#HRTechChat: Anita Lettink, Founder of HR Tech Radar, Payroll Expert, Author

What this episode covers

Anita Lettink was the guest for this episode of #HRTechChat. Many viewers of this video podcast may know Anita from her nearly 20 years in positions of increasing seniority at NGA Human Resources (acquired in 2019 by Alight). Following nearly three years as a senior vice president there, she finally left NGAHR in mid-2020 to found HR Tech Radar and write and publish her book, "How to Select Your Next Payroll: The Ultimate Guide." Anita is a payroll expert by any calculus, and it was a real pleasure to reconnect and discuss the subject matter of her book in detail. Having fallen out of touch in recent years, Anita and I actually go way back, originally meeting when she was about midway through her tour of duty at NGAHR. This was back when NGAHR was known as NorthgateArinso, and the chief executive was Mike Ettling (who's now CEO of Unit4). As for little ol' me, I was technology editor for HRO Today. My, how time flies.... Much as nobody has ever complimented or thanked the power company for the electricity working, no employee (or company executive, for that matter) has ever spoken up to give the payroll department a thumbs up for getting payroll right again. When the power goes out or payroll goes wrong, however, watch the emails, text messages and phone calls roll in. "It is the expectation of employees that payroll will be correct," Anita said during the episode. "You cannot overperform payroll. But the moment it is wrong, even for a small group of people, I'd say all hell breaks loose. And all the trust you've built, the reputation that you had, is gone overnight." Payroll is one of those things employees are entitled to, no questions asked. They know this to the point that they don't even think about it, when payroll is right. There's an unspoken understanding. Get payroll wrong, however, and the employer brand suffers. This is why payroll absolutely must be correct. When it is, employee sentiment remains unaffected; when it isn't, employee sentiment tanks. Having been a close observer and actor in the payroll selection process for so long, Anita has — interestingly — identified what she believes to be a specific stage in the process that, left unaddressed, can botch or derail the implementation and subsequent deployment of a payroll solution. What is this stage in the process? Consider viewing this episode of the podcast, where we discuss the answer. Payroll is among my very favorite topics, and Anita brought deep insight to the conversation.

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