Podcasts

An Effective Payroll Software Solution

This podcast was recorded at Connect & Simplify™ HQ in Wisconsin. We help hundreds of businesses (nationwide) with their payroll software needs. For many businesses in the 50-250 employee range, Connect & Simplify™ is a profitable or more effective alternative to full-time employees dedicating all or some of their time to managing the chaotic and complex problems of payroll.

Connect & Simplify™ – removing the stress of payroll management.

The results are in. HR professionals are taking a beating. They're overworked, drowning in paper, and looking for help. Total respect to all in the HR profession. And I mean that in a very pandering way. Roger here, human capital management consultant, marketing, creative, and host of Inside Connect and Simplify™, sponsored by The Benefit Companies. 

So just got back from the Wisconsin Sherm conference. There's an annual conference for members of the Society of Human Resource Management, where attendees get the latest information needed to take care of the employees at their company. This is also to make sure they are following all the best practices and laws to keep their company and their employees safe. Attendees range from those with years and years of experience to those fresh out of college and in their first HR gig. 

Speakers talk about everything HR from succession planning to hiring, to diversity, to marijuana testing, and COVID practices. Exhibitors like us at The Benefit Companies include insurance brokers, payroll vendors, benefits and retirement plan providers, and colleges and university promotional companies. As an exhibitor, our team talks with attendees about what they're dealing with in their work world. And every story is different and engaging. Here is my extensive research from the Sherm conference. 

HR struggles without payroll software.

My teammates, Tim and Barb were the primary voices for us this time and I was back up or in the bullpen when they needed a break. So I had a total of maybe 10 conversations with attendees while they had way more than I did. But out of those 10 conversations I heard, not surprisingly, these attendees were all struggling with administrative task workflow, too much paper recruiting, and a desire to make processes more automated. Again, my conclusion after these 10 or so conversations was, they all need us. I feel there is no further need for research. Want to hear a couple of examples? Of course you do. 

Multiple software vendors slow down payroll management.

I talked with an HR manager, let's call her Madonna, to protect her privacy company on the grill with 80 employees. Madonna is their entire HR team. As this company started and grew, they hired vendors for payroll, benefits and retirement planning. The three systems along with her own handling of the HR piece are not talking to each other and creating extra work as a result. She's mostly paper processes and needs to find a software solution to manage the entire HR piece from hiring and onboarding through enrollment and beyond. You could hear her voice it was a long past time to find a solution. But her biggest pain or immediate pain was certainly the management of the benefits program. And the lack of service the broker was providing, we will have an opportunity to tell her more about what we do and offer options to solve those pains.

Absence of payroll software creates inefficiencies.

Company story two has about 1000 employees and a team of three HR professionals taking care of them. The two HR pros I talked to let’s call them Thelma and Louise. They both joined the company in the past couple of years. Their previous companies had automated systems in place for HR, payroll, benefits, and retirement. Not so at the current company and they said repeatedly how everything was done on paper. Again, we will be talking to them soon as well. 

Non-sustainable software options lead to constant change.

And then there's the story about the company with 2500 employees across the country. They’re managing their workforce on a homegrown, homebuilt, workforce management system built by their IT team. It's not going to be sustainable going into the future. This HR Pro, let’s call her Adele, had a look of exhaustion on her face. We will be talking with her as well as she gets through enrollment at the end of the year here. She wants to talk about what's inevitably going to happen. It's a change for her and her company. And we confirm with her that she will have us in mind as those conversations develop. 

Redundant payroll processes delay progress.

One more kind of interesting chat, an old friend of mine on an HR team for a company of about 100 employees, we'll call Cher. Her main focus right now is recruiting and she hates the fact that in the process, candidates have to enter all their information twice. She's frustrated that leadership at her company does not see this as an issue. And the candidates will be opting out rather than applying because they put in their entire resume manually after submitting their resume. 

Why HR needs effective payroll software.

So again, after exhaustive research, my conclusions are as follows. One: HR hates paper and two: HR hates paper and spreadsheets. Three: HR would rather be doing human resources and processing making address changes, updating dependents, or doing the work themselves because their vendor partners can't seem to get it done right. Number four: HR does not mind telling me what's bothering them. I think they use conferences as therapy. Number five, HR wants simple, reliable, and efficient which leads to number six, which is we can help with all of that even the therapy part. Now to be clear, I'm not a licensed therapist. I'm an introvert that listens and hears everything. And as Chandler from friends would say, “I'm not good with advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” 

For conversations, one, two, and three, we will be in contact and will have a discovery chat about their pain, and what they might want to know about us. We'll see where those lead for conversation and they for sure can call me anytime to vent. Again, not a licensed therapist, but I listen. And we get along great. So I'm looking forward to that. Now I did additional research of the other vendors at this conference included, they all do one or two of the things that we do. But none of them do all the things we do. And none of them can do all of it in-house. 

A payroll software solution - Connect and Simplify™.

So best summed up maybe by one brand new attendee, she's fresh out of college and in her first HR gig, and she said, “Wow, you do all the things?” That may be our new marketing campaign. Connect and Simplify™, we do all the things. By the way, I think it's safe to say that none of these HR professionals can really afford to be away from their office for two or three days. But this time away is critical. It's educational, they get continuing education credits that keep current, and they get ideas on how to handle their workload. It gives them the opportunity to meet and connect with other professionals dealing with similar pain. So it is therapy. At the risk of getting written up, consider giving your HR team a hug or maybe just a fist bump, and tell them you appreciate them. They have a tough gig. Until next time, thanks for reading this episode of Inside Connect and Simplify™.

Inside Connect and Simplify™ is sponsored by The Benefit Companies and our trademarked human capital management platform Connect and Simplify™.