GRC is an acronym used for Governance, Risk Management and Compliance which marked its advent in 2007 which lays emphasis on “keep the company on track” for businesses. With the globalization and volatile socio-political environment, businesses were in dire need to safeguard their interests as inner control over the organization was much sought with regulatory authorities tightening their grip. We shall be having a word on how we can successfully use an HR Software for GRC purposes and harness it for serving organizational interests.
Before we move forward with the topic, let us have a basic understanding of GRC. Governance is the central approach by the senior cadre towards the functioning of the organization and deals with the comprehensive strategies employed for the realization of objectives. Risk Management is the process of identifying, analyzing and safeguarding the organization against any potential risk which may harm business interests. Compliance is the confirming of the laid down standards and methods to ensure adherence to policies and either eliminate or optimally compensate for the risks. An HR and payroll software is closely associated with these domains and the following contribute to the purpose.
Extensive Configuration:
Every organization operates in a unique way and irrespective of operating in the same field, no two firms could be working in the same way. Thus, the extensive configuration capabilities allow the businesses to customize their own attendance policy by defining the working hours, shift, break timings, holidays, etc components to build the policy comprehensively. This translates to ease of operations as one feature may be utilized in a radically different way by both of the entities and yet, both can benefit immensely from the same functionality.
For instance, the attendance policies may be subjective to specific industries like defence or space research organizations as discretion is mandatory in their case as revealing any more than required information can be potentially dangerous even if revealed before another employee from the same entity. Thus, the software acknowledges the information only to the pre-designated personnel only.
Automation and Integration:
For any organization, processing Payroll is a challenge as a lot of variables are included in the equation. The Payroll inputs include attendance data, leave record, performance inputs and matrices along with the travel and expense reports for the mobile workforce. Moreover, in the case of a consultancy, timesheets of employees working on the client site is also required.
All of these parameters define the earnings and deductions for the employees which have to be kept in mind along with statutory compliances and employment laws. Managing such enormous data with a hectic schedule is a nightmare to any HR professional but using an HR Software preferably a cloud-based solution as it can collect this data from multiple locations and synchronize it to the centralized over-the-cloud database for processing and storage purposes.
This automation and integration allow the HR to run a virtually zero error Payroll which is necessary as faulty and untimely statutory compliances entail legal persecution and penalization. The HR Software shall also help in enforcing policies such as paying with respect to performance by linking Payroll with Performance Management Module. The ESS Portal can be used to make changes in the Payroll data from the employee end and make official correspondence by the employer.
Comprehensive Reporting:
All the transactions regarding the business need to be carefully recorded with all the relevant details for they serve as the basis of policy building. Moreover, they also inform the management regarding the loopholes in existing ones which need to be addressed. The non-compliance is also visible to the management in the form of KRA-KPI matrices which may not have been on the surface in the absence of proper reporting. Taking timely measures is thus possible and these measures not only lower the cost of operation but also allows management to enforce policies that serve the organizational interests better without compromising with the risks associated with these processes. Any changes in government policies can be accommodated immediately as SaaS models are flexible and vendor only needs to update particulars on their end only.
GRC is a very intricate subject and automation is mandatory when dealing with a considerably big workforce. You can use payroll software to align the policies to balance convenience and risky practices without actively involved in the day to day activities.
