Payroll business model

Payroll is amazing opportunity to develop itself into a polyhedral business model, like Google, among other HR services.

It naturally has functional relevance of multi faces to its multi layered customers.
To employees
To business entities
To COEs (C&B, HRG, Legal, Internal control, Finance, OD, Staffing, IT etc)

For employees , it is a free service. Payslip, direct credit, query resolution and online services. While we provide free service to this high volume base of pyramid...the opportunity still exist to go further from free service to  'value-add-more' space. One option is to add a value coupon.

For business, it is paid service for servicing their employees. Its a platform to ensure compliance , transformation and  integration. Clear outcome based business model. Not much changes on this middle part of pyramid.

For COE, it is currently a place to execute their policy. The opportunity is in offering to them as a process and technology platform to create & drive policy. And big data can be a huge value add. With clear charge model.

The top and middle will drive "revenue" for Payroll. While we can "Pay-back" some money to employees.

This can be a business model which Amazon or flipcart may be happy to partner whether you are captive or 3rd party provider.

This is a model which can extend to all HR services, more so to employee facing process.

Rasam, SOP , Brain and soul

My mother asked me..."how is Rasam today". I said...."it it tastes bit better and spicy...".  With all smile she said..." yes...i made bit spicy rasam powder this time".

She must be making Rasam from past 45 years. With the standard recipe passes on to her mother. Every one who has eaten her rasam swear by it with its consistent quality and taste.

Even after 45 years of making she doesn't feel to bored with her standard operating procedure and doesn't hesitate to make improvement. And still search for smile on her customers, her family, face when they relish it.

Standard operating procedure, passion for customers satisfaction and process improvement is key to any process quality.

Process quality= heart+brain+soul

Escalation in pyroll - ASK & TELL

Payroll or any operation receiving escalation from customer is one aspect of day to day work. While one of the main concern in operation is with respect to internal teams escalating and ask for support for issues which they face. Instead we see team making these issues and resolutions as part of the regular process without fixing it for long term.

Main issue of non escalation internally steams from culture to ask for help. Probably stemming from functional expert's behaviour of I-know-how-to-fix . It is true we hire functional experts in operation  because they know it. While it is very important not just the functional expert but full organisation  and learn from day to day issues.

This requires a personal behaviour understanding as well organisational cultural shift.

We can look at day to day issues from two perspective:

1. Cause of the Problem and Understanding of the active Solution for the same.
2. Knowledge level of the above.

This perspective will help is driving

1. how the operation team and team members ASK or TELL the issue for
• Proactive resolution
• Team to learn and fix these for long term solution
2. How Managers should adopt to following styles to support
1. Coaching 
2. Mentoring
3. Training
4. Consulting

There are only 4 jobs….and you are doing all….lucky you!!!

 I was reading article on actual job descriptions available to describe any job in the world      http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130502173937-15454-there-are-only-four-jobs-in-the-whole-world-are-you-in-the-right-one

It reminded the connectivity of the same with creating lean management culture in an organisation with focus on continues improvement.

In the absence of such continues improvement culture empowering the front life on the floor employee base……. Employees continue to be more inclined to be a “Producer”. While any flash of “improver” is adhoc and by chance. Doesn’t give employee feel himself in that space.

In the presence of continues improvement culture…..team not empower to embed matured “producer” role …..they also progress to add in “Improver” and “Builder” role rapidly into their job description.

What Payroll strategy/operation model good for your company...

I was preparing for a seminar in Singapore due on last May 2011.............but due to several reasons i couldn't make it.

The thoughts i gathered for the seminar with respect to payroll delivery model were something i wanted to share.

The specific aspect how a companies financial condition impact its payroll model............to outsource or in source .... remote processing or in country processing......... high touch or high tech or both........ERP or best of the bread ........ country focus or region focus or global focus......so on.

I always propagated model of semiglobalisation (slide 4) by Pankaj Gemhawat to analyse the same.

The delivery model is a mix of :

1. Aggregation
2. Arbitrage
3. Adaptability
But question is what drives this mix.
I looked at financial details available on public domain for some companies to chk if that indicate towards difference in their model. Below is some details.
It was very evident that...... revenue per employee and profit margin per employee are big drivers . Along with companies operation profit margin. Though these ratios are industry driven but it is rather the financial position than industry which drove the companies payroll strategy.

Accurate Payroll

Accurate payroll 

is not about 

absence of errors

.....but 

......presence of 

scalable & predictable process, 

robust technology and 

culture of continues improvement.

-Harish

Swadeshi Movement, SDP, Lean, CI etc

I was reading through the book "Gandhi CEO".....

With Vision of Freedom for India Gandhi started Swadeshi Movement as a execution strategy. Calling the Indians to use only the cloths made in India with Indian material was at core of this  strategy . The execution of this strategy dint stop at this high level calling. He clearly understood......though our mills were having capability to weave cloths for Indian demand........but didn't had capacity to spin the yarn . Though he got suggestions about accepting imported yarn.....but he rejected as it didn't align with neither vision nor strategy.
So was the call for Yarn prepared manually using Chraka.

Vision=Indian Freedom
Strategy= Swadeshi movement
Execution= Hand woven yarn-Khadi

In Lean we use SDP or Hoshin Kanri ..... to do the exact above and create  X matrix.

It is such a learning to see ..........if we are search of truth or true north......... we do end up in same mechanism of execution.