Improving and analysing your HR and payroll practices often requires external expertise. Althéa offers a cross-functional assessment to advise you on:
- Calculation accuracy: Payroll compliance diagnostic
- Process efficiency: Payroll process diagnostic
- Organisational sustainability: Organisational diagnostic
These three complementary yet independent areas, complementary yet also separable, are designed to provide you—through discussions, workshops, and analysis of documents, practices and tools in place—with a clear picture of your organisation’s current situation.
Why carry out this type of assignment?
Primarily to gain an external, clear and concise view of how your payroll function is operating.
With nearly 20 years’ experience supporting HR/payroll projects, Althéa has developed a proven methodology for approaching this type of project.
It is therefore only natural that our clients turn to us when they need to step back and review a payroll organisation or practices.
At Althéa, we dedicate time to identifying the key structuring levers for your organization and to relieving your teams, who often do not have the time or capacity to carry out these cross-functional assignments.
- Have an overall, yet detailed, view of current practices, calculations and organisation
- Be supported in harmonisation, structuring, securing your HR and payroll practices, and the associated decision-making
- Build on strengths and address areas for improvement to progressively reduce the workload of payroll and HR administration teams
- Facilitate the integration of new teams and promote stability within existing teams
- Improve the effectiveness of controls, flows and tools
Tailor-made deliverables
- Findings
- Best practices
- Risks
- Recommendations
- Action plan
- And above all, support for your teams to implement the recommendations
Optimize your HR and payroll management with our expert assessment
Discover our comprehensive assessment across three strategic areas
Our ISO 9001 approach
- Clarify the need upfront
- Define the scope of the assignment
- Provide personalised follow-up
- Run workshops with the teams
- Collect and analyse practices
- Benchmark practices
- Quantify impacts
- Propose scenarios and recommendations
Key figures
assessments
conducted each year
of recommendations
implemented by our clients
payslips
contain anomalies
References
For a leader in electronic payments
20,000 employees
Optimisation of processes and administrative tasks
- Optimisation of HR administrative processes and tasks Analysis and documentation of 46 existing HR administration and payroll processes
- Design and documentation of these processes in a target operating model
- Organisational description of the new HR administration team: portfolio-based approach, management, sizing, RACI and interfaces with HRBPs and the payroll team, etc.
- Change management strategy and creation of materials to upskill HR Admin managers.
For a major player in private healthcare
5,000 employees
Organisation and Payroll tool roadmap
- Interviews with decision-makers to obtain a strategic vision and alignment among sponsors (CEO, HR Director, CIO)
- Workshops to analyse the current state
- Audit of the current organisation and information systems
- Definition of potential scenarios
- Business case for the 2 eligible scenarios and support in selecting the target evolution scenario for the organisation and the HRIS
- Definition of the project plan: high-level schedule and definition of project phases, identification of potential vendors, definition of preparatory steps for the project…
For a key player in social care
2,000 employees
HR diagnostic / Organisation-process-tool-skills
Support in three phases:
- Mobilisation, involving both support-function leadership and client leadership to bring all stakeholders together around the approach
- Current-state diagnostic, with thematic workshops, to build a shared view of the current situation (operating methods, best practices, difficulties…)
- Recommendations, prioritisation and recommendations by major HR domains and roles (HRBP, HR Admin, Payroll, Time Attendance…).
For a major foodservice group
9,000 employees
Payroll organisation audit
- Payroll compliance audit.
- Bringing practices up to standard based on legal and collective agreement requirements.
- Identification of harmonisation levers and proposal to the business committee
Challenges
Securing
Ensure compliance of HR and payroll processes.
Sustaining
Embed sustainable HR and payroll best practices over time.
Recommending
Provide tailored recommendations to optimise your HR and payroll processes.
Contacts
Frequently asked questions about the HR/Payroll diagnostic
Which tools can help make the payroll process more reliable?
After conducting an in-depth diagnostic of the current payroll management situation within the company, several tools and recommendations can be implemented to make this strategic process more reliable. First, a documented reference framework listing all management rules and payroll variables is an essential foundation. This central document helps ensure a shared understanding among employees and enables effective onboarding of new hires. A guide to payroll best practices for operational teams is also recommended to best support the day-to-day work of employees responsible for this sensitive activity.
From an organisational standpoint, enhanced controls must be put in place at each key stage of the process, from collecting variable data through to the final issuance of payslips. Audit and supervision loops led by qualified, experienced HR resources are another essential element to detect and correct any anomalies.
At Althéa, we carry out an in-depth diagnostic of your company’s current payroll management situation. Our recommendations are provided as tailor-made deliverables to make this strategic process more reliable. These deliverables include objective findings, identification of current best practices, an analysis of associated risks, and a detailed action plan.
How should actions be prioritized following a payroll assessment?
Following a payroll diagnostic that provides a clear and comprehensive view of the issues encountered, prioritising the actions to be implemented is a crucial step. This prioritisation is generally carried out using a matrix that cross-references costs and benefits for the company.
Top priority will therefore be given to correcting the regulatory and legal anomalies identified, in order to ensure payroll process compliance and avoid any risk of litigation. Next come actions aimed at resolving recurring dysfunctions with a significant negative financial impact, for example by optimising time-consuming processes that are prone to frequent errors. Third, modernising ageing HRIS tools will be addressed where relevant. Finally, the review of the organisation and any reinforcement of payroll teams will be planned. A detailed action plan reflecting these priorities is formalised at the end of the diagnostic, with a timeline and rigorous implementation tracking by the HR department.
Quels sont les principaux leviers pour optimiser les coûts de la paie ?
Following an in-depth diagnostic of the payroll function within the company, several cost-optimisation levers can be activated.
- Outsourcing certain low-strategic, low value-added tasks to service providers makes it possible to refocus on core activities. Pooling resources within a shared services centre also offers attractive opportunities for economies of scale.
- Reviewing pay scales and compensation policies and aligning them with market practices is an additional lever to control payroll and fixed costs. For variable pay elements, enhanced monitoring and targeted control procedures help optimise this sensitive budget line.
In addition, a full review of processes, increased automation through digital solutions, and digitisation deliver significant productivity and efficiency gains. In this context, developing employees’ skills through appropriate professional training is a key lever for successful change implementation. This upskilling lever fully contributes to the sustainable optimisation of payroll management costs.
Comment sont organisées les fonctions RH et Paie ?
The Human Resources function is traditionally organised into complementary pillars: HR administration/payroll, HR development, employee relations and HRIS. The payroll entity may be integrated within the HR pillar or form a dedicated team depending on headcount and the sector of activity. Its strategic role is to deliver the entire payroll process in compliance with labour law: salary calculations, payslips, social declarations, etc.
- HR development covers internal/external recruitment, workforce and skills planning, professional training, and support for career development.
- Employee relations ensure dialogue with social partners on topics such as working time, employment conditions or company agreements.
- Finally, the HRIS pillar leads HR information systems and digital transformation.
This HR/Payroll matrix organisation may be centralised or decentralised depending on the company’s context and environment. Consulting firms such as Althéa then provide support by carrying out tailor-made diagnostics, assessing HR management practices, auditing key processes such as payroll, and proposing an appropriate action plan. Ongoing follow-up helps support implementation and feedback.
