Our panel included:
- Emma-Lee Oliver – Senior Consultant, Australian Payroll Association
- Jessi Musson – Senior Consultant, Randstad
- Abhinav Sinha – Country Sales Head, Ramco Systems
- Damien Durston – Head of Sales ANZ, OneAdvanced
Here are the major insights and actionable takeaways from the session.
1. Attracting and Retaining Talent Requires a Better EVP and Better Consistency
According to Randstad’s insights, organisations are still struggling in two key areas:
Attraction
Companies need to build personalised Employee Value Propositions (EVPs) targeted to the new skills they’re recruiting for. Candidates today expect clarity, flexibility and a strong culture—not just a salary.
Retention
Retention hinges on upskilling, strong leadership and a sense of being valued.
Jessi shared telling statistics:
- Nearly 60% of employees leave because a better offer or career opportunity comes along.
- The remaining drivers include work-life balance and poor leadership.
Most businesses know what employees want, but fail to consistently deliver it.
2. Payroll Accuracy Is Silent, Until It Isn’t
Emma-Lee from APA emphasised that payroll is invisible when it’s right… but immediately damaging when it’s wrong.
Accurate payroll builds:
- Quiet but powerful trust
- A sense that the organisation is organised, fair and reliable
- Confidence in leadership
But even a single error (underpayment, overpayment, or late pay) can trigger:
- Financial stress
- Frustration and embarrassment
- Erosion of trust
- Reputation damage
- Compliance investigations and penalties
Many high-profile underpayment cases began as simple mistakes but spiralled due to lack of proactive oversight.
When payroll is accurate, transparent and consistent, it becomes a competitive advantage.
3. Technology Is Now Essential for Skills, Transparency and Compliance
Both Abhinav and Damien highlighted the profound role modern payroll, HRIS, and workforce systems play in closing skill gaps and building a transparent workplace.
Closing Skill Gaps
When performance management data connects with payroll and workforce insights, leaders can:
- See real-time performance and capacity
- Identify low-value tasks draining productivity
- Detect training needs
- Make informed hiring and development decisions
This shifts organisations away from “gut-feel” decisions to data-backed, proactive workforce planning.
Transparency Employees Expect
Modern systems give staff:
- Clear visibility of how performance is measured
- Accurate time capture
- Transparent calculations for pay and awards
- Access to payslips, leave balances and rosters in real time
This level of openness builds trust and reduces misunderstandings.
Fairness & Compliance
Automation reduces risk dramatically by:
- Enforcing correct award interpretation
- Validating time before it hits payroll
- Eliminating manual errors
- Ensuring statutory reporting is met
With compliance pressure in Australia increasing, strong systems are non-negotiable.
4. Balancing Productivity & Wellbeing in the Hybrid Era
Hybrid work is now embedded in most industries and in many cases, productivity is higher. But wellbeing risks remain.
Key insights:
- Employees are taking fewer breaks and often working longer hours at home.
- Managers must proactively check workloads and signs of burnout.
- Flexibility, manageable workloads and supportive culture directly impact sustainable productivity.
Well-being will increasingly be designed into work structures, not treated as an add-on.
5. Workforce Strategies Must Adapt to Economic Uncertainty
Tighter budgets and shifting expectations mean organisations must rethink how they plan and manage talent.
Recommended actions:
- Build financial buffers and allow for more flexible project timelines.
- Conduct thorough workforce analysis to identify skill strengths and gaps.
- Decide whether to:
- Hire for specific skills, or
- Upskill the existing team (requires longer lead times).
- Use AI and digital tools for workforce mapping and forecasting.
Workforce planning must now be both data-led and future-focused.
6. The Skills Employees Need Most in the Next 5 Years
While “AI will replace jobs” is a common fear, the panel agreed that the real future is human + AI together.
Most valuable skills emerging:
- Proficiency with AI and digital tools
- Strategic thinking
- Data analysis + strong verbal communication
- Adaptability and continuous learning
- Passion and enthusiasm, traits AI can’t imitate
Employees who can interpret data and communicate insights will be increasingly in demand.
7. Compliance, Payroll & Workforce Tech Will Redefine the Employee–Employer Relationship
The relationship between employers and employees is shifting and technology is central to this transformation.
Key shifts:
- Employees expect clarity, real-time access and reliable information.
- Payroll, once a back-office function, is now a frontline contributor to trust.
- Workforce technology supports fairer rostering, visibility of fatigue risks and better labour planning.
- Self-service tools empower employees and reduce administrative friction.
Ultimately, these tools help create workplaces that feel fair, transparent and supportive - driving both retention and engagement.
8. What Happens When Organisations Aren’t Compliant?
The panel was clear:
Non-compliance is costly, reputationally damaging, and extremely difficult to recover from.
Consequences include:
- Fair Work investigations
- Costly audits and repayment processes
- Public exposure and negative media
- Loss of employee trust
- Significant operational disruption
Once trust is broken, restoring it is extremely difficult.
9. How Organisations Can Strengthen Their Compliance
Practical steps shared by the panel:
- Ongoing payroll training & education: Awards and legislation change frequently, your team must stay up to date
- Regular external compliance reviews: Independent audits help uncover issues before they become major problems.
- Strong time & attendance systems: Award interpretation and validation at the point of time capture reduces downstream errors.
- Treat compliance as a continuous journey: Not a one-off project.
10. The Role of Earned Wage Access
On-demand pay and flexible wage access are emerging trends, but full daily payroll is still far away due to:
- ATO limitations
- Lack of daily tax tables
- Operational impracticalities
For now, it remains a watch-this-space area, but not an imminent shift.
Final Thoughts
Across every topic; retention, compliance, performance, technology, the message was consistent:
Transparency, accuracy and modern workforce tools are no longer “nice to have”, they are essential foundations for employee trust and organisational resilience.
Organisations that invest in connected payroll, performance and workforce solutions will be better positioned to:
- Keep great people
- Reduce compliance risk
- Improve productivity
- Build a strong, values-driven culture
If you’d like tailored advice on where your payroll or workforce processes can be strengthened, OneAdvanced can help. Find out more here: People Management Software | OneAdvanced