The payroll implementation at Andrés Wines was painless, even fun, because payroll stayed involved throughout the implementation
When it comes to implementing a new payroll system, “fun” isn’t usually a term that springs to mind.
Painful. Annoying. Stressful. Headache-inducing. Those are the more common adjectives that spout from a payroll practitioner’s mouth when describing how the payroll department generally feels during this type of transition.
But Debbie Adams, the payroll manager at Andrés Wines, a Grimsby, Ont.-based wine producer and marketer with 1,250 employees across Canada, said the implementation was actually a fun process from start to finish.
Andrés Wines has been outsourcing its payroll function for as long as Adams can remember, but a decision was made to switch vendors in 2001 for a variety of reasons. The old system was a bit antiquated and wasn’t going to be updated by the vendor anytime soon. Plus it was DOS-based and she wasn’t thrilled with the customer service she was getting from the vendor.
When it came to choosing a new vendor, Adams didn’t have to put much thought into the decision. In fact, she only looked at one company as a possible solution — Ceridian.
“I was settled on them because of past history with them,” she said. She’d worked with their system at a previous employer and had been impressed with it and the support she got from Ceridian. So when the time came to switch vendors, Adams had already made up her mind.
What made the implementation fun?
Adams admits she might be a bit different than some payroll practitioners because she’s always found implementing a new payroll system to be an interesting challenge.
But the transition to Ceridian was a lot more enjoyable because she was so involved in the process from start to finish, she said.
In previous implementations, vendors had a tendency to keep her at arm’s length, she said. They would simply contact her when they needed information, and she just had to sit back and trust that everything would be done right and cross her fingers and hope for the best when it came time to flip the switch.
“I’d been through implementations before where I felt sort of on the outside,” said Adams.
But with the Ceridian implementation, which took three months start to finish, Adams said the vendor encouraged her to be involved, something that made the process more efficient and enjoyable.
“They allowed me to work really closely with them,” she said.
Adams drove to Ceridian’s office in Mississauga, Ont., about an hour from Grimsby, on a number of occasions to ensure the process was running smoothly. Because of her heavy involvement with the implementation, she was so confident in the system that she actually went on vacation the first week it was up and running.
“That’s how comfortable I was,” she said.
Seven systems into one
Payroll is a bit more complicated at Andrés Wines than at some organizations because employees are scattered across the country in a number of completely different businesses. The company has winery operations in Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia and vineyards in Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula and the B.C.’s Okanagan Valley. It’s responsible for such wine labels as Peller Estates, Hillebrand Estates and Cascadia, among others.
It is also a major player in the home winemaking industry, marketing products under its Winexpert and Vineco International brands.
And it runs two restaurants in Niagara-on-the-lake, Ont., and operates Vineyards Estates Wines, a network of retail outlets with 400 employees.
Because of all the different business units, with the old payroll system the company was essentially running seven different systems. But Ceridian was able to mirror them and convert them all at the same time so that everything is now the same everywhere, Adams said.
The retail outlets posed one of the most complicated challenges during the Ceridian implementation. That’s because they use a separate web-based system, not created by Ceridian, to keep track of employee information.
But Adams said Ceridian was able to work with the third-party vendor that created the web-based program for the retail outlets, and now it communicates effortlessly with the main payroll system. Timesheets are entered online at the retail outlets and downloaded into the company’s main payroll system. Payroll for those workers is then handled like every other worker at Andrés Wines.
“It’s fantastic,” said Adams. “Something that used to take me hours to deal with now takes me five minutes.”
Ceridian manages pretty much every aspect of payroll for the company, she said. They handle remittances, prepare the T4s and handle the direct deposits. Adams’ job is to ensure everything is entered correctly on her end.
Andrés Wines is also taking advantage of the HR portion of Ceridian’s software offering. They use it for things like job evaluation information, tracking injuries and tracking disciplinary issues.
She said there were no problems during the implementation and the system has performed flawlessly since it was implemented. The only hiccup has come when Andrés Wines purchased new computers or servers.
“But their tech people are always on the phone, and they help us and our IT department to fix things up,” she said.
That kind of customer service is what really won her over — there was a small cost savings in switching to Ceridian but she said they likely could have saved that money if they had worked with previous vendor to re-organize the system.
“They call you back right away if they don’t answer the phone,” she said. “I’m treated like they know who I am, as opposed to talking to strange new people every time I phone. They seem to do things the way I like and they’re always quick. It wasn’t a whole lot about saving money.”
Her advice to other payroll departments about to embark on an implementation is to enter it with an open mind, do their homework about what they want, ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to get involved.
That way, when the time comes to flip the switch, you can rest easy knowing there isn’t going to be a problem and could even follow Adams lead and take a vacation.
Painful. Annoying. Stressful. Headache-inducing. Those are the more common adjectives that spout from a payroll practitioner’s mouth when describing how the payroll department generally feels during this type of transition.
But Debbie Adams, the payroll manager at Andrés Wines, a Grimsby, Ont.-based wine producer and marketer with 1,250 employees across Canada, said the implementation was actually a fun process from start to finish.
Andrés Wines has been outsourcing its payroll function for as long as Adams can remember, but a decision was made to switch vendors in 2001 for a variety of reasons. The old system was a bit antiquated and wasn’t going to be updated by the vendor anytime soon. Plus it was DOS-based and she wasn’t thrilled with the customer service she was getting from the vendor.
When it came to choosing a new vendor, Adams didn’t have to put much thought into the decision. In fact, she only looked at one company as a possible solution — Ceridian.
“I was settled on them because of past history with them,” she said. She’d worked with their system at a previous employer and had been impressed with it and the support she got from Ceridian. So when the time came to switch vendors, Adams had already made up her mind.
What made the implementation fun?
Adams admits she might be a bit different than some payroll practitioners because she’s always found implementing a new payroll system to be an interesting challenge.
But the transition to Ceridian was a lot more enjoyable because she was so involved in the process from start to finish, she said.
In previous implementations, vendors had a tendency to keep her at arm’s length, she said. They would simply contact her when they needed information, and she just had to sit back and trust that everything would be done right and cross her fingers and hope for the best when it came time to flip the switch.
“I’d been through implementations before where I felt sort of on the outside,” said Adams.
But with the Ceridian implementation, which took three months start to finish, Adams said the vendor encouraged her to be involved, something that made the process more efficient and enjoyable.
“They allowed me to work really closely with them,” she said.
Adams drove to Ceridian’s office in Mississauga, Ont., about an hour from Grimsby, on a number of occasions to ensure the process was running smoothly. Because of her heavy involvement with the implementation, she was so confident in the system that she actually went on vacation the first week it was up and running.
“That’s how comfortable I was,” she said.
Seven systems into one
Payroll is a bit more complicated at Andrés Wines than at some organizations because employees are scattered across the country in a number of completely different businesses. The company has winery operations in Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia and vineyards in Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula and the B.C.’s Okanagan Valley. It’s responsible for such wine labels as Peller Estates, Hillebrand Estates and Cascadia, among others.
It is also a major player in the home winemaking industry, marketing products under its Winexpert and Vineco International brands.
And it runs two restaurants in Niagara-on-the-lake, Ont., and operates Vineyards Estates Wines, a network of retail outlets with 400 employees.
Because of all the different business units, with the old payroll system the company was essentially running seven different systems. But Ceridian was able to mirror them and convert them all at the same time so that everything is now the same everywhere, Adams said.
The retail outlets posed one of the most complicated challenges during the Ceridian implementation. That’s because they use a separate web-based system, not created by Ceridian, to keep track of employee information.
But Adams said Ceridian was able to work with the third-party vendor that created the web-based program for the retail outlets, and now it communicates effortlessly with the main payroll system. Timesheets are entered online at the retail outlets and downloaded into the company’s main payroll system. Payroll for those workers is then handled like every other worker at Andrés Wines.
“It’s fantastic,” said Adams. “Something that used to take me hours to deal with now takes me five minutes.”
Ceridian manages pretty much every aspect of payroll for the company, she said. They handle remittances, prepare the T4s and handle the direct deposits. Adams’ job is to ensure everything is entered correctly on her end.
Andrés Wines is also taking advantage of the HR portion of Ceridian’s software offering. They use it for things like job evaluation information, tracking injuries and tracking disciplinary issues.
She said there were no problems during the implementation and the system has performed flawlessly since it was implemented. The only hiccup has come when Andrés Wines purchased new computers or servers.
“But their tech people are always on the phone, and they help us and our IT department to fix things up,” she said.
That kind of customer service is what really won her over — there was a small cost savings in switching to Ceridian but she said they likely could have saved that money if they had worked with previous vendor to re-organize the system.
“They call you back right away if they don’t answer the phone,” she said. “I’m treated like they know who I am, as opposed to talking to strange new people every time I phone. They seem to do things the way I like and they’re always quick. It wasn’t a whole lot about saving money.”
Her advice to other payroll departments about to embark on an implementation is to enter it with an open mind, do their homework about what they want, ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to get involved.
That way, when the time comes to flip the switch, you can rest easy knowing there isn’t going to be a problem and could even follow Adams lead and take a vacation.
