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The Measure of Success
Benchmarking Studies Compare Payroll Best Practices, Offer Insight for Improvement, Achievement
By Amy Logan
Companies continue to place extra emphasis on cost reductions; they want each of their departments to do more with less. To meet this demand, it is essential to employ best practices that provide the right fit for their organization.
For the last eight years, APA has conducted a payroll benchmarking study to identify industry-wide best practices and help payroll leaders employ appropriate best practices at their organizations. In his June PAYTECH article, "2007 Payroll Best Practices Benchmarking Study: How Does Your Company Measure Up? ", Jim Medlock, CPP, Director of Education and Training for APA, breaks down an overview of the data from the 2007 study and explains the findings.
Who Participates and Why?
"Achieving a best practice may seem to be a simple matter of having the right combination of people, structure, process, and technology mixed together in a way that is consistent with the vision, mission, and values of an organization, but it's not that simple,"Medlock says. "A best practice for one organization may not be a best practice for another. You need to study and analyze best practices in-depth to truly understand how to achieve appropriate best practices for your unique operation."
A total of 32 companies paying between 1,400 and 185,000 employees participated in the 2007 benchmarking study. Their industries ranged from retail to aerospace and defense.
Companies who joined the study were given metrics to help them better gauge how their company stacks up to other industry leaders. The study provides metrics like company size, payroll frequency, cost per payment, etc. Read an overview of the 2007 study results to learn more. Participants in the study received a highly detailed report.
What's New for 2008?
The 2008 Payroll Benchmarking/Performance Study will be conducted by APA in cooperation with The Hackett Group. The study will provide customized feedback and comparison charts tailored to each participating company so they can better measure their success.
"By participating in the 2008 Payroll Benchmarking/Performance Study, payroll leaders will have one of the most powerful tools necessary to communicate payroll's performance,"says Felicia Cheek, Senior Business Advisor and Payroll Advisory Program Manager for The Hackett Group.
Among other valuable information, should you choose to participate in the study you will receive:
* A personalized readout of your results
* A customized presentation that compares your performance to Top Performers and the Peer Group
* An invitation to participate in a Hackett-facilitated webcast presentation of the consolidated results
* Performance data and metrics that focus on payroll efficiency and effectiveness
* An individualized Payroll Performance Value Grid
* A white paper overview of the performance study results focusing on metrics, trends, and emerging best practices
* High-level recommendations and a roadmap detailing what next steps should be to achieve "Top Performance"status in payroll
* Metrics detailing results of other data snapshots such as a comparison by Reporting Structure, Number of Employees, Sourcing Solution, Industry, Primary Pay Cycles, Payroll System, and others depending on the data (Note: Data snapshots are dependent on the type and amount of data collected.)
How Can I Participate?
If you or someone in your company would like to participate in the 2008 benchmarking study, please contact Felicia Cheek, or Jim Medlock, CPP, between now and June 30, the deadline to register.
Within a week of your registration you will receive confirmation of your participation in the study. Data collection ends August 15. Results will be released to participating companies between October 17 and November 7, 2008.
Learn more about the 2008 Payroll Benchmarking/Performance Study and register today. A fee of $2,500 will entitle your company to submit and receive the detailed benchmarking payroll data. For those who participated in the 2007 study, a continuation fee of $2,000 will be required to participate in the 2008 study.
"The paper presentation coupled with the personalized webcast will highlight those areas of excellence and those areas that need improvement. And as a payroll leader, by participating in the Payroll Benchmarking/Performance Study, you control how you bring attention to your payroll organizations performance, which is much better than being given a directive from above,"says Felicia.
The 2008 Best Practices Conference
Network with industry leaders at APA's 2008 Best Practices Conference. Payroll executives from some of the top names in American business have attended this annual event, including Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, H.J. Heinz Company, and Lowes.
The 2008 Best Practices Conference is being held just outside Washington, D.C., from August 13-15, at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center on the Potomac.
This intimate conference is held exclusively for those who are committed to best practices and excellence within their organizations--those who want to model their operations after the top leaders in their industries. Payroll and accounts payable experts from across the nation will converge to share the tools they use to manage change, stay at the top of the payroll and accounts payable industries, and improve the bottom line.
"I can't say it enough: for those of you who are striving to achieve best practices, use the Best Practices Conference,"said Patty Raikes, PHR, Director of HR Operations for FISERV, winner of the 2007 Overall Best Practices Prism Award. She said the conference helped her build the business case and develop implementation strategies for best practices within her organization.The 2008 Best Practices Conference will feature discussions about:
* Metrics: how to provide the data management needs
* Results of the 2008 Global Survey
* Six Sigma for payroll
* Global payroll compliance and best practices
* Dashboards and scorecards
* Internal controls and SOX 404: Year Five
* The 2008 Prism Awards
The 2008 Prism Awards
The Prism Awards recognize industry leaders who have achieved best practices in their organizations and are willing to share their experiences with others. Past winners of these prestigious awards include:
* Intel
* Fiserv
* H&R Block
* U-Haul
* Sanofi-aventis
* Georgia Institute of Technology
* SPX Corporation
* Delta Airlines, Inc.
For additional information on the Prism Awards, contact Jim Medlock, CPP, Director of Education and Training for APA. Nominate your company with the Prism Award nomination form. The four award winners are chosen by the subcommittee chairs of APA's Strategic Payroll Leadership Task Force (SPLTF). The SPLTF looks for companies of any size that are leading the payroll industry with their practices and have been willing to share their experiences with others.
Forging Friendships, Career Contacts
An elite group will gather for APA's 2008 Best Practices Conference. Friendships will be forged, business cards will be exchanged, and longtime career contacts will be made at this prestigious APA event. Don't miss your opportunity to join other industry leaders to address the strategies you need to stay on the cutting edge of payroll and accounts payable leadership. Special sector invitations will be going out soon to a select group of professionals. |
