What’s your role?
I am part of the HR Service Delivery team and my priority is looking after the payroll function for the business. This means my main goal is to ensure our employees are paid on time each month! My duties include answering queries from individuals across the company, generating HR paperwork, processing payroll reports and submitting our signed-off payrolls to our bureau within deadline.
Producing the payroll is a team effort, but I keep on top of our monthly requirements making sure I get each task getting done in time, I couldn’t do it on my own and I am grateful for the help and support of my team members.
Ultimately, we all come to work to get paid so supporting something so fundamentally important to us all gives me great job satisfaction1
How long have you been at Weetabix?
I have just reached the two-year mark with Weetabix. I initially applied for the role because I wanted to work for a larger organisation that had a strong sense of teamworking. I always work best in a team and like to feel that I have supportive team members around me that I can work well with to get the job done.
I also hoped that the company culture would have that strong sense of ‘family’ with the shared sense of responsibility. As one of Weetabix’s core values is ‘One Team’, it is definitely a priority for the business.
What’s it like to work at Weetabix?
Working at Weetabix can be a bit of a rollercoaster, it can be challenging as you get stuck into so much and taking on more as you progress. However it is great for development because you are expected to not only crack on with your ‘day job’, you are very much encouraged to take on projects that will directly improve the company’s ways of working.
At Weetabix, you have to wear your ‘problem-solving’ hat often as you are encouraged to not only resolve the issue at hand, but you should also be thinking about how further similar issues can be avoided, and what can we do differently to ensure this.
Naturally I am an introvert and sometimes introverts can be thought of as being too quiet or have nothing valuable to say, but I have found that at Weetabix, my voice is heard. Ultimately all personality types are celebrated at Weetabix and the business goes above and beyond to recognise that people’s differences are a strength.
Pre-Covid days, you could always go to our on-site restaurant and find some Weetabix products to take home at discounted prices, and saving money is always a welcome perk! I think my partner got a little concerned at one point as I would bring home so many boxes of Weetabix Chocolate Chip Mini’s and Weetabix Chocolate biscuits…who says you can only eat these for breakfast? (not me).
What do you most enjoy about working at Weetabix?
On face value, it would be easy to assume that my role is simply a ‘boring admin job’, but it is so much more because of the opportunities to work on different projects at Weetabix. As a person, I am very organised and like structure and order, but I also enjoy variety and having different things to do to mix up your day; when those things also have positive impacts on the business, it makes it all worthwhile. It keeps the role interesting and you can see very tangible results for your efforts.
I most enjoy that when you succeed in improving a process, or system, or even simply succeed in helping someone to resolve an issue, it is genuinely making a difference to someone’s day. I like to help people and when you know you have supported others around you, you have contributed to something bigger than yourself.
What opportunities have you had whilst at Weetabix?
I have developed so much in my role since starting at Weetabix and my confidence in my abilities has grown too.
Prior to coming to Weetabix, my duties to support the payroll function were very limited as my background was more recruitment and employee relations focused. When joining, I shared that I had an interest in payroll as it was a part of HR that I had still not yet had the opportunity to explore fully in my career. This interest was absolutely heard, and I was very much thrown into the world of payroll processing, just as I had asked to be. My interest was not dismissed, it was massively supported, and now I have reached the point where I take ownership for this function and can use my developed knowledge to help make it even better.
Simultaneously, I am working on a project that will make interreacting with HRSD (human resources service delivery) much more fit for purpose for customers and this was something I really wanted to be part of. I am not just ‘part of’ it however, I am co-leading this project! When you want to make something happen, if you are given the right tools you can just get going. You don’t need to wait for others to implement your ideas for you as Weetabix makes it possible for you to go and take action yourself.
Anything you’d like to share with us about your role?
I am keen that processes are correctly followed because otherwise there is no point in having them! However, what would be even worse is having a process that makes things harder or there is no reasoning behind, and one thing my role does is makes you question all our processes and procedures.
At Weetabix you are encouraged to think critically and look for opportunities to make things better so even very small wins are celebrated. It is an aspect of my role that I am grateful for because you can truly be part of sharing and implementing new ideas, which is hard to find in many workplaces.
Tell us more about you outside of work?
Outside of work I really like to try new things! I love to travel and have been lucky enough to visit many parts of Europe. Covid has put a pause on the any travelling now of course but it is something to look forward to when restrictions are lifted again. As well as travelling, I love to try new experiences and the best thrills I have enjoyed were training as a certified scuba diver (in the Red Sea in Egypt) and sky diving (in sunny Spain).
I live in my own home with my partner of just over 11 years – we are high school sweethearts and we are engaged. He proposed during our travels to Vienna and we had planned to get married in September 2020 but Covid had other ideas, so we are now counting down to our new date in 2022!
My partner and I both live plant-based lifestyles and care strongly about environmental conservation, animal welfare and cruelty-free living. It is a big part of our lives, but also it is just normal to us so honestly, I sometimes forget that it isn’t how most people live. With Veganuary each year however our circle of compassionate people living the same lifestyle is ever-growing, and a huge bonus for me is that most Weetabix products are suitable for vegans so I can always spread good vibes about not missing out in what matters!
I have a mixed heritage with Latin America family (my family is so huge I still have cousins I have never met!) and my Latina background means I like to dance more than I probably should…as most of my family all live in America it does mean I at least get to have free accommodation when travelling to the States! I have been to NYC many times and when travel bans are lifted, I am eager to get back out there for a trip!
