Covid had a devastating impact on the hospitality industry. After all, it’s a tad tricky to accommodate and feed and water people when they’re shackled to their homes. The industry is recovering, with a 6.37% growth rate expected over the next five years. This is not as impressive as some would like, but that just means businesses have had more time to update their systems, increasing efficiency and growing margins.
HR and payroll were particularly ripe for change. Not just any old change, though. Carefully planned and implemented changes designed specifically for the industry. The kind of change that really should be managed with professionals by your side.
Here we are; ready, willing, and able to develop solutions (or a roadmap) for your HR and payroll needs.
Let’s go.
Steps to Align HR, Payroll & Finance Systems
You can’t exactly achieve your goals if you don’t know what they are. We’re not talking about vague ideas.
- We’re talking about proper definitions for your desired outcomes.
- We’re talking about a meticulous plan that coordinates tech, systems, and people.
- We’re talking about a launchpad from which you take your first steps.
Bundle them all together and you’ve got a roadmap that takes you through the entire transition process, from definitions to performance assessment.
It starts with:
Defining what success looks like for payroll accuracy and reporting
What do you want to achieve? Accuracy, yes. Tax compliance, yes. But your current system already does that. So, what else do you want?
- Enhanced strategic insights. Yes please.
- Transparency and clarity. Pretty please.
- Ownership of tasks (accountability). With sugar on top.
HR and payroll are intertwined. Changes in one, changes the other. You want to be absolutely certain the changes are positive, which is why the next steps focus a lot on payroll solutions.
Map integration points between time, payroll, and finance data
We said payroll and HR are intertwined and we weren’t lying. Integrating the two functions is the best way to boost performance. You want software solutions that:
- Unify employee records.
- Streamline operations across all locations.
- Enhance time management.
Time management is critical because many of those employed in hospitality are paid by the hour. With executive chefs earning an average of R150 per hour and lowly cooks a meagre average of R19 per hour.
Integrated payroll and time management systems collate hours worked to ensure the remuneration, deductions, and earnings are calculated.
Depending on the business and services provided, your integrated system should also include booking software. This calculates commissions and is especially important if commissions are tied to bookings.
Segment payroll by departments, outlets, and cost centres
You don’t need to be told that margins in the hospitality industry are relatively small. You don’t need to be told how important cost management is. But did you know that payroll software can help you save costs?
For instance, you can segment payroll data, which just means you can organise it into categories, like:
- Department
- Cost centre
- Entity (if you have multiple locations)
This provides a granular view of costs, so you can see what drives revenue and what bleeds cash flow. It’s better if you have a finance system with data centralisation because payroll can be integrated into the whole. This enables you to see all HR and payroll metrics and make informed decisions based on current information.
Prepare staff through change management, ESS demos, and training
The success of your new integrated HR and payroll system depends largely on buy-in from your employees, and this is not always readily forthcoming. It’s all about change, isn’t it? People don’t like it. They don’t trust it. Your job is to overcome resistance and convince your employees that the system has oodles of benefits for them. For instance:
- Online Employee Self-Service (ESS) portals provide access to a range of functions, like viewing pay stubs and submitting leave requests.
- Training sessions provide upskilling opportunities. Upskilling is pretty important, actually, as a survey on the importance of people strategies in HR saw it rocking at 52%. Upskilling enables employees to feel confident using the new system and leveraging all the new tools. There’s nothing like confidence to break down resistance.
- Inclusion. Letting employees manage some of their personal data and contribute to the efficiency of your company can do wonders for team building and even self-confidence in the workplace.
Basically, take care of your employees, make them feel valued, and they might push through their resistance just so they don’t let you down.
Build post-go-live reviews to track compliance, BI, and efficiency gains
Success isn’t built on a single action. It’s built and sustained by continuing action, like maintenance, monitoring, and regular evaluations. Let’s look at some specific areas that need ongoing attention.
- Compliance monitoring: Checking payroll accuracy, tax adherence, and compliance with labour laws (minimum wage and tip regulations).
- Invest in software solutions that automatically update according to changes in laws and regulations, especially tax submissions and employment equity reporting.
- Business Intelligence (BI) & efficiency gains: Cloud-based payroll solutions provide the centralised platform for HR and payroll data mentioned above.
- Consolidated real-time data is quickly and easily accessible, providing insights for strategic decision-making; for example, staffing needs during peak seasons inform workforce planning.
When it All Comes Together
In the end, integrating HR and payroll systems can lead to more satisfied employees. Automation ensures you’re always compliant with industry regulations, and always audit-(heaven forbid)-ready. Bring your employees along on the journey (it’s a roadmap, after all) to ensure they feel included and you’ll inspire them to reach new heights in service excellence.
Now, that is great news for your business, especially those tight little margins.
