For a great number of companies struggling to keep their businesses afloat, the question is how people-centric their highly-advertised business policies are. It’s no surprise that this storm is sinking every ship in sight, and the workforce, if not managed and supported well, can inflict more damage to the business than the pandemic itself. 

Sometimes crisis management does not start with tactful strategies or creating the much-needed task force. It starts with looking around the organization – at the very people who build the company every single day and how they are likely to be affected, pandemic or not. Recovery and business resilience depend a lot on how nimble businesses are to change and how fast they can get their teams to respond to new challenges.  

Most companies are genuinely accepting of the fact that termination and furloughing are ultimate ways of dealing with overheads, but what about those who remain?

What part of company communication or long-term vision actually apply to employees’ longevity at any organization? Even if hundreds are laid off and only ten remain at a company, there can be a massive difference in the way those ten decide to make or break your business depending on how they are treated during a crisis. 

The difference outsourcing can make

Leading through ambiguous situations can be tricky, especially if leaders lose sight of how their workforce is pulling along through COVID-19 infections or standing by a loved one battling it out in the emergency. Crises are in fact two-way streets, opening up options for the leader as well as employees to do their part to help ease the situation. And just like how jobs give people hope, income makes survival easier and happier.  

However, organizations often forget that to prOVIDe employment security, one needs to invest in a system that gives employees full-time access to their payroll and how it is delivered. In the face of dynamic and unprecedented situations, outsourcing payroll operations can help alleviate most of the anxieties associated with tabulating changing payroll, time off, surplus allowance, health coverage and tax incentives. 

Outsourcing such functions through automated systems not only helps organizations maintain continuity, but frees up time and focus that can be directed at recalibrating new strategies that would help the business thrive in challenging environments. It is also a way to turn costs around and make charges more variable than having to deal with fixed, hefty payments every month.

One of the key advantages of outsourcing is that it lifts off the pressure of dealing with cyclical tasks which are prone to error, repetition and malware attack.

Leveraging HCM solutions to manage payroll amid crisis

In the HR domain, a wide range of external resources have mushroomed with the adoption of digital technology and cloud-based software. Today human capital management solutions (HCM) integrate employee data to offer several employee self service features both on cloud and corporate intranet. HCM, which offers incessant access from across locations, is one of the highlight features currently in use with the arrival of consolidated remote work arrangements. 

Accessible through all platforms, HCM technology offers organizations both the scale and viability that comes with outsourced e-HR solutions. Its relevance is pretty obvious in current times as employees are unable to use office IT infrastructure to gain access to HR services and tax filings. For employers, HCM solutions are devoid of any capital expenditure. These online subscription services enable clients to lease systems when required and plug in and off as they please, allowing no room for maintenance or security related glitches that otherwise tamper with in-house HR functioning. 

That probably explains why companies should come forward to digitize payroll even if spending is at an all-time low. Discrepancies are reduced by a huge margin and employees are given full control over all their HR repository even in the thicket of the outbreak. Digitization is paving the way forward, not just redefining the future of work but also responding to user behaviour through the channels that they are so used to communicating through. 

Online customer engagement and automated services are also influencing returns and brand value to the degree that companies who intend to withstand turbulent times are forced to go through digital transformation - the ultimate rite of passage that marks the emergence of the post-COVID world.  

Payroll operations represent a silent cogwheel that never stops in the midst of any crisis.

Often underrated, payroll is a significant indicator of employee morale besides reflecting the financial stability of the organization.

Even as the world is gripped by a virulent outbreak, countless back office payroll operations continue to churn out paychecks every month, never failing in their operating rhythm and force of action.