Shelby Klingerman, Content Curator |

It’s important for HR and Payroll to work together in harmony, yet the strategy and implementation of solutions so often happen in silos. This can create several challenges when trying to work within the two systems. A recent presentation explained how to streamline the collaboration between HR and Payroll.

Where Do I Start?

There are a few dependencies that you must look at before getting started with your implementation: strategy, delivery, policy and harmonization.

• Strategy: You must have an HR and Payroll strategy before you start with your implementation. It’s important to note that there is a difference between your strategy and your business case. With your business case, you are selling an idea—a “what.” With a strategy, you are laying out how you are going to achieve that idea.
• Delivery: You also need to be aware of your operating model before implementation. You need to understand it from both a governance and an organizational perspective. Ask yourself, “Who’s going to be processing? Where is my governance going to sit? What are my roles and responsibilities? What’s my organizational governance? Where’s my segregation of duties?”
• Policy: Standardizing your policies and procedures is another crucial step. You’ll need to do this before putting together a new HR or Payroll system.
• Harmonization: In order to achieve harmonization, you’ll need to look for opportunities. Identify opportunities for configuration, process adjustment, etc. that can help prove the efficiency gains that you promised in your business case.

Key Impacts

There are several questions that you need to ask yourself regarding the scope, compatibility, standardization and validation of your data.

• Scope: Is all the necessary data in the right source system?
• Compatibility: Are data formats and field lengths compatible?
• Standardization: Have opportunities been evaluated?
• Validation: Has source system integrity been confirmed prior to conversion?

There are also several technology requirements to consider when trying to build the relationship between systems.

• Relationship: Examine and acknowledge the requirements of both systems—do not design, build or test in a silo
• Integration requirements and consequences: An ongoing strong reliance on manual processes will lead to workarounds over leading practices and process gaps
• Reporting: What are the reporting requirements out of both systems? Where does the data belong?

Finally, there are three considerations that you need to keep in mind about the operating model.

• Process: The process is streamlined by evaluating both payroll and HR processes and their touchpoints. Implementing in silos leaves a high reliance on workarounds and broken integration points.
• People: The lack of a clear support model, roles and responsibilities, and governance can add complexity to the operating model.
• Savings recognition: Savings recognition is transactional work consolidated. Implementing in silos can prevent a shift in both the people and operating model, resulting in missed opportunities.

Does Timing Matter?

People often ask if it’s better to go live on HR or Payroll first. The answer is that it depends on factors like resources, funding, change management, business reasons and so much more. In an ideal world, you would go live with HR and Payroll together, but that’s not always possible.

For more information about building the relationship between these two systems and making them work together, check out the full presentation.

Want to learn more? Discover everything available at COLLABORATE 19, the Technology and Applications Forum for the Oracle Community, April 7-11, 2019, in San Antonio. Learn more and follow #C19TX on Twitter to stay up-to-date on all things COLLABORATE 19!