REWARD
It’s time
to talk
Karen Beckett BA (Hons) ChFCIPP, head of payroll and benefits, Dorset HealthCare University National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, explains why it’s so important to talk about our mental health, particularly in the high-pressured industry we work in as payroll and reward professionals S tress, anxiety, depression – mental health. It’s one of several topics we don’t talk enough about. As a nation, The high-pressured industry we work in
challenges that are difficult to deal with and, when these are compounded, stress can begin to affect us. Payroll and reward is an industry where professionals are fully dedicated to their roles. During the pandemic, we saw the profession come together to ensure employees still received pay as normal. The challenges seen during the pandemic were unprecedented for pay and reward professionals. Nobody had ever heard of furlough before the pandemic; we all know about it now. The ‘highlight’ of the week was a Friday evening when payroll managers sat in front of the television to watch the government’s briefing to see what was announced that payroll professionals would have to read up on, ready to implement the following week. At the same time, we were also living with Covid, hoping people we knew and cared about wouldn’t be infected. As human beings, we all have a life
As payroll and reward professionals, we’re working within a pressurised environment most days. Of course, in the forefront of our minds, there are the payroll deadlines to be met to ensure employees are paid on time. As the time approaches to finalise payroll, I wonder how many payroll managers feel the pressure of that looming deadline. There are also HM Revenue and Customs deadlines which must be met each pay period and at year end. For all payroll and reward professionals, there’s the importance of ensuring compliance is met, and some of the legislation can be complex to understand. How do we really know we’re getting it right? Alongside these pressures are the queries all payroll and reward professionals get every day. While pay and reward is a great industry to work in, it can provide challenges which we will embrace. However, it can also provide
mental health is now being talked about a little more, but we could go much further. It’s time to open the conversation and it’s time to talk. We’re highly likely to be affected by stress, anxiety or depression during our lives. It’s reported that women (28%) are more likely than men (20%) to disclose having a great deal of stress. How we deal with it will vary from person to person and there’s no right or wrong way. It will be personal to each of us as we will be affected differently; it could be ourselves directly affected, or it could be someone we know. We may realise we’re suffering from stress, anxiety or depression, but, equally, we may not until someone reaches out to support us. However stress may affect us, there’s one thing to remember: it’s okay to not be okay.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | May 2023 | Issue 90 34
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