THOUGHT LEADERSHIP | 37
Ruth Morfitt ACIPP, Payroll Manager, Orchid Orthopedic Solutions, shares her experiences of working solely on-site and explains why this works for the role she plays in paying the staff in her organisation
L ast year’s CIPP Payroll Insights Reports (https://ow.ly/2K3J50XqGMT) offered some thought-provoking statistics into how the pay profession is evolving. It revealed that 65% of payroll professionals now work in a hybrid capacity, while 15% are fully remote. As one of the remaining 19% who are still solely office-based, this made me wonder: in today’s world, is there still a real need for pay professionals to be on-site full-time?
In my experience at Orchid, as a manufacturing company, our workforce is 80% based on the shop floor, working with physical tools to get their jobs done. In many departments like our forge, the job is manual, dirty and team members don’t step near a computer for the full day at work. Being paid weekly, it means their queries can need a quick turnaround to get sorted in time. If they have a query about their pay, they need a Payroll Manager there to discuss it in person as soon as possible. Conversations around pay can be sensitive and emotive. Sending an email about something private to a person you don’t know can be a daunting thing, whatever your background may be. It’s also important to consider employees who may face additional challenges which could affect their ability to communicate by email, such as: l not having English as their first language l being neurodiverse l having a physical disability l living on a lower income with limited internet access at home l having a poor level of literacy l lacking confidence or skills in using digital technology. While email or a Teams message may be the most convenient way to communicate while you’re sat at your computer, it’s so easy to forget about how the employee will receive it. Since joining Orchid, I’ve introduced weekly drop-in days in our human resources (HR) office so staff know when and where to find me each week if they need anything. Over time, these conversations have covered everything from payroll queries to completely unrelated topics. I’ve loved it as it’s given the opportunity to chat about everything from pensions, annual leave and pay increases, to holidays, pets, TV shows and whether wearing a Christmas- themed ‘mankini’ would be appropriate for Christmas Jumper Day. (For those wondering, it was worn with trousers staying on!) It’s this openness, trust and approachability which help build confidence and make people feel comfortable coming to me when they have a genuine issue. I’ve personally enjoyed being in the office full time again, speaking to a wide range
of people I wouldn’t have interacted with otherwise, and having deeper conversations than I would have done remotely. The human touch Payroll sits right at the crossroads of HR and finance, where empathy meets spreadsheets. True payroll expertise lies in finding harmony between understanding people and maintaining accuracy. The human impact of what we do in the pay industries is often easy to overlook. When you’re producing hundreds of payslips and reports, compliance can start to feel like a tick-box exercise, and salaries can blur into numbers on a screen. But speaking face-to-face with the person behind the payslip changes that perspective. You start to understand why someone might be distressed over £10 missing from their pay, as perhaps they’re dealing with something difficult at home. In the past, I’ve rolled my eyes at the odd sharp email, but once you know the person, you begin to see what might really be going on beneath the frustration. I’ve had several instances where an employee has come to see me and they’re visibly frustrated, speaking with a raised voice. But once we’ve sat down face-to-face and talked through the issue, I’ve been able to get to the root of the problem and explain things clearly. Often, these conversations end with a much better understanding and an even stronger working relationship than when we started. Moving into the future, we’re seeing more technological advances, such as with artificial intelligence and how it’s shaping the pay professions. While this will inevitably enhance our ability to work flexibly and benefit our work-life balance, businesses should still consider whether an on-site presence could add value for employees, especially those with a large shop floor workforce. Human connections are something that can’t be fostered digitally in every circumstance. Face-to-face interactions drive trust, employee engagement and a culture of approachability. As the profession evolves, maintaining that human connection will be what keeps payroll not just efficient, but meaningful.
A time of change The Covid-19 pandemic prompted a
global rethink of how we approach remote working across every profession. From this point onwards, the benefits of working from home have become increasingly clear, with a culture shift focussing more on achieving a healthier work–life balance. The added flexibility can make a real difference to individuals; whether it’s being home for a delivery, putting on an extra load of washing or, for those with children, being able to do the school run when that wasn’t possible before. For payroll teams, Covid presented the challenge of finding new ways to maintain accuracy, compliance and data security while working away from the traditional office environment. Since 2020, we’ve seen online payslips, secure cloud storage, virtual meetings and cloud-based payroll software become standard practice. In theory, we could work anywhere with a stable Wi-Fi signal, so why would we choose to be in the office full time? And why would a business have this as a requirement? Working arrangements tailored to suit the business When I started with Orchid two years ago, I was made aware that the job would be specifically office-based only. I accepted, but I’ll admit that, at the time, I didn’t fully understand their rationale as it seemed like an out-of-date requirement. In previous jobs, I ‘d gone weeks without stepping foot in the office and if people had a query, they would ping an email to the payroll inbox and my service level agreements would require me to respond within three working days. Emails are taken for granted as a universal means of communication. However, is this right?
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