The work behind the advice.

THE CHALLENGE

A newly independent business had to stand up its own payroll, benefits and HR operations in 54 countries within 12 months, while also absorbing acquisitions. Every country had to pay people correctly from day one, and the original plan wasn’t holding.

WHAT WE DID

• Led the global programme, with 8 direct reports in a team of 40.
• Re-baselined the programme and replaced the plan with a pragmatic roadmap the business could actually deliver.
• Turned the strategy into clear initiatives, with scope, KPIs, milestones and dependencies.
• Ran implementations and live operations across 5 payroll providers.
• Gave senior leaders the facts, options and trade-offs for each decision, then made sure decisions were carried through.
• Designed the payroll target operating model and organisation, moving services offshore where it made sense, with processes that could scale with growth.
• Managed compliance and risk across every country.

THE RESULT

The programme was re-baselined under Lara’s leadership, with a pragmatic roadmap to carry implementation forward across all 54 countries.

“She played a pivotal role in our organisation’s payroll transformation journey, successfully streamlining processes, reducing errors, and achieving significant cost savings.GLOBAL HR & PAYROLL TRANSFORMATION LEADER

THE CHALLENGE

The global time & absence system was at end of life, and the product had been caught up in a global cyber-security attack. That put the replacement in the spotlight: a highly scrutinised programme with no room for error, across multi-country, blue-collar workforces, including unionised countries and sites.

WHAT WE DID

• Ran the full journey as Global Programme Director: discovery, design, choosing the software vendor and the implementation partner, investment case, contract award and mobilisation.
• Went beyond vendor demos in due diligence: product roadmaps, plus external insight and analytics from Workday and Gartner.
• Ran a separate tender and stood up the delivery team for Belgium, harmonising rules across unionised production sites.
• Carried out due diligence for an acquisition, and reviewed how far pay and time rules could be standardised globally, shaping the global target operating model.
• Wrote the global payroll strategy and roadmap, and coached the Global Process Owner and leadership team.

THE RESULT

Contract awarded, including an implementation partner. Biometric clocking with geo-fencing and automation now live.

“Lara is a payroll powerhouse! … Her strategic insights and proactive approach have helped to strengthen our governance for both operations and global programs.GLOBAL HR DIRECTOR

“There are no puzzles she can’t solve.ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, GPO PAYROLL

THE CHALLENGE

Growth by acquisition had left HR and payroll fragmented across 38 countries and 18 businesses. The group needed central controls, a single global payroll and time & absence provider, and a repeatable way to bring new acquisitions on board.

WHAT WE DID

• Mapped the current landscape across 40 countries and set out the gaps against where the group needed to be.
• Designed the future target operating model, including roles, decision rights and who is accountable for what.
• Ran the full global tender for a payroll and time & absence provider, through to contract award.
• Built the global business case, covering both upfront and running costs.
• Set up and ran the global steering committee.
• Created the acquisition integration strategy and due diligence process.
• Centralised the EMEA region in the UK, on one harmonised pay date.
• Reviewed compliance across treasury, finance systems, union agreements and HR systems.

THE RESULT

Multi-million contract awarded for a single global provider, with EMEA centralised on one pay date.

THE CHALLENGE

The European programme failed at go-live. It had been led as part of a wider HR programme with no payroll specialist, so many areas weren’t implemented correctly. The partnership with the payroll vendor had broken down, and every country that had gone live showed distrust and poor adoption.

WHAT WE DID

• Stabilised operations across HR, global mobility, reward, pay and the vendor relationship.
• Designed the international payroll target operating model, defining the local, in-country services each country needed in a services catalogue.
• Onboarded third- and fourth-party providers in complex European countries, working with unions, collective agreements and works councils.
• Rebuilt the relationship with the payroll vendor from a position of mistrust.
• Spent time on the ground with local Finance and HR leaders, rebuilding trust, processes and ways of working.
• Built the business case for a new global managed payroll service and took it to the CEO for sign-off, then ran the tender through to award and design.
• Implemented time & absence and benefits in 7 countries, and set up global mobility from scratch.
• Ran roadshows and training across Europe so teams used, and trusted, the new service.

THE RESULT

Operations stabilised, a new global payroll provider appointed with CEO sign-off, and time & absence and benefits live in 7 countries. Payroll errors and queries reduced in every country.

THE CHALLENGE

Three global programmes had drifted off track: competing vendor plans, too many workstreams pulling in different directions, and governance and resourcing not fit to deliver.

WHAT WE DID

• Online grocery technology company: reviewed and restructured the consultant team, combined two global vendors’ plans into one across Workday, UKG, Benefex, Cloudpay and Oracle, and replanned every international country. 3 months.
• Global food delivery marketplace, 25 countries: reviewed upfront and running costs, ran a provider information request, set up the global steering committee and defined roles, budget and governance. 4 months.
• Private-equity-backed fund services group: recalibrated the vendor’s plan, structure and resources, managed the outsourcing provider and contract, and reviewed money movement and solution design. 4 months.

THE RESULT

Each programme left with a realistic, re-baselined plan, clear governance and the right team in place to deliver it.

“She led by example, always staying close to the detail, whilst keeping the team and client focused on the bigger picture… a safe pair of hands any complex programme can depend on.SOLUTION ARCHITECT, SAP SUCCESSFACTORS

THE CHALLENGE

Very old payroll software and poor processes meant the team spent time every month manually reworking data just to get it into the system. HR, benefits and pay sat in a fragmented set-up between HR and Finance, with no one owning the whole picture.

SECOND EXAMPLE

A global diagnostics company followed the same path, from discovery to contract award and mobilisation. As adviser during implementation, Lara also reduced the cost of contract change requests.

WHAT WE DID

• Designed the future process, then ran the full journey: discovery, choosing the provider, investment case, contract award and mobilisation.
• Attended every vendor presentation and assessed the market, so the team could choose with confidence.
• Reviewed internal processes and showed where they could be improved.
• Built software automation for benefits data, removing a manual task the team repeated every month.
• Set up programme governance: budget, resources, risk log, accountability and detailed planning.
• Stayed on as strategic adviser during implementation, handling vendor escalations, risks and issues.

THE RESULT

New providers selected and both companies now fully live, with days of manual work removed each month through automation.

“Her knowledge was invaluable to the team… Without her professional support this process would have been very difficult to complete on our own.EMEA PAYROLL MANAGER

“Lara… successfully led our transformation project (15 countries) that significantly improved our payroll processes.GLOBAL PAYROLL FINANCE MANAGER