Cloud computing and mobility bring a range of powerful benefits for HR and payroll managers, enabling them to become more efficient while offering their employees and the business a better quality of service.
That’s according to Anton van Heerden, MD of Sage HR & Payroll. “With software solutions like Sage Pastel Partner Flex, there are no annual licence fees or upfront costs, meaning that you don’t need to dip into your capital to afford a powerful, modern payroll and HR solution,” he says. “Clouds apps are convenient, powerful and flexible enough to support your needs, irrespective of the size of your business or the industry you are in.”
Van Heerden outlines four ways that mobile solutions and the cloud are making a difference in payroll & HR environments.
* Employee self-service for all – Employees today live on their smartphones, so it makes sense to deliver company information and services to them on their handsets. You should select an HR package that includes employee self-service functionality, enabling your employees to apply for leave, file business travel expenses, and update their personal information from their computers, smartphones or tablets. This is convenient for the employee, and also saves managers and the HR department a great deal of paperwork. Another useful feature is a mobile app that allows your employees to access payslips and leave balances from a secure online environment. Each employee will have access to a secure online profile where they can access copies of historic payslips in PDF format as well as detailed information about their leave records.
* E-learning everywhere – Electronic learning has gained massive traction in workplaces around the world, though some South African companies have been slower to embrace its potential. Today’s cloud and mobile e-learning solutions give companies even more flexibility to deliver training and education to their workforces, wherever they are.
* Service mash-ups – Cloud-based payroll and HR solutions can easily integrate with a range of online services that extend their functionality – for example, bank account validations and ID verifications. This allows you to easily ensure that the ID number and banking details you have for an employee are valid and correct from within the payroll application. These services are especially valuable when making use of electronic services to pay salaries, ensuring that you are paying salaries into the correct accounts and to the correct recipients.
* Value-added apps for employees – Once you’re interacting online and on mobile devices with your employees through employee self-service, you can build a range of value-added services into your apps and internal websites. For example, a salary tax calculator could allow employees perform comparative calculations using this year’s and last year’s income tax rates. This will allow employees to answer many questions for themselves instead of asking your payroll & HR departments for help. It can also improve employee satisfaction.
