By the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Determine who your customer is and understand their needs
• Identify your support and your barriers for the best practices initiative
• Obtain the analysis tools needed to implement best practices
• Understand how to make a best in class continuity plan
• Determine the return on investment for the proposed process changes

Introduction to Best Practices

• Why best practices?
• Assessing where you are today
• Improving business processes – where best practices fit
• Best practices trends and issues
• Understanding best practices
• HR/payroll process components
• Best practices defined
• Typical attributes – payroll best practices

Best Practices within Payroll

• What other organizations are doing
• Technology and best practices Managing technology
• Emerging trends in technology
• Cloud computing
• Changing role of information technology (IT)
• Emergence of self-service applications and tools
• Self-service models
• Direct deposit/payroll cards – electronic payments
• Paperless payroll
• Time and attendance
• Web-enabled applications
• Other technology that enables best practices Mobile applications
• Data security
• Next generation remote worker tools
• Trends in mobile technologies
• Communication breakdown
• Biometrics
• Advantages of biometrics
• Types of biometric devices
• Electronic document imaging
• Best practices: payroll processes

Benchmarking and Best Practices

• Best practices and correlation to benchmarking
• Types of benchmarking
• Quantitative versus qualitative benchmarking
• Find comparable organizations – measuring “apples to apples” Importance of complexity ranking
• What to measure Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Problems/Issues = poor benchmarking scoresApproach to benchmarking – some examples of measurement
• Benchmarking – common errors to avoid
• Start benchmarking with manageable chunks
• Benchmarking is a two-way street
• Highlights of the American Payroll Association’s Payroll Benchmarking Survey
• Standardizing definitions for benchmarking
• Dashboards

Securing Support for Your Best Practices Initiative

• Importance of securing support
• Strategic planning Values
• Vision
• Mission
• Objectives/key results
• Commitments
• Identifying barriers and risks
• Establish a best practices stakeholder committee Committee mandate
• Committee member roles and responsibilities
• Committee profile/representation
• Meeting frequency
• Creating an opportunity assessment Opportunity and scopeBenefits
• Required resources and stakeholders
• Funding request
• Duration
• Developing a business case Key questions before beginning development of a business case
• What is a business case? Executive summary and recommendation
• Purpose and objectives
• Scope
• Determining the recommended option
• Project plan of preferred option
• Project management
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Risk Analysis
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• Communication elements Active listening Individual behavioral patterns

Tools for Implementing Best Practices

• Team development
• Effective teams Stages of team development
• Stages of team development
• Reaching the next stage of team development
• Team player styles Contributors
• Collaborators
• Communicators
• Challengers
• Project management Determine “who” is on the project team
• Determine “when” to implement your project
• Determine technically “what” is needed to start the project
• Determine “how” to implement the project
• The project plan
• Communication
• Coordinate status meetings
• Risks?!
• Be realistic
• Impact on business total cost of ownership
• Issue identification and inhibitive thinking Inhibitive thinking – problems, rules, assumptions
• Brainstorming
• Quick hits
• SWOT analysis
• PEST analysis
• Process mapping Why redesign?
• Why process map – some of the key benefits
• Developing a process map Determine the boundaries/ parameters
• Identify and list the steps taken in the process
• Sequence the steps
• Draw appropriate symbols
• System model
• Check for completeness
• Finalize/validate the process map
• Analyzing process flows Examine each step
• Review each of the decisions within a process
• Examine the rework (or return) loops within each process
• View the process from the customer’s perspective
• System testing Testing phases – defined
• Total cost of ownership
• Return on Investment Calculating Return on Investment (ROI)
• Customer window surveys 

Last upd Implementing Best Practices for Processes and Technology

• Making it happen
• Best or better practices?
• Implementing new processes – some important considerations before you begin
• Approach to process change Assemble your team
• Affirming the vision for the future
• Understand your current processes
• Categorize the phases within the process
• Get the facts
• Determine your metrics
• Select the right processes for redesign – scorecard
• Redesign the process
• Create the plan
• Implement the plan
• Technology implementation
• Selecting payroll technology
• Why do you want/need a new system/ technology?
• Approach to system/technology selection Establish the project team
• Select a hardware platform
• Determine where/how the technology will be developed or delivered
• Select a processing environment
• Select interfacing versus integration
• Prepare a high-level project plan
• Conduct a current situation analysis to create a functional requirement document
• Prepare a request for information (RFI)
• Prepare a request for proposal (RFP)
• Perform the evaluation
• Select the system
• Negotiate contract terms
• Revise the project plan
• Mistakes to avoid
• System lifecycle strategy
• Documentation of policies, procedures, and systems Types of documentation
• Documentation is a project
• What to include
• Gathering the facts
• Creating a “shell” document
• Writing techniques 

Customer Service

• Trends in payroll influencing customer service
• Levels of customer service
• Factors that influence customer service
• The role of expectations Strategies to build an exceptional customer service reputation
• Service delivery skills for payroll Telephone skills
• Voice mail skills
• Email skills
• Specific customer service situations
• Move to problem solving, as that has always been your goal
• Skills for recovering when you didn’t perform as promised
• Dealing with the employee who is wrong
• Delivering bad news
• How to instill quality customer service values

Outsourcing as a Best Practice

• The forces driving outsourcing
• Benefits of outsourcing Phases of outsourcing
• How important is top management in implementing effective outsourcing strategies?
• Obstacles to outsourcing success
• How long does it take to perform an outsourcing initiative from start through implementation?
• Is it necessary to use outside advisors (consultants) or “implementation partners?”
• Top 10 factors in vendor selection
• Top 10 factors in successful outsourcing
• Ten critical outsourcing shifts
• Hallmarks of successful outsourcing relationship management
• Business process outsourcing (BPO) Is BPO just reengineering with another name?
• What are the business forces driving BPO?
• The ASP/SAAS models – service through outsourcing
• Business service providers (BSP) – a hybrid outsourcing model
• Future trends in outsourcing
• Making the outsourcing decisions
• Prepare a current situation analysis
• Prepare a cost comparison analysis
• Choosing the right outsourcing provider
• Employee and manager self-service
• Security and confidentiality 

The Role of Business Continuity Planning

• Don’t make recovery too difficult
• Making disaster recovery more comprehensive
• Benefits of a business continuity plan
• Steps to create a business continuity plan Obtain top management commitment
• Establish a planning committee
• Perform a risk and business impact analysis
• Establish priorities for processing and operations – “critical needs”
• Determine recovery strategies
• Perform data collection
• Organize/document a plan and procedures
• Develop testing criteria and procedures
• Test the plan
• Approve the plan
• Get involved and get results 

Change management

• Change process – critical stages
• Key questions to ask about change
• Change management – important do’s and don’ts
• Using change agents – qualities and characteristics of effective change agents
• Dealing with negative reactions to change
• Studying all angles of change
• Resistance to change – how to overcome it
• What should you as the payroll leader/ manager do?
• Change management – finding the right balance
• Change impacts – some examples that you will likely face Communication planning
• Affecting change through communication
•  Communication goals and objectives
• Change versus transition
• Ways to manage transition
• Assess your organization’s transition-worthiness

Payroll professionals who are interested in taking steps toward transforming their current practices into payroll best practices