The document summarizes insights from SD Worx research on payroll proficiency and HR data usage. Key findings include:
1. Operational efficiency is a top business priority but legacy HR systems hinder growth.
2. The use of HR data and insights is becoming more strategic and seen as important for decision-making, though capabilities vary by company size.
3. Factors like changing legislation, workforce trends, and technology are driving changes in payroll, HR, and how data is used. The future will see more investment in both service and technology.
2. 1. SD Worx Payroll Proficiency Index polled over
1,300 respondents from 5 European countries.
2. SD Worx HR Data & Insights research surveyed
over 4,000 HRDs from 14 countries.
We use insight to inform our decisions
3. Operational efficiency is the key
business priority
Rapidly changing legislation
causing a significant compliance
burden
Use of HR data & insights is
maturing and perceived as key to
decision making
6 key drivers impacting proficiency
Legacy HR systems hinder growth
and produce inefficiencies
The future sees more investment in both
service and technology for HR and payroll
4. Legislative reality
Complexity
Speed of change
Compliance
The key HR & business drivers leaders must get to grips with
1. Legislation 2. Reward
4. Technology 5. Capability
3. Workforce
6. Partner
Reward policy
Payment frequency
Variety
Flexibility
Trends
Digital maturity
Integration
Automation
Architecture
Accessibility
Payroll organisation
Payroll skills
Domain expertise
Industry knowledge
Collaboration
Composition
Mobility
Profiles
Statutes
Contracts
Service provider
Quality of provider
Level of outsourcing
5.
6. Data usage
• Basic, separate, data sources
• Operational, efficiency/cost driven
• Enriched, combined data sources
• Strategic, growth driven
Digital
approach
• Pragmatic analysis techniques
• Low automation & technology
• Advanced analysis techniques
• High automation, consolidation &
technology
1 Basic
Reporting
“The Reporter”
2 Advanced
Reporting
“The Aggregator”
3 Basic
Analytics
“The Inspirer”
4 Advanced
Analytics
“The Innovator”
7. Source: Gartner, Data and Analytics: Trend Insights for R&D Leaders Published 13 July 2021.
8. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Rewarding staff
Sustainability and social impact (ESG reporting, SDGs, ...)
Diversity, equity and inclusion
Careers
Staff turnover
Internal mobility and through-flow (changes of job, department, ...)
Learning and developing talent
Mobility (commuting, modes of transport, etc.)
Staff wellbeing, satisfaction and engagement
Staff inflow
Teleworking
Finding, recruiting and selecting staff
Productivity of staff
Staff planning and capacity management
Personnel costs (miscellaneous)
Payroll and salary administration
Time use of staff
Absenteeism
In what areas and how often does the organisation use data-driven workforce reporting or insights?
Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Half-yearly Annually or less often Never
9. Note: only companies that have mature data-driven workforce reportings and insights
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Not at all Do not agree Neutral Agree Fully agree
There is sufficient expertise in the organisation to deliver staff reports and insights
Total <250 employees 250-2999 employees 3000+ employees
18. 5 key considerations when planning your ecosystem
1) Finance and HR stakeholders to agree which will be ‘the’ master system of record
2) Establish connectivity and integration standards for ALL current and future tools
3) Be ruthless in defining the skills and specialist services required in your ecosystem
4) Specify cross functional analytics requirements as a key objective, not just an output
5) Build a Business/ROI Case across all functions (not just HR)
ABSTRACT: Amid a complex and fractured corporate landscape, pressure is rising for HR leaders to steer business growth & health strategies.
SD Worx is sharing our blueprint for success, backed by exclusive insight from thousands of HR professionals and a wealth of market-leading experience.
We explore 6 key drivers impacting payroll proficiency, the evolving role of HR data & insight, and how combining tech & services is vital to creating the right ‘people ecosystem’.
Armed with validated insight, HR professionals will leave the session with a clear path towards getting their own foundations right.
Every year, we gather insights from thousands of HR leaders across Europe to build an informed picture of key drivers, opportunities and the evolving role of HR.
Our new research (including our latest Payroll Proficiency Index of over 1,300 respondents from 5 European countries and our bespoke HR Data & Insights deep dive of 4061 HRDs across 14 countries to 300 employers / country) as well as our previous Future of Work and People Report reiterates that operational efficiency is still #1 priority, but this combined research picture has provided a far deeper understanding of the drivers to make it happen. Our Future of Work and People report polled over 2,700 HRDs
Use of data & insights is progressing - more organisations are planning projects in the short term. However, belief in the added value of data & insights is still moderate. Larger companies are more in favour. In general, 6 in 10 companies make use of workforce data & insights
Large companies (250+) mostly use hr systems with tailored reportings, SMEs (< 250) mostly used Excel
A central HR department is still the norm
The bigger the company the more centralised HR is
A fully embedded HR function in the different business units is still not happening without a central point of support, although it is happening for 1 in 10 companies with more than 3000 people
Segments:
Companies with less than 50 employees have in 75% of cases no seperate HR department. For companies with less than 10 people it’s 83%
Companies with more than 50 employees have in 66% of cases a central HR dept
Large companies above 250 have in more than 80% of the cases a central HR department, mostly making use hr business partners, expertise centres and/or hr service centres
Countries : /
HR and people analytics is a field of low maturity. However because of technological advancements, adoption is slowly increasing.
How are HR and personnel data used in organisations? How do HR data support policy decisions and provide insights on the human capital of the organisation?This research is done in 14 European countries (BE, NL, FR, UK, DE, IE, AU, CH, PL, IT, ES, SE, NO, FI) and the aim is to collect data from approximately 300 employers per country.
This survey was held in April and May 2022.
Reportings mostly used on a monthly basis
Payroll & personnel costs mostly used on a monthly base
Absence, time and teleworking most used on daily basis
Telework, Mobility and Sustainability least used – although 10+% uses telework reports on a daily basis
Less frequent use in < 100 empl companies
Most frequent usage in UK, E, I, D, NL - less frequent use in B and F
More frequent usage:
Finding talent; NL, E, S
Rewarding staff:, E – less frequent in B and F
Payroll; less frequent in F
Personnel costs: NL, D, UK, AU, I, E, S – less frequent in B and F
Absenteeism: D, NL, UK, AU, I, E, S, N – less frequent B and F
Teleworking; D, I, E
Staff inflow: UK, E - less frequent in B, F, CH
Staff turnover; less frequent in B, F, IE
Internal mobility: I, ECareers: D - less in B and F
Staff planning: I, E, NL, D, UK, S, N
DEI: E, - less in B, D, F, AU, CH
Sustainability/social impact: E - less in B, F, IE, CH, N
Productivity staff: NL, UK, D, I, E, PL _ less in B, F, S, N
Time use: less in NL, B, F
Learning; UK, I, E
Wellbeing: UK, I, E
44% is not totally convinced the organisation has sufficient expertise.
No difference by country, except for ESP who disagrees more
No differences by company size
In the near future will your organisation invest less, as much or more in consultancy/technology in the area of staff reporting or insights?
More reporten investing than less investing
More investing in both (consultancy and technology) the larger the company
More companies in E are investing more in consultancy
More companies in NL, IE and E are investing more in technology
More companies that already have staff reporting are investing more in either consultancy or technology