So, I realized early on that it’s important to get it right. I love the numbers. I love the technology, and I love employment law. In payroll, I can bring all these elements together--numbers, technology, employment law--to produce a pay slip, which is actually a human outcome that families and communities rely on. It’s a human story. GPA: What came next after you started on your payroll journey? Eric Liaw: For nearly 15 years, I did payroll, but I was also assigned to be a risk coordinator for the business. Why did I get that second role? It was because nobody wanted to do it. And I wanted to learn something about risk. By doing that, I learned how to apply risk management principles in payroll. Risk management taught me not just about what went wrong, but what could go wrong and how we can prevent it or mitigate it--and that is so relevant in payroll. I became involved in a number of payroll projects and learned more about project management. I became a certified Project Management Professional, or PMP.
With that, I learned how to bring structure and governance to the operation. In a complex, changing environment, there are a lot of unknowns; there are no guidelines or maps. My project management training and background helps me to apply the governance aspect to payroll, which unfortunately is lacking in a lot of organizations. After 20 years in payroll operations, I had learned to pay people correctly, learned about risk, I knew employment law, and learned about project management. I realized I could bring all these disciplines together in a consulting practice. I knew I could help employers get to the point that, if challenged, they can prove to their employees that they’re being paid correctly. I realized I could bring all these disciplines together in a consulting practice. I knew I could help employers get to the point that, if challenged, they can prove to their employees that they’re being paid correctly.
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ISSUE 27 GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE
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