This week is National Payroll Week, celebrating the evolving and rewarding role of payroll professionals in UK employers. Business development director of the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals, Vickie Graham, spoke to Personnel Today about the need to attract new recruits, and the broad array of careers on offer.
Payroll features rarely at the top of ‘most-desired careers’ lists, despite contributing more than £400 billion to the UK economy. This week the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) received a letter from the Chancellor Rachel Reeves congratulating its members on the value they add to UK workforces.
The work of a payroll professional has changed dramatically in the past 15 to 20 years, and there are many more roles available than people might imagine.
“Because a lot of payroll is transactional we can now use technology to do this, and that means we can focus more on the human side – whether that’s providing strategic analysis, reporting back to decision-makers or making predictions on salaries or increases to the national living wage,” explains Vickie Graham, business development director at the CIPP (pictured below).
The CIPP’s Future of Payroll report, published to mark National Payroll Week, emphasises the growing complexity of the role but also some of the stress points that can come with it.
Payroll careers
It found that 34% of payroll professionals are worried about the impact artificial intelligence will have on their job, despite only 6% using it in their day-to-day work. Around a fifth had implemented new payroll software in the past 12 months.
“We see two camps in the AI debate on payroll,” adds Graham. “It’s either a case of let’s embrace this and see how it can make our lives more efficient, or others who are more nervous and will take a bit longer to fully understand it. They will need a bit of education to see how it can benefit them.”
The downside of introducing more technology and automation to payroll is the heightened risk of cyber attacks, however. Payroll provider SD Worx was hit by just such an attack last year, forcing it to suspend its UK and Ireland services.
“The reality around cyber attacks is that the technology is changing so rapidly it’s difficult to keep up. We encourage organisations to have checks and measures in place, and business continuity plans that have been tested and applied,” she advises.
Planning ahead
Too often, Graham adds, companies formulate plans for when the worst happens but these are stuck in a drawer or on a server. “There are things you can do from a best practice perspective to deal with the aftermath, so we encourage members to make sure they’re putting their plans into practice.”
The CIPP has been supporting members to learn more about challenges including cyber and data protection through webinars and roundtable events. The industry body can also support employers with communications materials they can share with employees on key subjects such as tax, pensions and employee benefits.
This is especially important with a new government likely to introduce some changes in this Autumn’s budget – not to mention a raft of changes during the last parliament. This week, the Low Pay Commission confirmed that it is preparing to abolish different minimum pay rates for 18 to 20-year-olds, with changes to be implemented from April next year.
“Nothing in payroll is static – things change all the time,” says Graham. “At the very least you will have increases to the national living wage, or the tax and national insurance rates or thresholds will move.”
“What’s more, these changes don’t all come from the same government department, so it’s really important to keep up to date. With social media, it can be easy for people to get incorrect information. It’s so easy to fall into non-compliance if you’re not using the right sources.”
This increased complexity also means that payroll departments interact far more with other parts of the business than they did historically.
“You used to have that tripartite of HR, payroll and finance but now it’s much broader,” she adds. “Now we might be engaging with communications people, with IT on systems implementation, and around data protection.”
Building understanding
Getting payroll right and helping employees understand how and what they are paid is a core mission of the CIPP at present. The body is working with Superhand, a platform that supports younger people in their career paths, on a tool that can help younger employees understand payments and deductions.
Graham would like to see this sort of knowledge taught to students from a much younger age, as they do not always know what to expect when they enter the world of work.
It’s far more emotive and dependent on soft skills than a traditional processing job.”
As the world of payroll changes rapidly, the profession needs an army of new workers who can build up the skills needed for the future. During National Payroll Week this week, the CIPP has been sharing the #choosepayroll hashtag to promote the industry to potential recruits and to encourage those who already work in payroll to share pride in their job.
“The role of the payroll professional has changed – it’s far more emotive and dependent on soft skills than a traditional processing job,” she adds. The CIPP estimates there are more than 60 career paths available in payroll, from software development to customer service in companies that offer payroll as a service.
“It can also be a very global career – you can start with UK payroll and move into running international operations, setting up centres and embracing new cultures,” says Graham.
Too often, the impact of effective and efficient payroll teams is underestimated. A small mistake or software glitch could mean someone is unable to pay a bill, and when payroll goes wrong on a larger scale the impact on an employer’s reputation can be devastating.
“Yes, we may have technology that can process the numbers, but we’ll always need someone who knows what’s going on so they can rectify a problem, who can be human and empathetic,” concludes Graham. “A chatbot will never understand how this impacts someone.”
As with so many other areas of HR, AI will force payroll jobs to change and evolve, but there will always be a need for a human touch.
Payroll opportunities on Personnel Today
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
