Winning the war for talent through payroll
The National Payroll Institute encourages employers to show their commitment to payroll after new research shows 94% of working Canadians would seek new employment if their pay was regularly disrupted.
TORONTO, May 1, 2023 /CNW/ - Many things are up for negotiation in an employment agreement – the one thing that is not, is reliable payroll.
Canada's labour force is currently in an employee-market. With high levels of job vacancies and low levels of unemployment, candidates have more options than ever when it comes to deciding where they want to work. As a result, employers are feeling the strain as they struggle to attract new talent, while watching great people move on to new opportunities.
Organizations are taking major steps in an effort to stand out from the crowd and convince existing employees to stay. They are revisiting their pay structures, increasing their benefits packages and creatively upgrading the perks they offer. However, recent research from the National Payroll Institute reveals that they're probably already doing what is most important to employees – but have yet to capitalize on it.
Employees come to work to be paid. This is the central covenant of the employer-employee relationship, and no matter what perks and benefits are layered on top, if payroll breaks down, the relationship breaks down. In fact, the study of working Canadians, conducted by Angus Reid for the National Payroll Institute, shows that 94 percent agree that they would look for a new job if their pay was regularly delayed, and 91 percent agree that they would look for a new job if their pay was regularly inaccurate. This highlights a critical area of opportunity that employers can't afford to ignore: the importance of professional payroll.
Payroll is the single biggest expense for organizations, however it's most often viewed as a cost of business rather than a strategic investment, which is a mistake. When done right, the return-on-investment of payroll can be impressive, and provides data-rich metrics to improve efficiencies and make business decisions. In contrast, when payroll is not handled professionally, it can be to the serious detriment of an organization. The study showed that if consistent and accurate pay for an employee's work were withdrawn, changed, disrupted, or compromised on a regular basis there would be further consequences for the organization, such as: 64 percent would trust their employer less; 59 percent would caution others about joining the company and 51 percent would have concerns about how much their employer values them.
Further still, survey respondents who have experienced payroll mistakes or delays reported feeling, as a result, unease about their ability to manage expenses (38%), unappreciated by their employer (38%), strain on workplace relationships (29%), negative mental health impacts (27%) and a lack of productivity or disengagement at work (26%). Each of these impacts affect an employee's willingness and ability to do good work, which ultimately means dollars lost for the business.
"It's clear that payroll is at the core of business operations and is the foundation on which employee relationships, engagement and productivity are built," says Peter Tzanetakis, President of the National Payroll Institute. "In an environment where employers are jumping through incredible hoops to elevate their brand and show candidates they are a great place to work, it's a missed opportunity to not proudly talk about the effort that goes into an organization's payroll practices."
For the first time, the National Payroll Institute has compiled the core principles that are required to conduct payroll professionally. Together, these eight principles comprise the Declaration of Payroll: Accuracy, Timeliness, Transparency, Security, Equity, Compliance, Disclosure, Professionalism.
For most organizations, these principles may seem obvious, as these are the tenants of their payroll practices every day. The Declaration for Payroll provides business leaders an opportunity to make a public commitment to uphold these principles, to the best of their abilities, and use this as a differentiator that appeals to the needs of current and future employees.
A number of top Canadian employers have already signed the Declaration for Payroll, including ADP, Avanti, DLGL Technologies, Kaiser & Partners, Nethris, Payworks, Robert Half, Sensei Marketing and Workday.
"It's great to see such upstanding organizations who employ so many Canadians sign on to the Declaration for Payroll, pre-launch," continues Tzanetakis. "It goes to show that the value and importance of payroll is felt by the leaders in a variety of sectors, and we're thrilled to open this opportunity to the rest of the business community as well."
Payroll professionalism will look different for every organization. Whether a business has a large in-house payroll team, or utilizes a payroll technology solution, the Declaration for Payroll aims to inspire leaders of businesses of all sizes to think critically about their payroll operations and proudly tell workers that, as an employer, they know what matters most.
Organizations who make the Declaration for Payroll gain access to a suite of tools, including an employer badge to use on social media and other marketing materials, as well as an entire toolkit to share their commitment externally and with current and future employees. Additionally, they join the public roster of payroll-forward organizations, where employees can view which businesses have signed on.
In an environment where employers are looking to stand out, The Declaration for Payroll provides an opportunity to stand behind what really matters to employees— their pay.
For more information about the Declaration for Payroll and to sign on, visit www.payroll.ca/declaration.
- Nearly all (94%) of respondents agree that they would look for a new job if their pay was regularly delayed.
- Nine-in-10 (91%) agree that they would look for a new job if their pay was regularly inaccurate.
- If pay was regularly disrupted or inaccurate:
- 64 percent would trust their employer less;
- 59 percent would caution others about joining the company;
- and 51 percent would have concerns about how much their employer values them.
- Respondents who have experienced payroll mistakes or delays in the past reported feeling, as a result:
- unease about their ability to manage expenses (38%);
- unappreciated by their employer (38%);
- strain on workplace relationships (29%);
- negative mental health impacts (27%);
- and a lack of productivity or disengagement at work (26%).
ABOUT THE SURVEY
These are the findings of a survey conducted by National Payroll Institute from February 23rd to February 27th, 2023 among a sample of 1,550 online Canadians who are employed full or part-time and are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL PAYROLL INSTITUTE
The National Payroll Institute champions payroll in Canada as being vital to the health of businesses across Canada by setting THE professional standard of excellence and sharing critical expertise. We provide the knowledge and resources that more than 40,000 payroll professionals need to realize their potential, 1.5 million employers depend on for the annual payment of $1.06 trillion in wages and taxable benefits, and that governments rely on to receive $364 billion in statutory remittances to fund critical programs each year. The Institute's designations are recognized as the gold standard for expertise and professionalism, and the only such designations for payroll in Canada.
SOURCE National Payroll Institute
Media Contact: Keera Hart, Kaiser & Partners, [email protected], 905-580-1257
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