01 June 2024
Karen Beckett BA(Hons) ChFCIPP, head of payroll and benefits at Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust, discusses how the role of payroll has changed dramatically and considers the direct impacts of this on the education versus experience debate we’re exploring this issue
People find their way into the payroll profession in various ways. Some may choose payroll, pensions or reward as a career, while others will fall unintentionally into the profession. Some will have qualifications, some will have experience and others will have neither. To understand if the payroll profession requires education or experience, we need to understand how far the profession has come and what it involves.
When I started out in payroll nearly 40 years ago, it wasn’t seen as a career. You didn’t choose to work in the payroll office. There were no qualifications needed and if you wanted a qualification, you would train to become an accountant or choose a different career.
Payroll didn’t have the complexities it has today, and the benefits were limited compared to now. Working in payroll, a limited knowledge of pensions was required. Starting out in local government, the extent of my pension knowledge was how to notify the pension scheme of the member’s start date, contributions and leaving date – on paper forms. It was only when I started working for the payroll team in the NHS that I spent two years in the pension team and learned that there was so much more to pensions.
Today, things have changed and moved on. Working as a payroll professional, there are many strands to the industry. Someone can work within payroll processing pay. They could diversify to being a pension professional or become an expert on staff benefits. Alternatively, they may wish to diversify into the world of payroll software or be involved with payroll projects.
Whatever area you work in within the profession, it’s fair to say that the complexities around payroll, pensions and reward have grown. As payroll professionals, we’re required to understand hundreds of pieces of legislation. Our knowledge must also cover the organisation’s terms and conditions of service. As a pension professional, we have to grapple with many changes to pensions rules. This has included the different schemes available, changing rules for part-time workers, various retirement options, automatic enrolment and the ‘McCloud’ case and remedy. As staff benefits experts, we must understand the legislation around the many types of benefits and reward, as well as looking for ways to support staff during the cost-of-living crisis. The only way to learn payroll used to be to sit with another member of the team and they would teach you all about it. Today, there’s so much to learn, and we continue to learn, no matter where we are in our careers. Learning from other payroll professionals is still a necessity but there are other options available.
When discussing if the way into the payroll profession – and to having a career in the profession – is through education or experience, I would say that it’s necessary to have both. Someone may complete the qualifications which are now available, but it isn’t until you have worked in the payroll environment that you really learn about payroll and benefits.
As previously mentioned, I fell into payroll. In doing so, I have made it my career, starting out as a payroll trainee and eventually becoming the head of payroll and benefits with a team of 35 payroll, pensions and reward professionals. I had no experience of payroll when I started, and I certainly had no payroll qualifications. During my career, I have studied and successfully completed several courses which have covered payroll, pensions and leadership. Having both the experience and education has many benefits.
The benefit of experience is that you can learn from others. There’s nothing better than being able to debate the meaning of a piece of legislation and coming to an agreed conclusion. Working in a team, not only can you share knowledge, but you’re able to listen to the conversation and learn from others. When I started working in payroll, I was reliant on one person to teach me and hoped that they were correct in that teaching.
With the advancement of qualifications in the payroll profession, you can be reassured of your teaching and your knowledge. A qualification helps you to progress in your career as it provides your new employer with the confidence it’s engaging a qualified payroll professional. I feel the qualifications available today enable someone to come into the profession with the aim and goal of having a full career as a qualified payroll professional. Qualifications allow payroll professionals to be equal to finance and human resource colleagues.
Having both the qualifications and the experience provides the pay and reward professional with the confidence they need to conduct the most important role in any organisation. Why would an organisation not expect their payroll professionals to be qualified?
Raising the profile of payroll, pensions and benefits professionals is so important. One way is for companies to invest in their payroll and benefits teams, encouraging them to become fully qualified payroll and reward professionals. With the debate and consultation on what constitutes as tax advice, having people within the payroll and benefits team who have successfully completed payroll and benefits qualifications as well as having the relevant experience is key.
Experience is the way to learn the soft skills of payroll and benefits. Communication is an integral part of working in payroll. The payroll and reward professional needs to be able to explain about payroll, benefits and pensions in ways that people not working in the profession can understand. We need to act as interpreters of legislation, terms and conditions of service and explain about tax, National Insurance and payslips. We need to be good communicators through listening, reading and writing. These skills develop over time as the professional interacts with staff at different levels.
The payroll and benefits profession has come a long way since I began my career. It has been great to work through the
many changes and it keeps the profession interesting. No two days are the same and they will continue to be different as there will be more changes to come. To keep up to date with those changes, it’s essential for the profession to continue to adapt. For me, that adaptability will take the profession to the next level.
My thoughts are that every person working in the payroll and benefits profession should, in time, be qualified. It’s such an important field that cannot be handled incorrectly. People rely on and expect us to get their pay correct each pay period. People’s pay affects their future income through their pension. With the cost-of-living crisis, people are looking to their employers to provide support. As payroll and reward professionals, we have a responsibility to get pay and pensions correct. In doing so, I believe we have a responsibility to educate others about what we do and what a career in payroll and reward can look like.
To be the best isn’t either education or experience. For me, to be the best payroll and reward professional that you can possibly can be, you need both education and experience. You need to understand the principles behind payroll, pensions and benefits. As a payroll and reward professional, you need to learn the soft skills and develop them as your career develops. If you want to progress your career to being a manager, you’ll need leadership skills, which come through both experience and education. Working directly in the payroll and reward environment is the only way to keep up to date with the many changes that happen every year.
I’m sure some will disagree with my opinion that you need both education and experience; that’s what keeps payroll and reward interesting. How the profession further progresses will also be interesting. Hopefully, not only will education and experience be required, but being a qualified and registered payroll and benefits professional will be the next step. It will be interesting to see what the future of the profession will look like.
This article feautured in the June 2024 issue of Professional.