REWARD
Skillful work
Paul Unwin BA (Hons) MCIPP, partnership integration manager at Caxton, highlights why businesses must retain the talents and abilities of their payroll teams
A t the risk of coming across all Liam Neeson, people in payroll are seen “with a particular set of skills”. In essence, these are being good with numbers and having great attention to detail. We’re all well known for our technical knowledge of payroll and numerical abilities, however, in the day-to-day life of a payroller many other “soft” skills are used and all of these are transferable to any profession or career path. Effective communication At various stages of the payroll cycle – regardless of whether you work within a bureau or an in-house payroll team – you will be asked to communicate pertinent information. Being able to communicate effectively with ranging levels of people within organisations is key to success in payroll. The email or conversation with an end employee will need to be pitched at a very different level to that of the CFO or finance director who may be signing off the payroll. Any role, whether in payroll or not, will require communication, so being able to transfer our knowledge and
communication styles to any other areas will always be key. This links to another understated skill, which is the ability to convey information over the telephone to stakeholders. There are certain instances where an email may escalate tension and recognising this and picking up the phone is a valuable skill in payroll and most areas of an organisation. “Being able to communicate effectively with ranging levels of people within organisations is key to success in payroll”
being able to analyse data and effectively migrate this into the payroll calculations is a critical part of payroll. Without the ability to quickly analyse information put in front of us we would significantly delay the payroll process. This skill is important in any role and being able to use this type of mindset in other areas would aid any business function with their analysis or objectives. Alongside these skills is general problem solving, as being able to systematically work through an issue and find a resolution are key to any area of project management. This skill is prevalent when onboarding new clients to a bureau environment, when analysing new data sets and ensuring provisions such as pension schemes are configured correctly. Skills of this nature are recognised in any area of a business and aid in the capability of payrollers to transition to other departments or industries. People management Whether it be during the processing period or the general tasks in the payroll world, there is a high degree of people
Data analysis Data will be received in various forms and from various areas of business, so
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | September 2024 | Issue 103 48
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