FEATURE TOPIC
What skills, beside technical ones, have payroll professionals had to acquire to deliver good service in the current climate? Susan Clayton: Flexible working became a must during Covid for payroll. Employees were provided with, not only the opportunity to work hybrid, but also to work evenings or late nights, due to childcare responsibilities. During Covid, the payroll team saw regular legislative changes, such as statutory sick pay from day one being introduced, and furlough calculations. Communication skills also came into play, as it was important for payroll to keep the business up to date with regular changes in legislation. Emotional intelligence was also important, as some employees faced challenging times during the pandemic. Jerome discussed this with: Susan Clayton ACIPP , global payroll manager, City and Guilds Ian Hodson MSc ChFCIPPdip , head of reward / deputy director of HR, University of Lincoln Louise Nuttall, head of HR, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Brian Sparling ChMCIPPdip , director, managed operations (EMEA), Ceridian. Emotional intelligence was also important, as some employees faced challenging
Louise Nuttall: Payroll professionals have acquired the ability to adapt and change very quickly, trying to anticipate the government’s next steps, especially with the coronavirus job retention scheme. In addition to this, they’ve learned to decipher complex and ambiguous guidelines – or sometimes a lack of guidelines at all in the early stages. Therefore, dynamic problem- solving skills and being able to pre-empt what information might be required, have become the norm. I think they’ve always had these skills, but recent events have highlighted the requirement for these skills more than ever. Brian Sparling: While the payroll community has historically always had effective communication skills, they’ve come to the forefront during the pandemic and recovery periods. Payroll rules have changed so frequently that being able to clearly explain these complexities to employees is essential to creating a thriving work culture. Would payroll professionals feel more valued if the variety of unsung tasks they perform were highlighted? SC: Most definitely. It’s difficult to highlight the complexities payroll are up against on a daily basis. Things such as salary sacrifice rules, national minimum wage checks and pension changes are just a few of these tasks. I recently showed our head the monthly payroll checklist and it was far more complex than she ever imagined. Many areas of the business don’t understand the amount of checks we must do, and payroll is not as straightforward as it used to be. IH: Payroll professionals will always be unsung heroes and are often victims of quietly ensuring everything happens on time with little fuss. It’s such a shame, Payroll professionals will always be unsung heroes and are often victims of quietly ensuring everything happens on time with little fuss
but over my career I’ve concluded this is often because very few people understand what the function does. whether that be processing, file submissions, record- keeping or processing voluntary benefits. It’s hard to simply explain what the department does. As professionals, we need to try to better promote our activities and not just the operational aspects, but also the alignment to strategic activities. For example: ● how financial education and savings vehicles are vital in supporting the cost-of- living challenge ● how cash plans and private medical insurance are supporting well-being ● how reports and analysis are supporting cash control. I’d encourage every payroll team to take a few hours to document the activities they’ve been doing alongside the payroll processing and the objective they were supporting. Then ensure as many people as possible have the chance to see how payroll professionals are supporting bigger agendas, as facilitators and thought leaders. LN: Absolutely. When they get everyone’s pay correct month in, month out, nobody pays payroll attention or praise. When pay is incorrect, however, that’s a different matter. Usually when this happens, there’s an explanation for this the employee hasn’t anticipated, such as a change in tax code, or the introduction of a student loan. Getting payroll correct every single month with little or no errors is amazing, but unfortunately, it’s a function which is taken for granted. This doesn’t stop payroll professionals excelling in their work, but to be appreciated and thanked occasionally does go a long way. BS: Absolutely, but the very nature of their work makes this a difficult task. Sadly, the only time you hear about them is when an individual is paid incorrectly, not the 9,999 times they got it right. Payroll needs to learn to shout loudly about the 9,999 perfect times. What do you feel prevents payroll / reward teams from having a greater transformational impact? SC: Employees are more interested in the financial reward package than the non-financial rewards. However, good performance management should be fundamental – job design, commitment, motivation and culture can be a large
times during the pandemic
Ian Hodson: I think we’ve seen an acceleration of how payroll services are delivered, with more flexibility, moving the profession away from being one of the traditional office-bound activities. This is positive but means a different skill set is required to support it. We know the technical expertise of payroll duties is often best taught through shadowing and mentoring. However, to ensure working in more disparate ways can still be effective for development means that professionals need to be good communicators and evaluators. They must develop skills to assess and understand development goals in a more remote manner.
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 83 | September 2022
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