Issue: Departmental Organisation
“…we think we process about 150 payrolls and the person who had been running these for many years has just left. She knew everything about all the payrolls, and we know there must be an easier (and quicker) way of doing things. We do not know when payrolls are coming in or details any special rules that apply because we have lost all that experience. Mistakes are being made and a handful of small payrolls were not processed when they should have been ”
The outcome:
After an initial review, it was clear that the major issue was a lack of information, not a lack of experience. We defined a database which was duly created once the information had been collected. Nothing like this existed previously. This now holds processing and billing information along with details of payroll rules.
The database also provides a predictive scheduler showing which payrolls are due in each day and the man hours required to do the work (based on past time recorded). Using details of the resources available, this also highlights days of the month on which extra resources are likely to be required. Work processes and procedures have been designed and documented and put in place. It is now possible to identify work in process at a glance, and no deadlines have been missed since the system was put into practice.
