REWARD
Career journeys
I spent the first few years of my career working in credit control, moving into purchase ledger and then to financial accounts. However, once I started working in payroll, I soon realised I enjoyed the variety of the role. Studying for the Diploma in Payroll Management brought career advancement, including becoming a payroll manager at GE Lighting and at a large county council. The knowledge gained from working in operational payroll for a variety of sectors allowed me to transition to joining a software developer, where I have been ever since. As I contemplated payroll from my colleagues’ perspective, several thoughts sprung to mind. First and foremost, the wealth of combined payroll experience within our team at Ciphr is staggering. Secondly, the diverse job roles and unique paths that led my colleagues to join the company fascinated me. Finally, the one common thread that binds us: our unwavering passion for payroll. Jaspal Randhawa ChMCIPPdip, director of product – payroll, compliance and data, Ciphr, outlines her professional journey to date and speaks to her colleagues about their experiences of working in payroll too
Amanda Barnden, sales manager At the age of 18, I applied for a finance assistant position at Chichester District Council purely because I was good at mathematics and unsure what to do. I was assigned to the payroll team and grew to love it, spending the next ten years running various payrolls.
I later worked for many other departments, then schools and colleges for five years. I achieved my first payroll qualification with the Council, a two-year CIPFA course awarded by the Association of Payroll and Superannuation Administrators (APSA), which covered employment law, payroll and superannuation. My next adventure was as payroll specialist at Rutherford Webb (RW), later travelling in the UK as an implementation and training consultant. I converted the APSA qualification to the Diploma with CIPP and agreed to do some sales demonstrations, finding I could be successful in this role. After 12 years, I joined the sales team at Employer Services Limited (ESL). My experience working in a payroll bureau was an excellent grounding for my next sales and account management position at Star Payroll. Five years later, I joined Ciphr to help establish a payroll sales function. I love meeting so many different organisations, understanding their payroll processes and finding out how our technology can support them. Maybe one day I’ll go back to the transformational side of implementing payroll, but sales has been an unexpected channel for payroll skills which I have made my career for the past 20-plus years.
Sarah Westie, implementation consultant My payroll life began after leaving college in 1995. The role was for a finance company looking after its fleet of cars. One part of the job was to prepare P11D information – and so my career in payroll began.
I then looked after insurance claims at a housing association and, because of my P11D experience, assisted the payroll manager. When my manager left, I ran the payroll myself and started my official training with Payroll Alliance, eventually gaining a Diploma in Payroll Supervision. In the 13 years that followed I continued to work in payroll, until I decided to move into payroll implementations in 2008. I thought this would be a great way to use my payroll experience but branch into something new at the same time. My day-to-day responsibilities at the payroll software company were to work with customers to configure new payroll systems, including training them and supporting them in running their own in-house payrolls. The role involved lots of travel in the UK and Ireland, as well as leading training sessions for new customers. I now work with a brilliant team and I am still doing what I love – speaking to customers daily, helping them achieve their goals and get the very best from their new payroll systems.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2024 | Issue 104 50
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