Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 3, 2017 16 FEATURES mitigating these exposures on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis before each payroll cycle. Technology has better pre- pared the payroll manager to work with finance on the known exposures, determining the best blend of solutions for their needs, such as a natural hedge of receiv- ables and payables, purchasing portion at spot, or using hedg- ing instruments such as forward contracts. Inaccuracy of manual intervention Deloitte's survey also found that 70 per cent of North American companies maintained their pay- roll in-house. However, allowing a depart- ment to manually key in employee information, set up payroll tem- plates or personally execute each individual payment means errors are unavoidable. is is doubly true when organizing interna- tional payroll. Communicating with numer- ous international banks and navi- gating complicated validation procedures require even more manual entry of complex infor- mation than domestic transac- tions, increasing the likelihood of costly human error. What is the key to eliminating this expensive issue? Integration. e right payment technology or payroll solution will integrate di- rectly with an organization's exist- ing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system or human capital management platform. e solution should provide the tools to validate through an em- ployee-facing gateway or through single-file integration to the plat- form, with validation of multiple currencies and the flexibility to manage international payroll through different bank accounts. A more straight-through process will reduce the number of errors by substantially decreasing the hours spent manually intervening with payment investigations or correcting employee information. Hidden costs of international payroll When branching out into new regions, payroll populations tend to be smaller. is can make the decision between establishing in- country banking versus a cross- border transaction more difficult. Opening, maintaining and rec- onciling an in-country account can be cumbersome, especially in emerging markets such as Latin America and Africa. In addition, opening and operat- ing new foreign bank accounts can present further expensive fees, and supplementary costs piled on by intermediary institutions that the bank deals with when processing international payments. Cross-border transactions are easier to establish through a fi- nancial provider, especially with smaller populations. However, payroll managers are frequently surprised by expenses that have not been clearly defined, espe- cially with significant pricing mark-ups on foreign exchange transfers. Once all these hidden fees have been extracted, the over- all cost to an organization can be extremely hefty. Today's payment technology has the ability to bypass all these costly pitfalls. A reliable global payment solution provider will work with an organization to en- sure transparent pricing, with no exorbitant foreign exchange fees built into the service agreement. ey will also be able to deliver payroll through numerous chan- nels — including SWIFT, Low Value delivery and other in-coun- try channels — via a strong net- work of international banking re- lationships. Eliminating the need to create a new bank account, in turn, eliminates the need to work with multiple banks altogether, with each wanting a cut of the funds. An automated, international payroll strategy can be an effec- tive tool in dealing with the com- plexities of global payrolls so HR managers should be cognizant of the positives associated with an international, automated system. Don Banowetz is a regional director at Cambridge Global Payments in Houston, Texas. Tracy Micciche is a senior manager in the HR transfor- mation group at Deloitte Consulting in Raleigh, N.C. For more information, please visit www.cambridgefx.com. Automation helps with payroll complexities PAYROLL < pg. 13 Today's payment technology has the ability to bypass costly pitfalls. DIVERSITY Surfacing unconscious bias Prejudice can lead to unequal outcomes, underutilized talent and marginalized contributions By Rumeet Billan P eople see the world through the lens of their experi- ences, biases and various identity factors. As a result, the assumptions they hold shape the decisions they make — but these decisions may be creating un- equal outcomes for employees. Unconscious bias refers to a bias we are unaware of. It happens au- tomatically and is outside of our control. ese biases, which for the most part are invisible, are triggered by the brain making quick judgments and assessments of people and situations. Whether the biases are uncon- scious, implicit or explicit, they help people make sense of the world as they seek to understand it. Further, they guide our day- to-day decisions and are most prevalent when people are put under pressure because they rely on shortcuts in the brain to help them fill in the gaps. Past experiences and the as- sumptions people hold play a role in this, but the danger is that these shortcuts may be un- intentionally creating unequal outcomes, resulting in under- utilized talent and marginalized contributions by employees. e human resources function requires careful and intentional consideration of unconscious bias and its impact on business practice and the decisions being made. For example, the recruit- ment process may be ignoring certain candidates with diverse life circumstances. For recruiters, considering vul- nerabilities is important, along with looking at the capabilities people in these life circumstances can bring to a position. Further, an exploration of policies that would deter potential candidates from using these capabilities and strengths in the workplace is critical. Unconscious bias can also be seen when resumés are sorted based on a candidate's name — some candidates may be given priority because there is a belief that an ethnic group is dominant in the area of a specific skill. One way to reduce this bias is anonymized short-listing. is means all names are removed prior to reviewing applications. Another example involves com- petency and whether age and foreign-versus-local qualifica- tions are unintentionally viewed and valued differently. In this case, using standard ap- plications may help to manage people's assumptions. Assuming that all stakeholders view and ex- perience a specific policy or pro- cess in the same way can lead to unintended consequences. Exploring how diverse groups experience processes can help build awareness and challenge our assumptions. A couple of key questions to ask are: What am I assuming? How do specific groups experience this process differently? Additionally, in the interview process, training for situational explanations versus disposition- al explanations can reduce levels of bias that may be automatic. For leaders, it is important to be aware of how experiences, in- fluenced by intersecting factors, can impact the decisions people make. Our behaviour towards oth- ers is influenced by hidden biases that can impact how we act, react and interact. Left unmanaged, specific groups may continue to be disadvantaged by our policies, programs and practices. Further, they have the poten- tial to obstruct employee engage- ment and restrain specific groups from being and feeling included. Steps can be taken to mini- mize the impact of unconscious bias in the workplace. ese in- clude: approaching policies in an informed way, specific train- ing and intervention, empathy- driven dialogue, and heightened self-awareness. As an example, gender-based analysis training is an evidence- based process with the goal of creating responsive and equita- ble policies. A core competency developed through this type of training and intervention is the capacity to challenge our own assumptions. Empathy-driven and reflec- tive dialogue can help people to reframe policies that may be excluding specific groups. Fur- ther, heightening self-awareness around the experiences that shape people's perspectives can aid in understanding how assumptions are derived and where there may be gaps. Taking steps to minimize un- conscious bias can help uncover the realities of people's lives in all their diversity, while improving employer policies and creating a workplace that is inclusive. Rumeet Billan is president of View- point Leadership, a learning and development firm in Toronto. She can be reached at rbillan@viewpoint leadership.ca. Credit: Jirsak (Shutterstock)

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