3 Tips to Prepare Your Payments Organization for What’s Next

Getting your company’s payments administration team up to speed on industry trends and new technologies today is a higher priority than ever before. Over the next few years, companies will continue embracing innovative technology solutions at a rapid pace. In What to Know about Money and Payments in 2020, we looked at a number of tech-driven disruptors that are almost guaranteed to impact the way we’ll work in the years ahead. It can be overwhelming—and even seasoned professionals don’t always know how to begin preparing for change.

While your workforce is experiencing the evolution of payments from a consumer perspective, changes to their on-the-job workflows can be more challenging (however exciting) to embrace. They can be more complex and require the use of new skills, often outside of established comfort zones. So, as your organization explores or implements digital solutions, especially if you’re gradually layering one solution over the next to create a complete digital ecosystem, it’s helpful to keep these best practices in mind:

1. Know Your Employees’ Comfort Levels With Technology

Have your employees been working with legacy systems? Are they seemingly hard-wired to shuffle paper and make manual entries? Or are they already performing most of their duties digitally or even online? The state of your current workflow can clue you in to their technical vocabulary—or lack thereof—and willingness to adapt to new ways of working. It’s probable you have a “mixed bag” of technology adopters and slow starters, so, when introducing new systems, tools, and resources, be sensitive to individual’s needs. Don’t assume everyone is ready to jump into something new at the same speed.

2. Educate and Enable—and Keep it Going

Your technology and software vendors are probably offering extensive training and support as part of your rollout, but be sure to make other resources available to them around-the-clock. Even before implementing a new solution, in fact, meet with employees to talk about their challenges with the existing system and ask them directly what they think they’ll need to learn about the new one. Point them to industry blogs, give them access to multimedia content (e.g. videos, tutorials), talk about the benefits of new technologies at staff meetings, and give them time to explore the new technology landscape they’re about to enter. WEX’s Corporate Payments Insights might be a great place to get started.

3. Leverage Cheerleaders

There’s almost nothing more powerful than an influencer—a trusted coworker who can encourage your team to buy-in to new technology and lead the path to change. This could be you, but the most effective candidate is a peer; a technology user within the group that understands why changes are happening and appreciates the benefits they’ll bring. This individual can greatly influence the success of your rollout. And don’t forget the C-suite. Executives can champion your cause by driving tech adoption from the top down and supporting your messages through talking with employees and becoming engaged in the implementation process. For more, read Corporate Culture and Payments Technology.