PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
# Be Payroll Tracy Jerram MCIPP, commercial director, Cox & Co, tells us why membership with the CIPP is so important to her, and how it’s helped in her payroll career
Why did you choose to become a CIPP member? I initially joined the CIPP as a full member in December 2019 for two very distinct reasons. Firstly, I wanted to gain access to the CIPP’s Advisory helpline. Cox & Co. is a payroll and pensions bureau, and the team deal with hundreds of different organisations, company structures and thousands of employees on differing contracts. This diversity can often present challenges to the team, who are required to navigate and resolve niche problems or provide advice to an ever-widening range of situational questions. We were finding it increasingly difficult to source a single point of truth for some client questions and needed help. Access to the Advisory helpline has, at times, been a lifeline. Now, whatever the question, we can be confident we can seek advice from our professional body and present this back to a client or employee. Sometimes it may be that we’re seeking to validate our existing approach, or it could be to guide us towards best practice. Whatever the reason, we can now be sure we’re providing advice from a position of trust. The second reason is that we wished to highlight to our clients that our team and business is very much part of a professional industry. Clients can have a habit of referring to their recent internet search and it can become difficult to provide a response without the ‘anchor’ of a professional body. We now showcase our membership with the CIPP by using our personal designatory letters in communications and use our access to the CIPP’s Advisory line as a tool to back up our judgement and advice. We’ve found this has really paid dividends because now our clients don’t question our guidance, they respect our professional stance and know we’re advising from a position of knowledge. Membership with the CIPP has
added much needed weight and credence to our professional voice.
while building and mentoring a fantastic team. Along with Steve Cox, I’ve helped create a fun, agile and technology-hungry professional payroll team, and importantly we’re a profitable business with an incredibly loyal client base. I absolutely love what I do. What advice would you give to those new to the payroll profession who are just starting out in their careers? I’m so passionate about bringing new people into payroll that I’ve visited several senior schools, discussing the virtues of a payroll career. Showcasing the ‘career opportunities hidden behind a payslip’ was a rewarding experience and provided affirmation that the payroll industry is changing fast, and the career opportunities are endless. I explained to school leavers that there are so many facets to delivering a payroll and pensions service that anyone considering a career in languages, law, software development or perhaps social media could find fabulous opportunities to work in the industry. The traditional role of payroll processor is just one part of the profession, but it isn’t the only route. My other advice would be for new starters to continually self-evaluate their knowledge, behaviours and skills from day one. Continual professional development is a ‘must-have’ culture when working in payroll and pensions, and it’s important that any newly acquired knowledge or insight is used to benefit all stakeholders – team, clients, employees, systems. There’s no point attending a training course or embarking on an apprenticeship if the rest of the team or business doesn’t benefit. Therefore, my advice would be to share your knowledge and passion for learning with others. I drive my team bonkers with this approach, but for me, it’s the only way of ensuring the team and business progress as one – no one is an island at Cox & Co. n
How has your membership helped in your career?
Working in a payroll and pensions bureau is like constantly being in a classroom. It feels like every day I’m attending a course, webinar or reading an article to improve my knowledge. I really value receiving the CIPP’s Professional magazine every month because I’m guaranteed to learn something new or improve the nuances of my payroll knowledge when reading it. Plus, the contents of the magazine cover social topics and trends we may not have noticed ourselves – sometimes working close to a subject matter makes it difficult to see patterns. It’s the CIPP’s broader view of the payroll and pensions landscape which helps me keep my viewpoint relevant and fresh. Every month, I use the Advisory pages in the magazine within our internal #TrainingTuesday staff meetings and we have great debates around the subject matters. We also watch the BeKnowledgeable webinars as a team and go on to discuss our current processes and practices – it can get quite passionate at times. Can you describe your payroll journey to us so far? I joined Cox & Co. to assist Steve Cox, managing director and owner of Cox & Co. to build an independent payroll bureau in 2010. I came from an enterprise resource planning system implementation management background, and found that taking charge of developing a financially viable, innovative and well-resourced business fitted well with my personal passions and talents. It’s been an exhilarating 12 years and I’ve directed the business along a clear path of system development and customer success programmes,
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | May 2023 | Issue 90 16
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