The cities have been quiet and roads even more so; people have noticed the haze in the atmosphere disappear and clearer bluer skies; which is wonderful. However, we all want economic recovery, as well. Plans need to be made now for both the next year and beyond, and provide for opportunities to improve what we do and how we do it. Governments around the world, whilst at different stages, are looking at how to do this and, cognisant of future ‘spikes’, making plans to recover from this global pandemic – we must do the same.
COVID-19 has catalysed change; we should now overcome pre-existing inertia, to adapt both our behaviours and how we conduct our business. To be successful business must generate value and deliver capability – we can all now take the opportunity to make some good from a bad situation. By looking at our broader business process, we can go beyond just delivering a capability, and ‘create value’ in business as a whole.
Value is created when you provide more capability and save more money than your cost.
Using EMS as a case study, the provision of global payroll, assignment and expense management are capabilities – and whilst broad, they are ‘a given’ and an important deliverable in the marketplace. Saving money and time for the adjoining functions of global mobility, finance, IT, HR and 3rd party vendors greater than our costs of delivery ‘creates value’. By improving client process, systems and saving time and money across all functions of a company, we have been able to save upwards of 3 times our costs thus creating value and delivering a capability.
If organisations repeat the same old approach, try to fix a broken process and carry out actions without improving them, they will ‘create’ little, if any value.
Most organisations will find challenges in just carrying out their basic business post-COVID-19. We need therefore to change attitudes, engage employees to better analyse, adapt to improve the company’s approach and also ask the questions of their providers.
Whereas brainstorming around a SWOT analysis will give you a strategic starting point, when we look at the operational level we can immediately see resource savings and importantly gaps where those resources can be more effectively used.
In analysing the tasks, we found managers were carrying out days of every month doing unnecessarily manual work. We then automated and simplified the processes, and saved 1 person/year in payroll for the US alone and 12 worldwide in a company that had another 20+ countries to support.
Integrating with finance systems and GL feed ensures compliance, good corporate governance and can generate substantial cost savings. By providing return feeds back into the finance system and reports with the associated cost centres, we removed much of the manual effort entering Tax, Finance, HR data from a variety of sources. We were able to send data directly into their system and save 3 days a month per business unit, times 25+ countries, improve accuracy, reduces tax provider costs and speed the overall process up. Improving the repair loop, cost of cash, better payments and foreign exchange, treasury capability are all major advantages to finance, yet the outcome from the implementation of another business function.
IT opportunities for creating value are immense and directly reflective of the company as a whole. For example, the use of integrating systems, rapid development technologies, expert analysis of the use of the systems, will not only save many tens of thousands of £GBP or $USD, but so much time.
The above examples are a few of many that create better value and wider use of your team and other resources you have, and save substantial costs.
In doing this, we also improve the type and utility of the work being done and thus employee engagement.
Value creation should be part of every transition or new project and we look to do this as a matter of course. If you take this a step further it becomes the creation of ‘sustainable value’. By extending profit to include social and environmental advantages, you create sustainable value and so enter a virtuous cycle, including profitability and better employee engagement.
I have touched on resilience being central to all our futures, sustaining that resilience and planning to ‘create value’ and adapt to the ‘new normal’. My next article will explain further how to create and measure sustainable value, thus incorporating the social and environmental opportunities to improve businesses and employee engagement. In taking this approach, we can heal people, business and the planet and turn a bad situation into a much better future for all.
For further details on how we can help you with a global payroll service that creates value, saves money, and can be rapidly implemented – please contact us on – enquiries@global-ems.com
