Investing in HR technology? Understand what you want (and need)

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ADP Workforce Now hits on common challenges, elevates businesses, and drives growth – and the findings of a recent study quantify exactly how, and how well, the solution performs

FROM A widespread talent shortage and optimizing employee experience, to keeping up with compliance and regulatory changes that vary from coast to coast, Canadian employers face diverse and unique challenges in the workforce. And, while some of the factors are out of anybody’s control – macroeconomics driving people to stay in current jobs, for example – there are still strategies employers can leverage to ease the issues they’re facing. Employers can address the challenge of finding suitable candidates by investing in existing employees through upskilling. They can commit to offering fewer extrinsic rewards, like bonuses, and focus on what employees want to see, such as recognition programs and wellness

“The results speak volumes; ADP views it as their responsibility to provide a solution that hits on common challenges, elevates their client’s business, and drives growth”

Massimo Galati, ADP Canada

technology that helps deliver the balanced lifestyles employees are increasingly seeking. And, critically, they can invest in technology that offers self-service capabilities, streamlines HR, payroll, and compliance requirements, and, most importantly, keeps pace with the business it serves. “ADP Workforce Now offers that in a single platform,” says Massimo Galati, vice president of product development at ADP Canada. “As the landscape changes in Canada, as users’ organizations scale, the platform scales right alongside them.”

From smaller mid-market companies to larger enterprises, one thing was clear to Donna Stechey from the moment she came aboard at ADP Canada: clients love ADP Workforce Now. “It was evident they were benefitting from using the product,” says Stechey, director of product marketing. “But what [we] didn’t have was unbiased, fact-based evidence.” In a study, Forrester analyzed the impact ADP can have on organizations, looking at everything from ease of use to bottom-line ROI. While ADP worked with Forrester to identify clients for the study, it’s up to the Forrester consultant and analysts to determine if there is indeed a benefit and, if so, if it can be quantified. To do that, they strip away all of the marketing and they strip away all of the promises, making it solely about the product and taking a hard look at five things: What was the problem the clients were looking to solve? What was the investment they made in ADP Workforce Now in the form of licensing and time training people? How did it perform, not just for HR practitioners, but across departments? What were the results of using that technology? And, finally, what were the business outcomes?

When the final study came in, “I had to read it a few times because I couldn’t believe the results,” says Galati. With clients chosen from across Canada to showcase the national depth and breadth of ADP Workforce Now, highlights included a three-year impact of 136 percent ROI, $1.38 million in financial benefit, a net present value of almost $600 thousand,

Noting that the methodology used was “conservative on purpose,” Stechey says ADP partnered with a vendor whose analysis wouldn’t inflate any positive numbers. “We’re not overstating any of these results,” she says. “We’d heard clients love using ADP Workforce Now, but we now understand that they stay with the platform because the payback they realize within the first six months doesn’t stop there. Both monetary and productivity savings continue for years to come.” “The results speak volumes,” Galati agrees, adding, “ADP

“[When the HR department and the technology they’re using is optimized], it has a positive ripple effect right across the organization”

Donna Stechey, ADP Canada

views it as their responsibility to provide a solution that hits on common challenges, elevates their client’s business, and drives growth.”

Looking toward the future, talent will continue to be a major focus for organizations – with employee experience, data and AI, and finding skilled workers at the forefront of their challenges. The right HR and payroll technology will not only make your HR and payroll teams happy, but it will also propel your entire organization forward. “ADP Workforce Now touches everybody in the organization because it isn’t a system just for HR – it’s a system for the entire organization,” Galati says. “At the end of the day, we want to keep it simple: users can trust that our technology is going to do what it’s supposed to do.”

Online and modern technologies for simplifying the human resources system

Unbelievable results

Walking the walk

Published April 8, 2024

“[At ADP] we strive to create a better way of working, and we empower our associates to make a positive impact on the world”

Massimo Galati, ADP Canada

ADP Canada designs better ways to work by providing cutting-edge products, premium services, and exceptional experiences that enable people to reach their full potential. The company offers HR, talent, time management, benefits, and payroll solutions informed by data and created for organizations of all types and sizes. ADP Canada has a strong history of developing products that simplify work and shape the changing workplace environment.

VP of HR, healthcare, British Columbia

“ADP has provided the best value for the money, and I think we’ll continue to see its financial benefits”

Client feedback

Business integration manager, municipal government, New Brunswick

“There is no more chasing timesheets, printing them, signing them off, and delivering them, getting them over to our timekeepers. People are spending more time on analysis rather than on data entry. They’re doing more value-added work”

VP of HR, healthcare, British Columbia

“We’ve averaged a 30% growth rate per year, and we haven’t had to hire as many people as would typically be necessary to do these positions”

return on investment in the first three years

136%

Employers who implement ADP Workforce Now can expect

savings over three years

$1.38m

improvement in HR staff productivity

20%

improvement in payroll staff productivity

15%

improvement in compliance staff productivity

Gathering unbiased, fact-based evidence

“That last factor is where the magic happens, because what we found is when the technology the HR department is using is HR technology, it has a positive ripple effect right across the organization,” Stechey says. “The study revealed compelling benefits, both that clients were expecting and that they were pleasantly surprised by – and made them even more satisfied with their investment decision.” ADP Workforce Now enables organizations to increase HR, payroll, and compliance staff productivity – according to the Total Economic Impact of ADP Workforce Now study by Forrester.

and 20 percent improved efficiency by HR staff. This last statistic means HR practitioners can focus on what really matters, leaving the heavy lifting of repetitive tasks to the platform – a key theme for ADP as well, Galati says. “Responses from clients reaffirmed that the platform supports the complexities of compliance and regulatory changes – users log in and see immediately there’s a new BC tax rule that the system has automatically updated, for example – and self-service capabilities that saw employee engagement and experience rise. The belief that the more ADP can put in the client’s hands, the better off they are is a driving factor for us,” Galati notes. Another key feature is the ability to manage things like recruitment, onboarding, and time attendance within the same system. The study also found ADP Workforce Now’s ability to integrate with other systems was critical, especially in cases where organizations have expansion in their future. “We saw an increase in improved scalability not only from the platform itself but from an organization’s well-being,” Galati says. “Clients won’t have to upgrade to another platform in three months or three years. We’re cloud-based, meaning they continue to take advantage of new features we release on an ongoing basis.”

ADP’s foundational principle is trust, and that includes within its own organization. Fostering a supportive and diverse environment, ADP boasts employees with long tenures – including one employee who recently celebrated 51 years with the company. “We strive to create a better way of working, and we empower our associates to make a positive impact on the world,” Galati says. “We’re not just talking the talk when it comes to delivering a solution that helps users do that too. We’re embracing it, we’re walking the walk, and really driving it across our organization.”

Another area where trust is paramount is around implementing AI, which Galati refers to as “the shiny new marble that everybody wants.” But, he cautions, it comes with great responsibility to understand the generated data, whether it’s from Gen AI or another new technology. Once data becomes questionable, trust from the client fades. Does ADP want to be the first to implement new technologies with remarkable capabilities? Absolutely. But being first maybe isn’t always best, and “with any new technology we take our time, solve for it, and pick use cases that matter specifically around HCM,” Galati says. Users can also trust that ADP Workforce Now is specifically built to serve the needs of Canadian businesses, factoring in the province’s varying standards and bilingual requirements, and adhering to the country’s specific tax, security, and privacy laws. It’s also one of the only solutions with a central system of record, meaning employee profiles are held securely according to privacy provisions. “Another thing I’m so proud of is that ADP Workforce Now

continues to make significant strides in accessibility, to make our products available to everyone,” says Stechey. Participants in the study ranged from a few hundred employees to thousands, highlighting that as organizations evolve, the system can scale with them. It’s designed to accommodate and support growth while delivering an all-in-one solution, underscoring that clients can trust that as they continue to grow as an organization, “we’ll be right there next to you.”

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Source: January 2024, The Total Economic Impact™ of ADP Workforce Now®. A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of ADP. Results of the study are based on a composite organization.

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Resources

Best in HR