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Sarah Rayment is PayCaptain’s Head of Operations. With a broad range of responsibilities in the business, Sarah is a familiar face as she works closely with customers and other team members during the customer onboarding process.
Sarah’s worked in the payroll industry for more than 15 years and joined PayCaptain in November 2021. Read more to find out what Sarah loves about being part of the PayCaptain team.
- What are your responsibilities in PayCaptain?
As Head of Operations, I’ve really varied responsibilities within the business and no two days are ever the same. As well as working alongside the payroll managers to make sure the onboarding process is a great one for new business customers, I also onboard our new employees into PayCaptain.
It’s an exciting time for PayCaptain as we’re growing, we've new team members joining and I love introducing them to the PayCaptain way of working! We’re not a company with silos and all the team work collaboratively, so it’s great to introduce new employees and see them flourish.
I’m also responsible for billing, Accounts Payable and involved in a lot of the internal projects – so I always have full work days!
- Tell us about your career before you joined PayCaptain.
Prior to joining PayCaptain in November 2021, I worked for an international payroll and workforce management company for 15 years. It was an amazing experience as I was there at the time of great expansion from the UK to the USA and Dubai, so I learned a huge amount.
I started with them at 18 as a project co-ordinator. After this, I had other roles and the most rewarding was when I ran the data team. This is where we scheduled and managed all of data requirements for new implementations.
- What attracted you to join PayCaptain?
I’d heard and read a lot about PayCaptain and the thought of working at a start-up company was very exciting. I love the passion and enthusiasm that every single person at PayCaptain has for our customers and the product.
- What’s different about PayCaptain?
It’s so refreshing to work for a company that genuinely cares about the financial well-being of users. It’s not just about producing a payslip and ensuring everyone is paid on time – of course, this is critically important - but it’s all about putting people more in control of their pay. Giving them the skills, knowledge and tools to be more in control of their finances has a really positive effect on both their personal and financial well-being.
- What’s the biggest benefit of PayCaptain for employers and employees?
For employers it’s definitely that their payroll is more automated and much quicker to process – they get so much time back with PayCaptain managing their payroll.
For employees, it’s all the amazing features we offer. Employees can split their payments directly from their pay on payday, taking the stress out of moving money around. This makes it really easy to put savings aside. They can access emergency cash, get wage advances, get help and support if they’re struggling financially as well as making provision for the future with pensions – everything from the mobile app.
One of the biggest benefits is having a really easy-to-understand, graphical payslip with explanations on things such as tax and NI deductions. This helps employees understand their pay so much better, which gets them more engaged in payroll, saving and budgeting.
- How customisable is the solution for different customers?
It’s not ‘one size fits all.’ Customers don’t have to have all of the features switched on – there’s a lot of flexibility depending on business requirements.
We can also easily set up APIs to integrate with external scheduling and HR systems to make the entire HR and onboarding process easier. We’re very flexible and enjoy partnering with other tech companies to make day-to-day operations easier for our customers.
- What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love how every day is totally different. One day I’ll be looking at financials, the next speaking to a customer about a new integration and the next day I might be helping with our monthly newsletter or organising a company get-together!
- How do you find working a four-day week and what does it mean to you both professionally and personally?
PayCaptain allow me to work full time hours across four days which I’m hugely grateful for. It means I get to spend Fridays with my children, which is so important to me whilst they’re little.
PayCaptain is very flexible in that as long as hours are worked and deadlines are met, the hours can be worked at times that fit my schedule – as long as I’m available during the core hours.
- Tell us about the onboarding process for a new client and your part in it
As soon as a new customer signs with PayCaptain, I’m introduced and we get the ball rolling with a kick-off call and data gathering.
The customer, PayCaptain payroll manager, sales representative and I are all on the first call and we get to know what the customer needs and how we can support them with the PayCaptain solution. We then set up an online project plan with all the key dates and tasks.
We’ll always complete a parallel payroll with the legacy payroll system, but the process is quick and easy and we’ll help where we can with data requirements to make the implementation as straightforward and pain-free as possible.
I work with the customer and the payroll team until after their first payrun on PayCaptain, once all project tasks are complete. I am always available post go-live and like to stay in contact with our customers.
- Who do you work closest with at PayCaptain?
Thankfully my role allows me to work with every department in the business, which is another reason I love my job!
I would say I work closest with Simon, who is the Founder of PayCaptain. He’s taught me a lot and I’m very grateful to have such an inspiring and knowledgeable manager.
I work closely with Mike Fisher who’s our Sales and Partnership Manager, Stacey Heathcote, our Head of Payroll and Michael Taylor, Head of Engineering. I’m in close contact with the payroll and technical teams on a daily basis – we all work very collaboratively.
- How did it feel when you were awarded CIPP Software Product of the Year?
I wasn’t at the awards ceremony but was constantly checking my phone for updates that evening! When I saw we’d won, I felt so incredibly proud to work for PayCaptain.
We’ve won other awards and being recognised for our contribution to the payroll industry and the well-being of employees is so special.
The Software Product of the Year award from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals is incredible recognition of the innovation of our payroll solution and what we’re doing as a company. Along with the whole team, I was over the moon!
- Why is it important that PayCaptain is a B Corporation?
The company, from the outset, was built on the B Corp framework – which is all about the business being a force for good, not just about it making profit. We’ve just celebrated our first full year of being a B Corp and we’re proud of the achievement and the contribution we’re making to improve peoples’ lives.
Being a B Corp helps us frame our decision-making and roadmap. The way we work and how we interact with customers and employees is very reflective of Simon (Bocca, founder and CEO)’s personality and belief that payroll can make such a positive difference.
In 2022, we were recognised for two B Corp ‘Best for the World’ awards. Being a B Corp isn’t just a one-off award or a box to be ticked. It’s an ongoing process for renewal and continuous improvement within the business, which is one of the reasons it’s important to all of us. We all strive to contribute positively to our work and for the customers we work with.
We work with a lot of customers and partners who have the same work ethos as us, many of them who also share the B Corp status.
- How does being a B Corp change the way you think about what you’re doing (day to day or strategically)?
Being a B Corp means we always have social and environmental impact at the forefront of what we’re doing.
- What’s the proudest moment of your career?
For me, it’s not one particular ‘event.’ Being part of the PayCaptain team makes me incredibly proud and I absolutely love my job. PayCaptain is such a forward-thinking company. We work so collaboratively and it’s amazing to be part of the journey. My role is challenging, yes, but it’s the most rewarding job I’ve ever had – and something that makes me feel proud every day!
