MY CIPP
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issue I applied; and the rest is history. I commenced working for the CIPP on 22 August 2005. Holding the Diploma in Payroll Management is an asset to me, and I am a lifetime learner advocate. Deciding to study the course was the best decision I ever made. How do you feel when you know you have made a positive difference to someone through your advice? When members tell me that my advice has helped them, I feel very thankful. If they have a particularly difficult situation, I feel like I want to go and help them out. A lot of the situations they find themselves in, I have experienced in the past; so, it is easy to identify with their feelings as well as hopefully finding a solution to the problem. Lending a sympathetic ear and being able to help members during the trying times of the pandemic gives a big sense of achievement. I also feel this when explaining to people who ask what the Advisory team does, that we assist members who at the moment are working long hours to ensure they are paid on time. Tell us about a typical week as an Advisory team member? The week starts by signing on to the CIPP’s customer relationship management system and phone systems ready to take calls from members. This is followed by
signing into Microsoft Teams to say hello to the other team members, looking at emails and discussing who is doing what for the week and when we will spend time researching. Every day we provide answers to phone calls and emails. Where we cannot find the answer to a query, we discuss it within the team or put it out to CIPP’s policy team. I log the calls and emails I answer as I go along, providing guidance from HM Revenue & Customs or other government bodies. What skills does an Advisory team member need? The skills you need in Advisory are to be able to listen to what the member is telling you, to understand what they are experiencing, and to empathise with their situation. You also must have the practical knowledge they need or to be able to point them in the right direction to access proof they are doing the correct thing. Oh, and you sometimes need a crystal ball. I keep my knowledge updated by searching the web for information and reading Professional magazine, News Online , and information on GOV.UK, ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), Citizen’s Advice Bureau, and The Pensions Regulator. When providing detailed accurate answers to members an important technique is to translate legislation into ‘payroll speak’ so that they understand the guidance which is available from government bodies. n
Sue Richardson MCIPPdip CIPP’s payroll advisory officer
How did you start your payroll career? Originally, I wanted to be a nurse, but at age seventeen I went to work for an accountancy firm as a temp where I was put to work doing payroll and bookkeeping for the firm’s clients – and found I really loved it. I honestly did not realise what went into paying people before actually taking on the task of calculating gross to net. How did you move into policy and advisory? After completing the Diploma in Payroll Management and working at the sharp end of payroll, I saw an advert for an Advisory service officer in CIPP’s Professional magazine. It looked like a really interesting job role, but I thought I’d missed the deadline, so when I saw the advert repeated in the following month’s
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | May 2021 | Issue 70 12
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