24 | WELLBEING
P ay professionals carry a responsibility that many never fully see. They’re the quiet engine inside organisations, making sure wages land, mortgages are safe, heating stays on and families can breathe financially. A single mistake can ripple into fear or frustration. A perfect payroll run, however, often passes without a word. Pay professionals may not speak about stress. They continue through deadlines, legislation changes, year-end figures, unexpected issues and calls that come at the busiest possible moment. They give reassurance to others, even on days when they have none spare for themselves. It isn’t resilience that keeps them moving. It’s duty, skill and heart. But even the steady need steadiness in return. If you’re reading this and something inside you recognises itself, please let this land softly. You’re allowed to feel tired. You’re allowed to reach for support. You don’t have to hold everything in silence. There’s strength in speaking your truth with honesty instead of endurance. It’s a job where silence follows success, and noise follows error. This imbalance can feel heavy. Not immediately. Not dramatically. But slowly and quietly, like weight settling over time. Especially during winter. January and February sit at the tail-end of the year’s effort when energy is thin, daylight is brief and personal resilience feels stretched across work, deadlines and life outside the screen. Payroll doesn’t soften for tired minds. Accuracy remains absolute even when a person feels anything but steady inside. Feeling the strain isn’t weakness. It’s simply human. For a long time, I understood what it was to hold everything for others. My roles were different, but the internal world was similar. Calm on the outside. Responsible. Reliable. The one people came to. The one who kept everything running. Meanwhile, inside, fatigue and emotion gathered like weather at sea. I didn’t know how to ask for help because I thought strength meant endurance.
The people who keep everything moving
Kuldip Johal, Volunteer, Samaritans, provides words of strength and support for pay professionals ahead of the busyness of the new tax year, and as winter still surrounds us
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