Leader Talks: ADP’s Jitka Sošková on how technology is transforming the payroll space

Running any large business is about much more than just coming up with a great idea, producing and selling. Behind the scenes, every company must deal with a host of internal processes and support functions which have to be handled properly if overall success is to be achieved.

One of these crucial hidden elements is payroll. For multinational companies, paying employees across multiple countries is a huge operation that needs to be legally compliant and respect different labor laws. It also needs to be efficient, staffed with skilled experts, and delivered on time and correctly. For many of the world’s biggest brands, this is where Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) steps in.

Expats.cz sat down with Jitka Sošková, ADP’s GlobalView General Manager EMEA, at the company’s modern base in Prague’s Karlín district to find out more about why top businesses outsource their payroll to ADP and what it’s like to handle payroll for demanding clients across dozens of countries.

We are a large regional service center located in Prague, focusing on the whole EMEA region. Our core business is payroll outsourcing, with additional services relating to human capital management. 

We participate in bids for payroll and HR outsourcing each year. If we win, we assess the client’s requirements, configure the payroll and other related systems and interfaces using ADP proprietary technology, and guide the client in new ways of working. After an implementation project we provide payroll calculation services, consultancy, legislative updates, and support clients in all their needs, such as reorganizations, acquisitions, divestitures, and other activities.

Our business stands or falls based on our ability to develop the skills and expertise needed to provide all these services. For all 22 countries serviced by us, we have teams who speak the language, who know the technology, and who are experts in that particular country’s legislation, payroll rules, union agreements, and everything else that affects running a payroll, as well as time and attendance and other relevant topics. We have about 650 associates here in Prague.

Well, firstly because it’s the best and most beautiful city in Europe, of course! Joking aside, there were many good reasons. Czechia is a stable country with constant economic growth. It’s an ideal talent hub for hosting a business which needs to leverage various languages and skills, and it’s located in the heart of Europe, so if we want to visit clients it’s always a reasonable distance.

Czech nationals like to complain a lot and often forget to appreciate what we have. Prague offers an excellent quality of life. That is very important for attracting talent, which is a key prerequisite for our success. We recruit a lot of foreigners to work for us. Prague’s culture and history, cost of living, security, health care, public transport and overall attractiveness make the city an ideal place to live. Prague is often rated as one of the best cities for expats and foreigners.

We need to be in an attractive location to find talent. We are a growing business, each year adding more clients, more configurations, more services. We are deploying new technologies and processes to boost efficiency, replacing transactional types of work with expert support, consultancy, and value-added services.

First of all, in the area of payroll and HR services, ADP is the world leader in terms of depth and breadth of services. We are headquartered in the U.S., with 60,000 associates around the world. ADP was founded in 1949 and was actually the first company to develop the idea of payroll outsourcing. The business segment that I am responsible for is the segment supporting large multinationals and well-known brands; if you take a look at the companies in the S&P 500 list, you can be sure that we’re servicing most of them.

Our vision is to enable these large multinationals to focus on what matters to them by taking on the responsibility of making sure that their employees are paid correctly, on time, all the time. We are a company that combines technology, people and service. Our motto is “Always designing for people”.

ADP faces many of the same challenges as any large player in the business services and outsourcing industry. For me, the most important task is building a relationship of trust, collaboration and partnership with our clients. When we achieve that, we make our associates and our clients happy and create a good working environment where any problem can be solved swiftly and effectively. Satisfied clients bring growth and profitability to our business.

A decision to outsource payroll usually comes from company executives, but the key for success is good internal change management. We have seen so many different examples of how company leaders either succeed or fail in engaging those who will be affected by the change. Large changes in organizations are hard, and can be unpleasant.

We help clients manage this change, and this is a delicate matter. It’s a journey, beginning with the moment when we define the blueprint and start configuration. From then on, we start building relationships of trust and partnership with our clients. Payroll is like a dance; our team and the clients’ payroll team must be in sync and not step on each other’s toes in order to gently lead and follow each other.

Without trust, people will never listen to you or follow your advice – they will never “dance” with you. In times of hybrid working, it’s important to remind ourselves that trust is built by people meeting face-to-face, talking, working and having fun together. Face-to-face workshops with clients are among the best change management tools in our portfolio.

Our goal is to design, develop, and deliver the very best solutions to our clients, and to achieve that goal, we must continue to push the boundaries of innovation. Payroll systems and technologies are our core business, so we obviously invest heavily in them. Payroll processing, data analytics, HR systems, integration; that’s what we do. We are continuously exploring new technologies that will have a positive impact in our business segment. 

We use Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and machine learning technologies, for example, to enhance our payroll engines. One of our major focus areas is understanding how we can leverage the capabilities of Generative AI (GenAI) to be beneficial to our clients and their employees.

Our clients trust us to work with their sensitive personal data, so cybersecurity and data privacy are always our top priorities. We have developed very robust systems to protect our clients’ data.  ADP is synonymous with data protection, security, compliance and ethical behavior.  “Integrity is everything” is one of our core values.

Another of our core values is “Each person counts.” ADP is a company that is focused on people. We have robust internal academies and learning systems to develop our associates, so as soon as someone joins, they are in a continuous process of training and development to allow them to gain new skills. 

Besides payroll specialists, we have technical roles, account managers, IT specialists, implementation consultants, project managers, and many other interesting positions. We like to say that “it takes a village to service a client.” It’s a large company, so people can move and rotate across teams until they find their sweet spot.

Language skills are also key; more than 30 percent of our associates are non-Czech nationals, and we speak a total of 18 languages in this building, with English the official language. We not only have to understand and build a relationship with the client; it has to be done in their language. We often hire young people, such as university graduates, who speak the language of a given country, looking particularly at foreigners who have already moved to Prague or who would like to.

Our culture is a culture of diversity and inclusion, as we know that an inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives cultivates the best ideas. We continually strive to create a space where everyone is appreciated and valued for their unique individuality. We also have several business resource groups, including one that represents our LGBTQ+ community, another that supports people with disabilities, our Corporate Social Responsibility team or Green, which focuses on environmental and sustainability activities.

I was born, grew up and studied in Brno, behind the Iron Curtain. I took my first degree in computer engineering. In 1989 I participated actively during the Velvet Revolution, which was a very important moment in my life. It was decisive, because it opened the door to a world of possibilities and gave me the opportunity to become who I am, living a life of freedom and choice.

I graduated in IT, but at that time, working as an IT engineer meant sitting behind a screen and coding, and it didn’t work out too well for me. During that time people had typically been promoted based on their political views and ideological engagement, not their competence and merit.  As a result, I tried to make my hobby, art, into my job. I was active in the theater world in Brno, and of course students and artists were the driving force of the Revolution. That’s why it was so impactful for me.

After the revolution, I moved back into business as an HR manager. I started to work in my first large corporation, and then I traveled abroad. I lived for four years in Portugal, where I added to my IT degree a Master’s in Organizational Behavior, focusing on cultural differences and how people with different national backgrounds operate in a business environment.

I then moved to Brazil, where I spent five years and continued my academic activities. But then after some significant changes in my personal life, I decided to look for jobs in Europe. I came back to Czechia and started working in a corporate environment for multinationals. After two more expat assignments to the Netherlands and Spain, I returned to Czechia for the second time. Eight years ago, I started working for ADP in Prague.

In the 15 years prior to my joining ADP, I had worked on so-called “HR transformation” projects, which meant putting in place a new HR model, redefining HR work and processes, building HR shared services, and deploying new tools and technologies. ADP was the first company I worked for where supporting clients’ transformations was actually the company’s core everyday business.

Anybody who spent a few years living abroad would confirm that it is a very enriching experience. It challenges what you have learned since childhood from your parents, schools and society; you must adapt to a new set of values and norms in a new country, opening your mind to new learnings, new behaviors and new ideas. It brings so many discoveries; I heard a quote once that living abroad gives you more than a PhD.

Although I don’t directly use much of what I studied in the fields of psychology, IT or art in my day-to-day life, it helps me by giving a broader view of people, problems and situations, enabling me to find more creative solutions. It’s a well-known fact that the biggest discoveries today occur on the border between different scientific or business disciplines. Combining various perspectives always brings a new, interesting view.

True leadership is not about the specific position that you hold; it's about the positive influence and impact you have on others.