Meet Tanya Addison, Payroll Officer at the City of Brandon. In this story, you'll learn how this superhero's payroll knowledge, ninja qualities and problem solving skills have led to increased engagement among employees and less work for Payroll.
About Tanya
I have been working at the City of Brandon as a Payroll Officer for over 8 years. The City of Brandon pays up to 750 employees biweekly, and as well we do payroll for 4 other arm’s length organizations. I have a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Business Administration and Sociology. As well, I am a Certified Payroll Manager with the Canadian Payroll Association. In 2015, I was elected as a Trustee to represent employees with the Municipal Employees Benefit Program, which administers our pension, disability, and life insurances.
Outside of work, I have a family with two young boys, aged 11 and 6. I like to curl in the winter (and sometimes bonspiel), and camp in the summer. I have recently taken up running and I like to get up super early to enjoy the sunrise and pound the pavement.
Q: What makes you a People Management Superhero?
My payroll knowledge, legislation knowledge, and understanding of the organization and the 6 collective agreements we work with. I think outside the box and I like to look at the big picture. Everyone calls me the Payroll Ninja!
Q: How does Avanti help you take care of your employees?
The Employee Self-Service is an excellent tool that helps Payroll by taking some of the inquiries we would normally receive and gives the employees the means to find out the information that they are looking for themselves. Information such as changing their address or accessing a prior year’s T4.
Avanti’s customer service has been exceptional. Our Implementation Specialist was so knowledgeable and helpful during the entire process. Switching to a new payroll system is a daunting task, especially for such a large organization! Our Implementation team helped us complete our first live pay with very few hiccups! They listened to our needs and took the time to explain all the processes to us--sometimes more than once! Our employees barely noticed that such big changes were taking place right under their noses!
Q: Is there something you can now provide to your managers or employees that you couldn't before implementing Avanti?
Again with the Employee Self-Service, empowering the employees makes for happy employees. People love having information at their fingertips and they get that with Avanti!
Q: As you look ahead to the next year, do you have any new initiatives that involve Avanti?
As a newer Avanti user, we are looking forward to streamlining our internal processes. We are using the time entry system and HR applicant system and hope to make the onboarding process that much easier for HR and Payroll.
Q: What is the single most important thing that you do to make a difference to your employees?
We are accountable. If we make a mistake we admit it, fix it, and learn from it. We are only human (albeit with superhero ninja qualities) and we are bound to make an error here and there. What makes the difference is that we then go out of our way to make it right.
Q: How does the City of Brandon set itself apart from other employers?
We endeavour to be the benchmark for other organizations. If another company cuts corners or takes the easiest route that doesn’t mean that we should. We try to do the right thing for the right reasons.
Q: What is at the heart of making City of Brandon a great place to work?
The management staff understand that there is a balance between work and home life.
Q: How do you make your people feel engaged, appreciated and help them thrive at the City of Brandon?
Sharing knowledge and having my employees be a part of the decision making process empowers them. It makes them feel included in their daily job and lets them know that they are valued members of the team.
Look at Tanya's super transformation in The Little Book of People Management Superheroes: Volume 2.
The Little Book of People Management Superheroes: Volume 2 from Avanti Software Inc.
