Manufacturing organizations today must continually reassess their human capital management (HCM) strategies and supporting technologies. They must do this to maximize the value of the workforce and deliver the best possible employee experience, an objective that has become a top priority across many industries. More specifically, manufacturing organizations must find an efficient way to utilize all relevant workforce information to uncover new sources of business value and must have the capability to personalize a worker’s daily experience on the job and help them in their pursuit of career goals. Manufacturers that embrace this imperative have the opportunity to be the leaders in their highly competitive market segments.
One issue that has historically made life more difficult for companies that manufacture and operate across multiple geographies is differing HRMS and payroll data requirements. The most substantial issue has been different data formats for key items such as the unique national identifier (for instance, social security number in the U.S. and national insurance number in Canada). Country-specific HR and payroll-related compliance requirements, many related to tax or data privacy issues, also require the tracking of other unique data for each population such as, for example, data needed to determine whether someone’s job in the U.S. is exempt from overtime compensation. In particular, tax issues typically impact how manufacturers design employee benefits and compensation plans.