NPW20 - staff positives

In our first post “National Payroll Week 2020 – Celebrating our incredible payroll heroes” we talked about the amazing things that our team have been able to achieve throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, and their part in keeping the UK paid. Today, we decided to speak to the payroll heroes themselves to see what positives they were able to uncover and achieve through lockdown.

To uncover more about their adaptability to any situation, and what they were proud of their colleagues for we decided to ask them three questions:

  1. What is something that you have learned from lockdown?
  2. Can you name something positive to come out of lockdown?
  3. What do you think your team should be recognised for about their work during lockdown?

The number of responses was overwhelming, and a true testament to our team’s ability to face any challenge with professionalism and a positive attitude. Here are some of our favourite responses.

What is something that you have learned from lockdown?

Many of the responses from our teams reflected their resilience. Rachel Cooke said “People are much more resilient than we think we are” and Belinda Hazzard concurred with “I have learnt that we are resilient and can adapt to any situation thrown at us.”

Other responses mentioned the new channels of communication that we have adapted to using with remote working, in addition to the positive environmental impact that remote working has had on our people. Kate Leo said “I can be paperless after all.”

Can you name something positive to come out of lockdown?

When asked specifically to name positive outcomes that came as a result of the lockdown our teams had many responses. They mentioned the appreciation of our clients, hard work of our colleagues, being able to work from home, the environmental impact and teamwork.

Martin Davis said “the positive environmental effect of not commuting to work every day” was the biggest positive that came from the lockdown for him, whilst Kate Leo thinks “the teamwork that was done to ensure minimal disruption to clients” was the biggest positive.

What do you think your team should be recognised for about their work during lockdown?

Finally, we asked our teams what they felt they should be recognised for about their hard work during lockdown. Everyone was keen to praise their teammates, and it is clear that many of our colleagues have gone above and beyond to ensure smooth sailing through the UK wide lockdown and beyond.

Martin Davis wanted his team to be recognised for “sticking together and continuing to support each other, even over distance” whilst Rachel Cooke wanted to mention “their ability to take on enormous new challenges, like CJRS claims whilst keeping on top of their usual workload and payrolls.”

George Serls summed it up perfectly with “business as usual, despite all the distractions and delays due to lockdowns.” For his team this involved “more complex returns needed sooner than ever before, with severe penalties for being late” and despite this “most returns were submitted slightly earlier this year than last.”

Celebrating our payroll heroes hard work throughout lockdown and every day

Whilst the ongoing global Coronavirus pandemic has proved just how amazing our payroll heroes are, their work year in and year out lockdown or no lockdown has always made them worthy of the title of heroes.

Written by Rachel Cooke
Published on September 9, 2020

Dataplan are one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist payroll and associated services.

From payroll outsourcing and pension service management to ePayslips and gender pay gap reporting; we have a solution for you and your business.