PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Future skills of payroll professionals
Jerome Smail, freelance journalist , presents the views of seven industry luminaries
T he urgent challenges the have been very much focused on the present. But there’s no escaping the future, and payrollers need to be prepared for whatever it might bring. But what are the key skills that will be needed going forward? To find out how the future looks for the profession, I spoke to these leading players in the industry: ● Elaine Gibson MSc ChFCIPP MCMI FHEA , director of people and quality, Dataplan ● Lou Gray ChMCIPPdip, manager, tax ACR, Ernst & Young ● James Paton , UK payroll delivery manager, Activpayroll pandemic has thrown at the payroll profession mean minds ● Nick Phillips ChMCIPPdip , ESC HR/payroll developments manager, Employee Service Centre
● Polly Sinclair MSc FCIPPdip MSET , payroll apprentice tutor, West Suffolk College ● Dr Sue Smith EdD MA BEd FHEA FCMI Cmgr Assoc CIPD ACIPP , CIPP education director ● Karen Young , director of Hays Accountancy & Finance. Which skills specific to payroll should professionals in the industry look to develop to future-proof their careers? Elaine Gibson: Technical skills are still very much key. Okay, so we have sophisticated systems that can churn out payslips but they are only as good as the data input. It is vital that payroll professionals understand why they are inputting information and its impact; otherwise, how can they complete the exception report, checking to ensure the
payroll is as accurate as it should be? Employees will always have pay queries and they will require a full explanation of how that net pay was calculated. This ensures you can give your customers (employees or clients) peace of mind that you know what you are talking about, that you are an expert. Under technical skills I also include Excel, which is important for data analysing – edging towards the need for advanced level. However, this will depend on how intuitive your software is but there will always be a need for this skill. Lou Gray: We need to be familiar with a variety of software platforms beyond standard office software such as Microsoft Office and Excel, gaining experience with dedicated payroll platforms. The future of payroll will evolve to become a world less entrenched in process and more concerned with strategic thinking and data management. Eventually, all payroll departments will possess platforms that incorporate AI, machine learning, robotic process automation and self-
An undervalued skill is the discipline required to read and ingest the abundance of legislative material...
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | March 2021 | Issue 68 18
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