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The government has unveiled Ten Tech Priorities to power the UK’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The strategy is based on the fact that if we want to build back better, stronger and greener from the pandemic, technology has to be at the heart of our recovery. Technology has the ability to rationalise vast amounts of data and create evidence-based strategies to transform businesses and fuel their growth strategy.

Here we discuss software systems such as PayReview in the context of facilitating better data management across the organisation. We will outline how HR software can ensure organisations are best using the data available to them.

Why harness the power of your data?

The World Economic Forum has described the Covid-19 pandemic as a ‘fourth industrial revolution’ that will be “one of the greatest workplace transformations of our time." Even industries which have traditionally been more resistant to technology, such as the legal sector, have embraced cloud computing as a result of the pandemic. Briefing’s Legal IT Landscapes 2021 report says that 70 per cent of firms expect most of their core IT infrastructure will be in the cloud by 2024 – a phenomenal rate of change for this industry.

With change comes the chance to evaluate how things were done beforehand. By taking the opportunity to assess how the “new normal” might address existing challenges, such as social injustice, companies can ensure that equity and inclusion for all can be embedded in their approach going forward. Data management can be a double-edged sword. It can either be a barrier where data is collected without purpose or unintentionally – proliferating into something that needs to be carefully handled – or it can be actively managed to yield actionable insights and act as a catalyst for change.

Digital transformation means that data can be used to guide key decision making across businesses.  

Data analysis can inform recruitment practices to drive greater diversity or ensure that constrained budgets can target high performing individuals to prevent the loss of key talent. However, this requires a robust system to process this information and create reliable insights on which evidence-based solutions can be designed.

Our PayReview software helps to tackle strategic challenges, such as capturing an organisation’s current record on diversity. The software can also produce HR analytics by seamlessly calculating both the gender and ethnicity pay gap figures, helping you to meet your reporting requirements.

The 5 key benefits of using PayReview to create actionable insights

1. Ease of calculation

The right HR software can produce a measurable return on investment by reducing the time spent on time consuming processes associated with the pay cycle. PayReview can take care of a repetitive manual process. Customers can achieve greater accuracy in calculating complex questions of salaries, taxes and deductions. This can free up the time of HR as more of a strategic resource, enabling them to focus on improvement and innovation.

Software can make the pay process more efficient across the business. PayReview can support the relationship between other functions, such as Comms whereby staff can be informed of changes to their pay and Finance where pay budgets can be more accurately determined. Individuals across the business can also stay on track and take greater accountability at Line Manager level to accurately review and confirm their decisions, as the system is intuitive to use and stored in one place. It is easy to comprehend and use as opposed to the risk inherent in managing multiple excel sheets. The software offers an end-to-end solution to support the entire pay and reward process.

2. Safe and secure data processing

As all organisations routinely handle sensitive information, all of our customers need to keep a focus on cybersecurity. Remote working has been highlighted as a risk in light of the pandemic, so access needs to be tightly controlled and data needs to be securely stored. We work closely with customers to tailor their security requirements to their business.

PayReview places paramount importance on security. We offer multiple layers of security to your data management system, safeguarding against security breaches or data proliferation, storing information securely. By offering features like two-factor authentication, separate databases and encryption at rest mean you can be confident that your data is safe.

“Accountability for cyber risk will move up the org chart, with forward thinking businesses appointing board members with experience in risk management and information security.”

RSA, Preparing for the Future of Digital Risk

3. Rationalise unruly data

Unlock the power of data by understanding it – company data can become unruly. Which is why it needs a robust system for data management which efficiently organises quality data. Agile ways of working are often more difficult in more established organisations that tend to rely on legacy systems. Those who have gone through mergers and acquisitions or grown organically may operate multiple terms and conditions that impact reward decisions and data may be handled differently across the business. Whether an organisation is sufficiently ‘tech savvy’ throughout an organisation is often dictated by the level of access granted to the right software. A continuous focus on redesigning themselves to face the future can be buoyed by choosing the right technology.

Beyond getting the figures securely stored and right every time, technology has the ability to unify your data. Accenture recently shared their experience of how data has been the lifeblood of running a global organisation in terms of managing their ‘share of siloed data, multiple versions of data and value trapped in spreadsheets’.  They have now brought all of this data together in their IT programme ‘Applied Intelligence’, harnessing the power of analytics to make data-driven decisions.

“With fast ideas comes faster innovation: 60% of Apple’s revenue comes from products that didn’t exist 4 years ago. That’s a blistering pace of innovation. Expect that to become the norm in most industries as the future accelerates, product lifecycles collapse and disruption disrupts.”

Jim Carroll, Futurist

4. Transform established ways of working

Artificial intelligence is driving new ways of working and creating innovative business models. Having a complementary pay and reward solution that supports new ways of working can turbocharge transformation. With remote working now an accepted part of working life, PayReview provides one point of reference for salaries throughout an organisation, whilst providing accountability wherever you are. From who changed the salary to tracking down a particular record, knowing who last edited the data is vital. That’s why the audit log records each change made, in addition to who made it and when.

Systems should also be a joy to work with – cold, hard figures don’t have to be dull. PayReview’s modern interface, charts and reports can help your employees stay engaged with the process and remove time wasting by having a real-time system for capturing vital data for one of the most important business functions of the year. The software instantly provides everyone in the business with the full picture of your review and keeps things on track to meet deadlines.

5. Demonstrate your commitment to diversity

The World Economic Forum has highlighted how the pandemic shed a spotlight on inequities that have particularly impacted women of colour the most. They offer a toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work and hosts a community of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officers from around the world in virtual monthly meetings. McKinsey and Lean In’s Women in the Workplace Report from 2020 found that three per cent of C-suite roles were taken by black women compared to 19 per cent of white women and 66 per cent of white men.

Whilst the Gender Pay Gap Reporting has been reintroduced for this year after the government suspended the requirement during the pandemic, ethnicity pay gap reporting is touted as the next initiative to ensure firms are championing greater diversity and inclusion. PayReview can help you evaluate your record when it comes to the demographics within your organisation. With advanced filtering, you can interrogate your data to identify suitable action points your business should implement based on the culture and values you are embedding.

Build back better – or redesign entirely?

“In today’s era of volatility, there is no other way but the re-invent. The only sustainable advantage you can have over others is agility, that’s it. Because nothing else is sustainable, everything else you create, somebody else will replicate.”

Jeff Bezos, CEO and President of Amazon

Organisations will emerge from the pandemic as more adaptive creatures that continually horizon scan for external risks – what will be common to all is agility. Data can have a transformative effect on how they each operate. Get in touch today to book your demo of our PayReview system that can easily help you translate information into concrete plans of action to fuel your growth.


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