Confessions of a payroll manager - Follow the leader!
Another anonymous episode revealing the world of payroll featuring payroll avatar, Penelope Fortham (‘Penny’), who is payroll manager at the nation’s favourite biscuit makers Crumbitt’s Confections. P icture the scene: it’s Monday morning, and amidst a raft of unopened emails is one from the ‘Better Me, Better You’ Development Company offering free participation in a new professional mentoring programme for ‘payroll managers aspiring to be payroll leaders’. My cursor hovers over the dustbin icon, but then I recall my last appraisal with Mr Crumbitt when that perennial question – ‘What training and development plans do you have this year, Penny?’ – had again hung in the air with my brain working overtime to give a satisfactory response. Just as I’d been answering for the last three years, I reiterated that “I’m looking for some kind of mentoring, leadership thingy”. So, while the cursor hovers and I contemplate my workload and whether I’ve really got the time to partake, an incredibly insightful and timely Mr Crumbitt pops up in the Teams chat with a link to the training, commenting “Look what arrived in my emails today – think you should do it, Pen.” Well, it’s decided then. All signed up, I received an email notifying I had been matched – Blind date style – with Sandy McAvey from Cumbernauld. Sandy is a managing director at an engineering company, which seemed as far removed from my experiences as a payroll manager at a confectionary factory as it’s likely to get. I couldn’t fathom how the algorithm had
decided sprockets and biscuits were a good match. What could we possibly share that might be useful to each other? So, I couldn’t help but quickly Google Ms McAvey, and was absolutely thrilled to see her Facebook cover photo was a promo shot for the next series of Ice road truckers! Even if we found nothing to talk about professionally, at least we could have a good chat about trucking. Subsequently, I received a questionnaire from ‘Better Me, Better You’ with the kind of questions that always make me squirm: ‘How do you communicate strategy to your team?’, ‘How do you support and maintain wellbeing across the team?’, ‘Do you feel able to influence senior managers?’. Well, that last one is easy, as ‘management’ is principally Mr Crumbitt – and if you’re offering a cuppa and a biscuit your influence is 100%. Still, having to quantify things that you do naturally most days is always a challenge as it’s like holding a mirror to your face after putting on make- up without one: is that what I look like, and is that how I work? The morning of the video call arrived and, for some reason – maybe because I looked at Sandy’s intimidating CV on LinkedIn – I was a bundle of nerves. Here’s where this cautionary tale reaches its lesson…I had three (yes, three!) double espressos to ensure I was full of spark and energy. Well, there is a fine line between coming across as enthusiastic and appearing like an anxious Chihuahua; a line I crossed, skipped over, bounced and erased completely. The conversation got off to a breath- taking start with me blurting out my entire 25-year career highlights within the first
ten minutes. As I was getting to the end of my re-enactment of the 2018 team Christmas pantomime – where I took on the narrator role, a clear sign of leadership – Sandy raised her hand and offered a kind smile. In the most comforting and calming Glaswegian accent, she proceeded to offer a little advice based on her own experiences and was quick to reassure that she totally understood how I felt. From that point on, with the espressos wearing off and my heart returning to its more usual resting rate, we had a really valuable conversation; and no, not just around trucking (although that did crop up a few times). After a couple of hours, some genuine laughs and a bit of professional bonding, Sandy left me with three key suggestions: (1) Don’t solve the problem, help explain why it is a problem; (2) Listening is easier when you are not talking; (3) Leaders are found at the back of the pack not always at the front. Still buzzing (from the call, not the coffee) I arranged a meeting with my team to reflect on training and development, and the aspirations we all had. As Sandy said, being a good leader is encouraging others to shine and that is the same no matter what industry you’re in. As I looked at the screen of tiles – each containing a smiling team member – I thought about how great it would be if they could be the leaders of the future. Maybe they can… . o The Editor: Any resemblance to any payroll manager or professional alive or dead, or any payroll department or organisation whether apparently or actually portrayed in this article is simply fortuitous.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | April 2021 | Issue 69 50
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