes (like wages withheld for state taxes) to make sure they make sense later.
4. Ineffective Communication Tools
When you’re communicating with your employees, it’s essential to use effective communication tools. If you’re not using proper tools, it’s easy for your message to get lost or misinterpreted. Ideally, you should be using: Employee handbooks:T
These documents contain rules and information that all employees must know and understand. They help ensure everyone has a common understanding of company policies and benefits.
Having well-documented policies also makes it easier for employers to defend against lawsuits if an employee ever makes a complaint about wrongful termination, sexual harassment or other issues.
Employees will feel more secure about what is expected of them if they have read these documents thoroughly. Word-of-mouth communication can cause misunderstandings among staff members, particularly in large organizations where people do not work closely together every day.
5. Expensive Outsourcing Costs
One of today’s most vexing business challenges is finding a solution to expensive outsourcing costs. As a hiring manager, you’re all too familiar with how it works: Candidates demand more money when they realize that your company pays a lower salary than other firms in your industry.
And since employee retention rates are going up while unemployment rates go down, it can feel like every time you find an amazing new hire, he or she leaves for another company after just a few months.
In many cases, it doesn’t have to be that way—but in order to avoid these pitfalls, you have to solve for employee churn from day one by building personal connections with employees from day one.
6. Multiple payroll periods
Many payroll service providers are limited to bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly cycles for processing payroll. If you have a company with two or more payroll cycles in a month, your payroll provider may not be able to handle it. Another solution is to hire an outside firm for your second period, which can cost thousands of dollars extra each year.
Work closely with your payroll provider to avoid these situations in advance—ideally before you sign on with them. One option is to set up monthly direct deposits into employees’ personal accounts for cash flow purposes; however, that approach doesn’t reflect changes in hourly rates over time.
How payroll software can help in overcoming the Payroll and HR challenges
You can use some payroll software like UZIO that streamlines all those tedious tasks, allowing you to focus on more important parts of your job. As a result, your day-to-day life will become easier and you’ll be able to offer an even better service to your employees.
Before making any big changes, talk with a professional – there are payroll services out there that can help. They can provide insights into what would work best for your business’s size, structure, etc., as well as consider factors such as budget constraints. The bottom line is… it’s time for a change!
Now is the perfect time to get prepared for tax season (and ensure all your forms are filed accurately), learn about deductions (and how they might impact cost), and increase productivity in preparation for end-of-year data management—all while cutting costs through payroll software. Take advantage of these great opportunities!
So there you have it. These are just a few of what we believe to be common challenges you might experience as an employee. It’s important to note that every organization is different, and many of these same challenges can apply to other departments like IT or marketing.
While we can’t control every aspect of our lives, we can take steps toward correcting problems that arise and ensuring those around us understand how best to help us meet those needs. We can learn from our experiences as well as others to ensure every day gets better.
