Business Analysis to support rollout of a Payroll & Pensions solution

Our client was implementing a completely new system for processing and managing their employee pensions and at the same time was implementing a new payroll system. There was a requirement for a Business Analyst solely focussed on enabling the successful implementation of the Pensions system which integrated with the new payroll system. The Business Analyst role formed the workstream lead for the Pensions system project, with a reporting line into the Programme Manager and working alongside other workstream leads from the Payroll system project. Because of the time sensitivity of payroll cut offs and paying employees on both monthly and fortnightly payment schedules, it was essential to launch both systems successfully at the same time.

Previous pensions processes were heavily manual and open for risk of error which was hard to trace given the high volume of employees within the company. The pensions process was always taking place a month in arrears due to a dependency on payroll data being shared. Furthermore, the contract with the existing pensions system provider was coming to an end and there was a need to implement a new pensions system.

We worked with key stakeholders to define and prioritise the requirements for the new solution and conducted a gap analysis to identify where the new system did not meet requirements and then escalated and managed the risk associated with this to ensure that the implemented solution was fit for purpose. We drafted to-be processes collaboratively with with the internal team and suppliers and developed working procedures and guidance notes to support testing. We developed system test cases and scenarios and coordinated testing with the relevant teams and collated all of the test evidence and supported the management of test defects. Finally, we supported the cut-over period and go live of the new solution to resolve any new arising issues.

Our approach ensured minimal impact on the organisation’s employees and made sure all key requirements were met by the final solution implemented. As part of our process redesign process, we reduced process delays by approximately 30 days so that pensions were processed in the same payroll period  and in real time, rather than a month in arrears. Overall, there was an improvement in control, detection and resolution of any incorrect or non-compliant payroll contributions as a result of our work. The new solution enabled resolution of existing process issues relating to Maternity leave and National Minimum Wage thresholds.

Our client said: “Having Olivia’s skills in the team was a great assurance for me as the Programme Manager as I could trust her to build a strong relationship with the teams and lead on a number of our project deliverables including requirements gathering, process development and system testing. The work Olivia completed and how she worked with the wider team including our suppliers meant that we were able to implement a fit for purpose solution on time, which was hugely critical for this type of project.”