ADP's annual global payroll customer event took place in London recently, bringing together 224 decision-makers from some of the world's largest companies, representing ~20m employees. The event featured a global economic update, ADP's strategic vision, and product development updates. The event also included a "round the world" experience sharing insights into local payroll nuances and topics.  

Key highlights

Highlights from the event include:

• ADP Assist (announcement here), ADP’s GenAI solution, built by domain, clearly demonstrated how productivity gains can be made; e.g. a scenario where nudges indicate higher than normal levels of overtime and prompting emails to be sent to all relevant supervisors to validate overtime levels, with options to chose a tone of language that is casual, formal  or shorter and more direct
• ADP Roll (announcement here), ADP's newest payroll product with chat-only features, demonstrated how work is changing, where only 3% of its users leverage a desktop and a whopping 97% process their payroll through mobile only
• ADP is enabling a workbook configuration within the ADP Global Payroll software
• Requirements for pay/gender (DEI legislation) and pay transparency are growing, and ADP DataCloud is looking to support these needs globally
• The buyer needs of a global payroll mobile app vary, but there were examples of how it is being used across Pay and Time in multiple countries; for instance, ADP client Principal uses the app to punch in/out through the etime product as well as being able to see payslips.

CEO Maria Black took the stage to share her priorities after one year in office. This is a milestone year as ADP celebrates 75 years in the industry and has been led by only seven CEOs. She shared how she sees the organization balancing its long history of stability alongside ongoing innovation. Maria focuses on the importance of "listening" to help drive the investments of products and services. For example, she has a practice of placing an empty chair in every room to represent the client in every meeting.

The ADP client base has a huge demand for new services and high expectations of ADP. Helping navigate global payroll needs in the complex global environment takes maturity, skill and a lot of listening. ADP is taking purposeful steps in its design decisions and looks to build lasting and innovative solutions.

What to look forward to from ADP's global payroll

Expect to see the following payroll developments from ADP:

• Marketplace developments will be growing on an international scale
• Variance check improvements
• Unified practitioner experience (ADP GlobalView and Celergo)
• ADP Integration Hub will be expanded to include both in and out activities, all in one place
• GlobalView and ADP Workforce Management will be integrated in 2024
• Benchmarking and payroll efficiency are coming
• ADP Roll will be expanded to Europe in 2024; this product is one to watch being one of the first GenAi- built and chat-only payroll products on the market
• An increase in the adoption of the ADP app across its customer base. With the addition of intelligent self-service prompts within the app, it will bring an elevated payroll experience, helping catch anomalies at source and once the ADP marketplace is expanded through the app, HR and payroll functions will be able to drive greater innovation and flexibility to support their workforces.

As we move into another year where salaries are not growing at the rates seen in previous years, payroll is becoming increasingly important for organizations. My point of view is that organizations should be looking to ensure their employees receive the best payroll experiences possible and should include this in how they measure employee experiences.