Swapping payroll providers can be an administrative headache, but the real pain happens when the right communications fail to make it down to the employee level. The ripple effect of a total workforce management system shift, when not managed properly, can cause employees to quickly form a mile-long queue outside of HR’s door.

The following items are the three must-have employee communications when changing payroll service companies.

The Happy Introduction Letter

It goes with the old saying: what do I know, who needs to know it, and have I told them yet? It’s also good to add on, “have they told me they understand?” The initial introductory communication to your employees will typically get filed into the I’ll get to it later pile on their desk or email folder. Make sure you are getting feedback from leadership that employees have acknowledged that they are aware of the upcoming change.

This will likely require multiple means of communication beyond emails and bulletin board announcements.

Most payroll and workforce software companies will have a library of canned communications to assist employers with pushing the information down to employees about the new provider. If not, or if they are overly slim, this initial introductory letter should include the following:

• Basic overview of the new provider
• Points of contact for payroll customer service
• When the switch will take effect
• To whom within your organization should they take their questions

The objective is to instill confidence in the new vendor and provide employees with informed leaders and payroll customer support to address their questions. Your employees will be looking at their first pay statement with great scrutiny, which brings us to our next essential communication.

Related Blog: What’s the Secret to Predicting Payroll Customer Service?

New Pay Statement Mapping and Explanation Graphic

Employees have grown used to the way they read their pay statements, so receiving a new statement with different wording and labels will often trigger concern and lead to anxious phone calls and emails.

Providing an infographic that maps the old pay statement information to where it can be found in the new pay statement is an essential correspondence that diminishes the guaranteed anxiety that comes with reading a new pay statement.

When doing this, it helps to conduct an initial training with first-line supervisors and lower level management to empower the primary levels of leadership with the ability to answer some of the basic employee questions on their new pay statement.

Accruals Statement Mapping and Explanation Graphic

While Vacation and Sick Time accruals are typically impacted only when a Time and Attendance System accompanies the new Payroll System, the new payroll company may include accrual balances on their pay statements. Again, similar to the Pay Statement mapping infographic, creating an additional communication that shows employees how they can read their new accrual balance sheet is another way of heading off the anxious phone calls when making a payroll switch.

If you have an employee self-service system, then that will require additional training and communications. In short, think of all the different ways that employees will be interaction with your new workforce software, and develop the training and materials necessary to orient them confidently to the new system.