Theme of week of celebrations emphasizes the importance of good discourse for professionals
For payroll professionals, communication is key.
That’s why the critical skill is the focus of this year’s National Payroll Week, presented by the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA), with events taking place across the country Sept. 12 to 16.
“Payroll professionals are the key communications and compliance point of contact for all the employees in an organization, plus they're (the) manager on salary and benefits,” said Wendy McLean-Cobban, manager of communications and regional programs, CPA.
“A lot of organizations don't have an HR person so most time it is the payroll person who’s doing that.”
It’s not just company employees payroll professionals need to build a rapport with.
“Being able to communicate with all the different stakeholders as well as government agencies is important,” she said.
Payroll week recognizes the accomplishments of payroll professionals and the CPA by building greater awareness of the size and scope of payroll and its impact on employers, employees and government across Canada.
Making sure people get paid is no small task. Payroll professionals work in 1.5 million organizations across Canada and are responsible for ensuring $810 billion in wages and taxable benefits get paid. They also make sure $250 billion is remitted to federal and provincial governments and $90 billion in health and retirement premiums are paid. All of this is done while complying with more than 191 regulatory requirements, according to the CPA.
Strong communications skills are critical to ensure all of this gets done.
The keynote speakers at the 26 events taking part across the country will be talking about communication skills for today's payroll professional, said McLean-Cobban.
Communication skills are critical for people who are in a role that has the potential to be confrontational, said Rhonda Scharf, who has been speaking at payroll week for five years.
“As payroll professionals they're really in a tight spot because they typically only hear from people when something goes wrong,” she said. “So they're often in challenging situations because money is immediately emotional and people aren't necessarily always calm, cool, collected, polite, professional when they're dealing with them. Payroll professionals really have a tough role to play.”
Leadership skills and creating strong team spirit are also critical for payroll managers. These are some of the topics Jasmin Bergeron will be addressing when he speaks in Quebec.
It’s also important to build relationships with people at work, he said.
“We're more patient with people we like and we collaborate more with people we like so it's an important aspect of relationships I think,” he said.
National Payroll Week has been running since 1997. The event also aims to educate those outside the payroll profession about why payroll is mission critical to organizations, said McLean-Cobban.
“We're sort of the backbone of paying in Canada.”
Last year the events attracted more than 3,200 payroll professionals. Registrations indicate this year will be just as big, said McLean-Cobban.
One of the reasons the events are so popular is because they give payroll professionals the opportunity to get out of the office and network, she said.
“It's a great opportunity for them because most payroll professionals they are the only person in their organization who does payroll so having an opportunity to network with other colleagues and to talk about what they do,” said McLean-Cobban.
It also serves as an opportunity for employer to see what the payroll profession does.
Some attendees bring their bosses, often CFOs and HR managers, so they are able to learn more about the realm of payroll.
“That's a great opportunity for those stakeholders to see what payroll does provide across Canada,” she said.
That’s why the critical skill is the focus of this year’s National Payroll Week, presented by the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA), with events taking place across the country Sept. 12 to 16.
“Payroll professionals are the key communications and compliance point of contact for all the employees in an organization, plus they're (the) manager on salary and benefits,” said Wendy McLean-Cobban, manager of communications and regional programs, CPA.
“A lot of organizations don't have an HR person so most time it is the payroll person who’s doing that.”
It’s not just company employees payroll professionals need to build a rapport with.
“Being able to communicate with all the different stakeholders as well as government agencies is important,” she said.
Payroll week recognizes the accomplishments of payroll professionals and the CPA by building greater awareness of the size and scope of payroll and its impact on employers, employees and government across Canada.
Making sure people get paid is no small task. Payroll professionals work in 1.5 million organizations across Canada and are responsible for ensuring $810 billion in wages and taxable benefits get paid. They also make sure $250 billion is remitted to federal and provincial governments and $90 billion in health and retirement premiums are paid. All of this is done while complying with more than 191 regulatory requirements, according to the CPA.
Strong communications skills are critical to ensure all of this gets done.
The keynote speakers at the 26 events taking part across the country will be talking about communication skills for today's payroll professional, said McLean-Cobban.
Communication skills are critical for people who are in a role that has the potential to be confrontational, said Rhonda Scharf, who has been speaking at payroll week for five years.
“As payroll professionals they're really in a tight spot because they typically only hear from people when something goes wrong,” she said. “So they're often in challenging situations because money is immediately emotional and people aren't necessarily always calm, cool, collected, polite, professional when they're dealing with them. Payroll professionals really have a tough role to play.”
Leadership skills and creating strong team spirit are also critical for payroll managers. These are some of the topics Jasmin Bergeron will be addressing when he speaks in Quebec.
It’s also important to build relationships with people at work, he said.
“We're more patient with people we like and we collaborate more with people we like so it's an important aspect of relationships I think,” he said.
National Payroll Week has been running since 1997. The event also aims to educate those outside the payroll profession about why payroll is mission critical to organizations, said McLean-Cobban.
“We're sort of the backbone of paying in Canada.”
Last year the events attracted more than 3,200 payroll professionals. Registrations indicate this year will be just as big, said McLean-Cobban.
One of the reasons the events are so popular is because they give payroll professionals the opportunity to get out of the office and network, she said.
“It's a great opportunity for them because most payroll professionals they are the only person in their organization who does payroll so having an opportunity to network with other colleagues and to talk about what they do,” said McLean-Cobban.
It also serves as an opportunity for employer to see what the payroll profession does.
Some attendees bring their bosses, often CFOs and HR managers, so they are able to learn more about the realm of payroll.
“That's a great opportunity for those stakeholders to see what payroll does provide across Canada,” she said.
