Orica sets off global payroll transformation

For a company with such a long history, Orica is a thoroughly modern enterprise. Established in 1874 during Australia's Victorian gold rush, it has embraced growth to become one of the world’s leading mining and infrastructure solutions providers. Today, billions of us rely on energy, transport and infrastructure, advanced electronics and new technology enabled by Orica’s efforts to sustainably mobilise the earth’s resources. 

150 years on, Orica delivers services in over 100 countries, with a staff base of more than 14,000 people operational in 48 countries across five geographies. “Our workforce is diverse,” says Stacey Brewer, VP HR Operations, Orica. “They come from 90 different cultural backgrounds, they are salaried and non-salaried, unionised and non-unionised.”

Unearthing the power of Dayforce across payroll management

Accountability for running payroll globally across this large and disparate staff sits with Brewer and her team – no small undertaking given that Orica has 34 different payroll systems. “It's a complex and challenging landscape to manage from a compliance perspective,” says Brewer.

That complexity was revealed by a previous transformation project committed to enhancing data privacy and security. Trying to interact with 34 different vendors globally was ‘nearly impossible,’ and highlighted the need to quickly address a situation that could affect sensitive data. The company developed a clear, goal-focused global payroll strategy with an obvious bottom line. “What we’re really looking to do,” says Brewer, “is know that we’re accurately and compliantly paying our people – every time we pay them.” 

To achieve that, Orica had two goals in mind to consolidate its payroll systems ideally down to a single provider and find a partner it could work closely and collaboratively with to navigate complex payroll projects. “Once we saw the pitch from Dayforce, it was crystal clear that they were the right choice for us,” says Brewer.  The company adopted Dayforce Payroll and Time and Attendance.  

Igniting the fuse to successful implementation

Orica’s global payroll project is a three-and-a-half-year phased consolidation of 34 existing payroll systems into the Dayforce platform. The company aims to integrate its HR systems, automate processes and standardise payroll operations across Asia, Australia Pacific, North America, EMEA and Latin America – effectively managing compliance across all those territories. Long-term, its HR goal is to reduce administrative tasks for staff, enabling them to focus on their core roles.

Change management has been critical, with Orica creating a dedicated team to promote accountability.  Early in the process, the team focused on visiting key countries, especially larger and more complex ones, to meet with stakeholders, understand their needs and customise solutions like site-specific clock setups. Important too, was Orica’s decision to work with an implementation partner. The team at Orica chose Deloitte. “We wanted a system implementation partner that we could sit round a table with, roll up our sleeves and feel like one team working towards a common objective,” says Brewer. The collaboration has fostered a unified team approach, alleviated challenges like staff turnover and provided access to strong local resources across multiple countries, saving significant time and effort.

Orica deliberately chose a phased approach, releasing updates every six months. Previous payroll improvement efforts had been limited to Australia due to the project's size and complexity, hindering global expansion. “This time, when planning the schedule, we ensured that something was going live for every phase, across all regions,” says Brewer. “So, everybody is getting something every time we have a release.”

Bringing transparency to processes and data

Orica’s staff expect workplace technology to be as easy and intuitive as the technology they use in their home lives – they want simple, smooth access without complex navigation or multiple log ins. And the company’s own research shows that when it comes to HR, staff are most likely to ask about payslips, leave balances and how to apply for leave. “Dayforce makes those things really simple,” says Brewer. “The payslip format is easy to read, whereas previous versions under other systems were impossible to decipher.”

Many rostered workers have various allowances tied to the number of days or hours worked and the new system provides much greater transparency around what is being paid and how. Frontline workers without direct access to technology during their shifts can now access the system through their mobile phone, while the Dayforce platform also offers them flexibility in how they can clock in and out, whether on the Dayforce mobile app or a physical clock – helping ensure the solution meets regional preferences.

For managers with direct reports across multiple countries, the consolidation of several platforms into one allows them to manage leave requests and team data in a single place, improving decision-making and planning. This change will also streamline support for the People Services team, replacing a complex matrix of 34 different processes worldwide with a single, user-friendly approach. “We’re bringing more transparency to processes that for a very long time have been opaque and manual – which allows a lot of flexibility,” says Brewer. “We're on the right path with what we're doing and the response overall has been positive.”

Unearthing the tools to manage complexity

So far, two phases of the Dayforce implementation have been completed across 18 countries, standardising processes and in many cases documenting them for the first time. Having a system that tracks everything and performs calculations that were sometimes informal – and untraceable – marks significant progress and means Orica staff have the same payroll experience regardless of their location. “The Dayforce platform is giving us data – that in many cases we’ve never had before – around what’s going through the system and how we’re paying our people,” says Brewer. “It’s really met the objective for us in terms of what the overall project was about.”

Previously, there was little to no integration between the Human Capital Management (HCM) and payroll systems, requiring extensive manual effort. Now, data flows smoothly from the HCM to payroll, reducing manual workload and allowing the team to concentrate on reporting, compliance and proactively addressing anomalies before finalising pay.

In recent years, Orica’s payroll team has struggled with a complex structure, often needing to address issues hurriedly with multiple systems and vendors. The switch to the Dayforce platform has made things easier by giving the global payroll team dedicated contacts, helping ensure consistent support and improving cross-country problem-solving. As issues become less frequent, Orica’s focus is turning to the future. “We're starting to really think about how we can proactively add value down the track rather than being stuck in a position of firefighting,” says Brewer.

Firing up for the future 

For Brewer, when it comes to the payroll project, the sound of success so far has been silence. “If I don't hear anything after we've paid people – that's when I know it's working,” she says.
 
Long-term, Brewer sees success as being able to pull on-demand global reports that demonstrate – with real-time data – consistent and accurate payroll. 

Meanwhile, the opportunities Orica can now explore include new technology solutions, particularly in governance and compliance, to help identify and pre-empt potential issues. The company is also considering new capabilities like virtual assistants and chatbots – something that would have been impossible with 34 separate systems. 

“We're on a really positive track,” says Brewer. “The technology we’re getting from Dayforce is best in market and what’s giving me confidence, having partnered with them, is that I know they're looking ahead all the time.”