Jessica - Senior Payroll Administrator, Plymouth

At the age of 21, I was made redundant from my last job. I always had a passion for working with numbers and had an interest of the Payroll side of my previous job which only had 8 employees. This is the total opposite end of the scale now as we currently have over 6,000 employees and 20,000 pensioners. When I applied for the role, I was eager to get the job and ready to learn. By only hearing good things about the company I quickly realised how much of a good company it is to work for including key goals, values, employee benefits and the outstanding performance record across the network.  

My senior payroll administrator role is very fast paced and every day is a school day! Myself and my colleague Jo work together very closely to support the payroll administrators, payroll officers and payroll manager with any queries or problems. A typical day involves, sorting the post, controlling the payroll mailbox, updating the payroll system, responsible for queries, training of the payroll administrators, checking documentation that has been requested and processed by the administrators and working closely with pensions, Employee Relations, employees, pensioners and third parties in respect of any payroll queries, organization of employee’s expenses, mileage and overtime claims.

There’s not just one best aspect of working here. There literally are too many reasons, I love working in Payroll & Pensions. Payroll is such a fast-paced working environment; there is always something to do or a deadline to meet so the day just fly by! Payroll is a small team of 11, but my colleagues are the best and we all pull together to make things run smoothly as they can. Both colleagues and my managers are very supportive for the whole team, nothing is ever too much trouble or a stupid question.

It has a fantastic, supportive, nurturing, positive culture with providing a great place to work. All staff are appreciated and valued within the company. Even after being appointed to a senior role, I have felt my team and manager have been a great support with helping me to settle into my new role. The company is always keen on each employee’s development by setting us up with a development plan, goals and a time scale to achieve this.  Within working in payroll, legislation and different guidelines are put into place. Our manager is very good at informing us of new changes and key issues we need to know about. The relationship between our managers and the team is fantastic. We always aim to deliver the best possible service to our employees and pensioners.

I see successful people in the company all the time, for example my manager has been with the company over 27 years starting at SWEB as a Clerical Assistant and now she is Payroll manager after many years of dedication and hard work. I see my manager as an inspiration, so I always aim to progress and go far with my career here. If you are willing to put in the hard work, have the right attitude and ambition this is a great company to support your own professional development. Taking responsibility and being accountable for your own actions is a key factor in becoming successful as this goes a long way earning the trust and respect of your managers and team.

Every day is a school day for me! Always learning new payroll procedures or legislation. My learning and development have always been very important to me. By having an experienced team around me, I never feel like I can’t ask a question or for help. My learning has always been on the up since I started as a Payroll Administrator, recently I just finished a Payroll Introduction course which I completed at home. This gave me a good foundation to the start of my studying and I felt like I had an advantage due to being in payroll for 3 years already. I will be continuing to do more payroll courses alongside working. There are always chances to progress within your department, with being one of the newest employees in the team, I was unsure if I would be successful in my application for my current role. When I applied for my current position I did so with a positive outlook, as if I wasn’t successful then the whole interview process would be good practice. Now I am in a senior role, I feel so grateful for all my training; as I am currently training colleagues myself, it is now my responsibility to give them the same high standard training I received.

After becoming a permanent payroll administrator in October 2015 and now being promoted to a senior payroll administrator in October 2018, I feel so grateful for this opportunity and knowing I have the potential to go further within in my payroll career here as this has been recognized by my manager.

My biggest challenge was starting a whole new career and fitting in a close nit team.

I took every new challenge in my various roles with a positive outlook. The Payroll team also made it easier for me to fit in by always being so friendly and helpful.