Amidst Lingering Budget Cuts, Southwark Reports Significant Annual Savings with Automate Studio

Comprised of 21 wards that extend along the River Thames and down into South East London, Southwark Council encompasses many of the city’s most notable features and attractions including London Bridge, the Shard, Borough Market, the Tate Modern, and the Globe Theatre.

The Council employs nearly 6,000 people and manages a vast number of services for the Borough’s 293,530 residents, from highways to housing, to health and social care

The Council’s chief initiatives included improving efficiency throughout the organization, streamlining SAP data entry and accuracy, and implementing automation and online processes when available. Across the public sector, services have continued to face departmental spending cuts, and an uncertain forecast for closing the budget gap.

“We’re very conscious of the fact that we don’t get to cascade our work down, and we’re constantly looking to do more with less and utilize our limited resources,” said Susan Biggs, SAP HR Payroll Officer at the Council. They sought a solution that would allow them to reduce their workforce, lowering HR hiring and training costs.

They needed to update data affected by condensing satellite offices into a single building, including a massive reimplementation of employee payroll. The Council was also looking for a tool to simplify the creation of their election payroll for short-term employees.

“We needed an alternative for ESS/MSS for areas where the technology knowledge was not present and we didn’t have the ability or resources for it,” said Biggs. “We were in such financial constraints and had to cleanse all of our data manually, spreading our resources thin. If we needed to do a major change and our data was incomplete or inaccurate, our documents could not be sent to the tax office.”

Read more about how Southwark Council employee payroll process takes 1.5 days to complete, with 100% accuracy guaranteed.