Interesting article from Richard Crespin on Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2012/02/20/the-path-to-prosperity-lies-through-h-r-thats-right-h-r/ Richard states: "Yet, if you want to see the global economy humming again, worker productivity on the rise, and people with good jobs, good pay, good benefits, and a good relationship with their employer, that path lies through H.R. No one gets a job, gets paid, gets benefits, or finds a job they love without going through H.R" Richard feels that all big government and organizational initiatives hinge on HR skills. For example, although HR doesn't create jobs, it certainly is key in filling those jobs and onboarding employees to be effective in them. This article caught my eye because here at StarGarden, we have geared our product development around just that concept. We feel that HR and Payroll are the resources in the organization that know exactly who employees are, what they do, and what they get paid. They are the first to know about hires and the first to know about terminations. We feel that all employee information, including information currently held by technical resources, should be managed by HR. We have all heard about employees who can still access the company network after they have been terminated. If the termination process launched by HR also controlled the authority in an organization, this type of security breach would be diminished. HR and the systems they use, need to be the central respository of all employee information (in our opinion :)).    

  In a recent article in the Canadian Payroll Association’s Dialogue magazine, vendors were asked to respond to several different questions about where we saw payroll moving to in the future. One of the questions posed to me was "What upcoming changes do you foresee in payroll technology?". I responded that technology today is about increased mobility and ease of use for users, enabling managers and employees to make smarter decisions at all times. Payroll, HR, and accounting systems have to be linked to provide real-time data about overtime, budgets and resources levels so that managers have the information they need to make the appropriate decisions. Self-service options will enable employees to have quick, easy access to their information. This was echoed in a September 12th article in the Canadian HR Reporter called "Letting Go of that Paper Trail". Reporter Shelley Ng, reiterates this point with her comments on how technological tools such as mobile apps are driving us to re-think how we conduct business: "The one technological innovation having the greatest impact on business — and payroll—is the smartphone. It’s hard to believe smartphones have been around for less than one decade because they’re now a necessity for most gen Ys, filling their need for immediate access to information 24-7 from virtually any location. In the last couple of years, tablets have entered the mainstream market and are having a similar impact. Smartphones, tablets and apps are also solutions to meeting the needs of an increasingly mobile and global workforce. With more and more companies setting up branches in various countries, payroll must deal with multiple languages, customs, legalities and cultural expectations. Businesses can run payroll through a mobile device, anytime from anywhere, and send electronic pay stubs to employees. Through a mobile payroll app, employers can now submit payroll figures directly from a smartphone. Eventually, they will be able to add and edit employee profiles and enter time information quickly. It won’t be long before the entire payroll function can be done from a mobile device. Imagine having workers from around the globe submitting their hours via their mobile devices and then paying them through a mobile wallet or mobile-enabled payroll card. There are many more emerging technologies, such as cloud computing, that will help the role of payroll professionals evolve into that of an essential strategic business partner providing trend data and analytics and ensuring compliance in an increasingly litigious environment. One thing is certain: The next few years are going to be an exciting time for payroll specialists."    

Economic downturns resulting in weakened revenues is one of the many challenges that federal, provincial, and municipal finance officers face. As a consequence, some difficult decisions must be made including which programs to reduce funding to or stop funding altogether. These budget cuts impact government employees as well as the greater citizen population as service levels have to be reduced and dedicated employees have to be laid off. Administrators, Finance and Budget Officers must come up with innovative scenarios to perform this juggling act. Is there an easier way to get at the right data for planning without painstaking manual work, jeopardizing the current knowledge base while preventing legal risks? One solution is to review the government’s labor managementsystem. Labor costs can often be one of the largest line items of a city’s yearly budget, yet many struggle with being able to reconcile actual labor costs with their budgeted costs. StarGarden has developed an integrated Human Resource, Payroll and  Scheduling system that allows the organization to capture detailed time transactions and cost and analyze those transactions appropriately which provides useful information to aid decision-making. With this data, answers to keyquestions such as “Why do we have rising overtime?”, “Why are our managers not scheduling to the budget?”, “What departments face greater overtime issues than others?" can be answered.

Do you need a new Payroll System? [More]

Most facilities outsource payroll for the same reason: since payroll isn’t a core
competency, it can easily be taken care of by a third party. The myth is that HR
departments will be freed of the burden of processing paychecks. The reality is often
another story.

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