In this episode of The Payroll Podcast, Nick Day is joined by Rob Evans, Head of Payroll UK & Ireland, and Gary Wright, HR and Payroll Solutions Director at TMF Group, to ask: can you outsource payroll responsibility?

Everyone getting paid correctly and on time does not necessarily mean the payroll operation is working well. Behind the payslip, teams may still be correcting poor data, managing disconnected systems and relying on manual work to keep the process running.

Rob and Gary explore why payroll often receives complaints when errors originate elsewhere, how HR and payroll data connect, what organisations should look for beyond accuracy figures, and why outsourcing the service does not remove internal ownership.

They also discuss global operating models, the importance of local expertise, AI and automation, TMF Group's Optix middleware, and the employee experience.

The Payroll Podcast is sponsored by Deel. This episode is additionally sponsored by TMF Group.

DEEL

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The Payroll Podcast is the most-subscribed payroll podcast on YouTube and the longest-running in the world. Hosted by Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment Group and the #1 ranked Global Thought Leader in Payroll (Thinkers360). Rated 4.8 on Apple Podcasts. Sponsored by Deel.

GUESTS & RESOURCES

Rob Evans, TMF Group: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-evans-b0aa2a1/

Gary Wright, TMF Group: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-wright-mcipp-1b220110/

TMF Group: https://www.tmf-group.com/

Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

JGA Recruitment Group: https://www.jgarecruitment.com/

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:58 Can you outsource payroll responsibility?

02:24 Where employees feel the HR and payroll gap

03:45 Why payroll gets blamed for upstream data errors

05:37 Where payroll data problems begin

07:08 Using payroll judgement to catch errors early

08:37 Technology, validation and exception reporting

10:25 AI and intelligent payroll

11:14 The cost of a broken payroll handover

15:05 Why 100% accuracy doesn't mean everything is working

17:45 Payroll, HR and the employee experience

21:02 Connecting global people operations

23:31 The search for one global payroll solution

26:34 Why local payroll expertise still matters

28:18 What should be global and what must remain local?

29:30 When a fully integrated model isn't the right answer

31:09 Three practical steps to improve payroll

32:18 You outsource the service, not the responsibility

33:43 Why regular provider reviews matter

35:39 TMF Group's Optix middleware and AI roadmap

39:34 What HR leaders should understand about payroll

41:22 Payroll touches every person every month

43:18 Payroll, trust and employee morale

45:16 What payroll means to Gary and Rob

47:02 Using automation without burning out payroll teams

47:27 The Payroll Vault

48:30 Advice for payroll leaders

49:43 When HR and payroll work best together

50:28 One prediction for payroll's future

50:53 The future is shared HR and payroll accountability

51:18 Closing thoughts

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