FEATURE TOPIC
factor. Sometimes, the tool used (often a portal), can put employees off accessing the benefits or reward package on offer. They’re not always straightforward to use, and employees don’t have time in their busy day job to access and view the portal to find what they’re looking for. A ‘reward offer of the week’ sent directly to employees would have a far better impact – you can either accept or delete – job done. Payrolling benefits has helped employees understand the impact on their pay. Queries around benefits were usually about P11Ds, which impact the following year. The employee could well have left an employment but still be paying for a benefit they received in their previous workplace. IH: In many ways, payroll will always be a victim of stereotyping and the term of ‘running payrolls’ will always be associated with an image of what the profession used to be, rather than what it is now. I would encourage all professionals to think how this perception could be changed, and in some ways, rebranding as reward professionals gives the opportunity for new perceptions to be formed. LN: I think they need to be visible to the business as trusted sources of information and support. By this, I don’t mean being in the office. It’s about being able to promote the function in the best ways possible and being pro-active in the approach. If there’s a new tax coming in, inform employees as early as possible, so they can see the impact on their take-home pay. If people haven’t used certain rewards, we can communicate that. It’s also being there to help with scenario planning with the finance team, especially if there are payroll and reward changes. BS: While payroll is clearly a critical function, our community tends to be very reactive when it comes to identifying and approaching potential business issues. A lot of this can be explained by the cyclical nature of the work and the resource requirements. We should be looking to build roles that are dedicated to improving the operational delivery of payroll. How do you encourage your team to be both innovative and collaborative? SC: I let my team have an opinion and acknowledge every idea they put forward. I send a personal reward to my team for a
job well done – this could be a thank you or a small gift. Giving flexibility to enable them time at home helps – sports day, for example – I let one of the team log off to attend. Another team member has a new puppy, so has logged off early to settle the puppy into its new home. A happy work-life balance is key. Both work extra hours when necessary, so they give back when needed. If they have an idea, I give them the confidence to communicate this. An example was our Service Now portal. The team had an idea they wanted to put forward to the people services team to help with tickets. I asked my team to arrange a meeting and present the idea to them – we have some great collaboration between payroll and people services. IH: Good managers know who should be working together to complement each other. The other important factor is to reward well and take time to celebrate achievements. That may be as simple as saying well done or it could be a merit award, or even a CIPP award nomination! Team development days can be a great way to take dedicated time out to create the right environment in which to challenge ourselves. LN: We integrate payroll in the HR team, so they’re present at team meetings and add value and impact. We also challenge each other in a supportive and respectful way to be the best we can be. We put ourselves in the shoes of employees and ask, ‘how would they react?’, ‘what would they want to know?’, so we can anticipate potential queries. We always collate feedback and use this to improve our function. BS: Always ask them to think of new ways to tackle projects, both new and old. Just because we’ve always done something in a specific way doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do it now. Times, systems, people and processes all change – we must do that too. We must embrace new technologies that help streamline our processes and assist us in keeping up with constantly changing regulations and requirements – don’t be afraid of change. In which areas do you believe your team can add greater value to the business and the employee experience? SC: My team are dedicated to what they do. They want pay to be correct first time
round and don’t like making mistakes. They’re highly experienced and qualified, but not frightened of taking on new challenges and learning new things. Examples of this – pensions are migrating to payroll in the coming months and my team will need to learn new tasks within their already long list of tasks in payroll. They’re also looking to study CIPP qualifications – one payroll and one pensions. IH: Supporting savings vehicles to help with the cost-of-living challenge and financial education workshops are imperative to most organisations and lend themselves to the payroll skill set. The facilitation of well-being initiatives through payroll in the form of cash plans, insurances or cycle schemes is important, as is facilitating the switch to greener fuels through electric vehicles. There are many voluntary benefits payroll can help to facilitate that don’t always carry additional costs, whether that be: ● suggestion schemes to help to encourage engagement ● financial education to support being savvy savers ● communicating lifestyle discounts. From an organisational perspective, we should spend more time analysing trends, variable costs and looking at predictive analysis to see how costs can be controlled, to influence policy changes or changes to working practices. LN: We must anticipate change and prepare employees in advance, so they know the impacts. People are understandably very precious about their pay, so, anything that impacts take-home pay should be prioritised and communicated. I’m an advocate for having an HR and payroll system that can do a lot of the automation for you, so the team can add value in different ways, rather than completing endless spreadsheets and checklists. BS: If payroll is accurate, on time and every time, then it can add value to the employee experience at every stage of their work lifecycle. Accurate payments mean happy employees. Payroll can also add value to the business through the amount of meaningful data it provides. Business leaders, across all levels, must tap into the data that payroll holds, drive insights and enhance operational efficiencies. n
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | September 2022 | Issue 83 28
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