We have been going through a period, in which we lost our sense of direction due to uncertainty. We are trying to gain skills as a society to adapt an environment, in which it is almost impossible to foresee the effects of conditions on the economy under the state of global epidemics, disasters and wars, which we do not even wish to talk about. So much so that, many organizations have naturally not considered the effects of an epidemic to the extent of the Covid-19 pandemic in their disaster recovery plans they have created to ensure business continuity. Preparations are often directed towards natural disasters and systemic infrastructure problems that can cause relatively shorter job losses, and global problems have not been taken into account.

In order to set a route and ensure continuity in a crisis environment, companies have mainly focused on three different facts.

  • life and health conditions of employees and their families
  • overcoming business processes and financial difficulties
  • restructuring active business processes by ensuring the continuity of business partnerships, client and supplier relations

The Need for Support in Operational Cost Management and Constantly Changing Legislation

When we look at the recent developments in business life, numbers tell us that some sectors almost stopped their operations due to the global epidemic, and some organizations are not even able to survive any longer. On the other hand, the business organizations that are continuing their operations have started to search for liquidity, funding, remote working, maintaining the continuity of production, and reducing operational costs with a more resilient operation and financial structuring effort.

In line with the developments experienced during the epidemic, new legal regulations aimed at supporting employees have brought the need for businesses to access richer and more accurate information on legislation. In addition to the regulations such as termination ban, short-term employment allowance which entered into force within this process to eliminate the negativities faced in working life, the obligations to be fulfilled in the field of Occupational Health and Safety and the ongoing compliance requirements for Personal Data Protection Law have considerably increased the burden of both the management and Human Resources departments of the companies.

The Increasing Need for Outsourcing in Remote Working

That various staff starting to work remotely due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the operational difficulties arose with this situation have brought significant experience to organizations. Since this experience combined with the increasingly complex regulatory consultancy needs, companies have become more open to the idea of cooperating with an organization specialized in this field. The demand for outsourcing support is commonly seen in the field of the execution of payroll calculation and all related processes (such as employment and onboarding, termination, bank payment disbursement list, reporting etc.) by a payroll service provider.

The reasons for the increased need in this regard are mainly as follows,

  • to reduce the risks that are likely to arise in case of incorrect implementation of the constantly changing legislation.
  • payroll calculation on systems that offer a stronger infrastructure for the Personal Data Protection and storing personnel information when necessary (for tracking retention periods and data security, in particular).
  • the need to cooperate with a single responsible party rather than multiple providers.
  • taking quick actions with flexible timelines to be created according to payroll input, payment and payroll cut off dates in accordance with changing calendars, legal periods, curfews.
  • to ensure an effective cooperation between the team members with new generation self-service Human Resources software.
  • creating ability for managers to handle their leaves online and taking the advantage of advanced approval processes.
  • detailed and flexible reporting needs arising from new laws, support and incentives.
  • 51% cost advantage achieved by the payroll outsource method, which is globally considered average.
  • increasing productivity through enabling both management and the Human Resources Department of the companies to focus on other business processes without compromising confidentiality.
  • creating ability for the employee to view the payslip every month prior to the payment.
  • making recruitment and onboarding and termination processes fast and centralized.

The Operational and Technological Capacity of The Service Provider Will Be A Criteria

The question of how recent developments reflect in the services of existing payroll outsource providers is very crucial in terms of technological capacity, confidentiality and security. Outsourcing service providers that failed to invest in their infrastructure and fully digitalize their processes before the Coronavirus pandemic have confronted with significant difficulties in terms of both continuity and protection of personal data.

To sum up, the organizations have learned and experienced the fact that the negative conditions brought by the economic crisis, curfew and other restrictions can be responded with cloud-based systems and digital services. A considerable change is required for an organization to reflect this experience to its processes bearing in mind the developments in information and communication technologies. A business partner that is robust to uncertainties will surely make a difference at this point, that provides fast, efficient and quality service in line with the needs of the digital age, beyond providing traditional services.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.