It is National Payroll Week, and choosing Payroll as a career has to be top of mind.
From way back in the day when I wrote my first wages and salaries solution as a junior programmer, I never met a person who went into payroll as their career of choice (and we are talking the 70s.)
But, hooray, it is starting to change.
With the advent of formal qualifications in payroll, young people are starting to see a career in payroll as an option.
Payroll people often talk of themselves as the Cinderellas of the business - stuck in a back office, with the oldest computers, piles of historical data that nobody has time to file, and ignored until something goes wrong...
Today, green offices are becoming a reality, Employee Self Service (ESS) is getting rid of literally tons and tons of paper and real business intelligence about employees through data analytics is possible in both small and large businesses.
Reporting on possible outcomes and future trends, instead of simply what has already happened, is making payroll departments more relevant in terms of business strategy.
Slicing and dicing data in different ways can also deliver valuable input around areas of the business that are underperforming in management controls
Little Case Study
One of our clients was concerned about sick leave patterns. They had always looked at it by job role and department. We decided to take a look per branch over a three year period, and discovered a significant difference between two similar sized offices. Each office had 10 people, and in just one year, the sick leave differed from 24 days in the one, to 54 in the other. Over the 3 year period, a definite pattern emerged.
They were then able to put a structured approach into place and sick leave is now completely in line with expected normal patterns.
The ability to deliver strategic information is moving payroll departments, and therefore payroll administrators, into roles that are seen as adding real value to business.
Payroll Management is a career choice, now. While most software vendors offer excellent courses that are software specific, there are currently non software certificates and diplomas that are available. Excitingly, a formal degree in Payroll through the Da Vinci Institute is next. Watch this space!
