5 Areas to Avoid when Issuing a Global Payroll RFP

1. Issuing the RFP without internal stakeholder input.

Once the RFP has been issued, it is too late, at least without difficultly and delay, to go back and ask for more detail about issues that are important to other business units and geographic managers. Global payroll could impact several internal disciplines including HR, finance, regulatory, compliance, risk management and IT. There may be recruitment plans under way in a new market, or a new technology system being considered, for example, which could impact the geographic scope and technology requirements relating to multinational payroll.

2. Omitting a clearly defined business objective and the “selection criteria” that will be used to choose a payroll outsourcing partner.

Global payroll is a multi-faceted solution consisting of various technology platforms and in-country partners designed to meet the clients’ specific business requirements and align with their corporate cultures. Vendors who understand the critical business issues will be better equipped to provide solutions that are best suited to each individual client’s specific business objectives. Withholding necessary details will do more harm than good in the long run.

3. Losing sight of the need to format the questions in a way that will be easy to evaluate and compare the responses.

A side-by-side comparison chart and uncomplicated scoring formulas helps clients clearly evaluate the vendors who respond to the RFP. Providing a section for comments is useful too. As the vendors are short-listed, further explanations are often needed to fully and accurately respond to what are sometimes highly-technical and country-specific questions.

4. Underestimating the timeline from date of issuing the RFP through to internal assessments.

RFPs are often hundreds of pages long with granular detail that could take several weeks for potential vendors to complete. Once they are submitted, there needs to be ample time on the client side to properly review, compare and contrast all of the responses. This often requires inputs from various stakeholders with limited time available to thoroughly evaluate the responses.  Timelines need to be well planned and realistic, for all parties involved.

5. Misunderstanding the resources required for project implementations.

Transitioning global payroll systems may involve finance, HR, payroll, risk managers and IT staff members all of which play a significant role in the success of the implementation. All of these should be considered and factored into the decision-making processes both in terms of how long the process will take as well as when the company as a whole makes the decision to initiate the outsourcing project. Internal engagement strategies and cross functional buy-in are critical steps needed to execute an effective RFI for global payroll.

These tips can go a long way in helping you maximize your resources when issuing a global/multinational payroll RFP or RFI.