Allison

How long have you worked at Admiral?

I joined Admiral in July 2010

Describe what you do.

I manage the day-to-day operations of the Payroll department. We are a small but mighty team in charge of ensuring every member of staff gets paid! This involves checking everyone's schedules for accuracy, inputting and previewing every dollar in and out, and accounting for it in the proper budget areas afterwards. We also keep staff details up to date and administer the pension plan, our employee share scheme for the Canadian site, and corporate gym memberships. As the department with lots of data, we get the opportunity to help the rest of the site with special reports or project requests as they come up as well. 

What attracted you to Admiral?

I was attracted to Admiral by the culture - the office was bright and welcoming with lots of friendly faces and all kinds of perks, including casual dress code and a generous vacation allotment. I had also just moved back home to Canada after spending a couple of years in the UK, so the idea of working for a UK company appealed me as it kept me connected to that side of the world.

What’s your greatest success to date at Admiral?

My greatest success at Admiral has been achieving the Payroll Manager position after a relatively brief background in Payroll. It really goes to show how wonderful Admiral's policy of promoting from within can be! I initially joined the Payroll team with no prior experience in the field, but Admiral invested in my future by supporting me through payroll courses from the Canadian Payroll Association, with the goal of becoming a certified member. When the Payroll Manager position became available I was in the unique situation of having the payroll knowledge and a full understanding of the Admiral culture that allowed me to transition into running our small department seamlessly. 

What kind of person succeeds in your role?

To succeed in my role you need strong time management and organizational skills and acute attention to detail. You also need to be friendly and approachable, with a good understanding of legislation and other payroll rules and regulations that could impact the staff.