How to celebrate your payroll team during National Payroll Week

In the UK, National Payroll Week is an annual celebration that acknowledges the essential work of payroll professionals and their significant contribution to the economy. Established by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) in 1998, this week-long campaign has been recognising the payroll profession for over 25 years. What began as a modest awareness campaign has evolved into a comprehensive programme of events, workshops, and educational activities. The campaign aims to highlight the work done by payroll professionals, recognising that employee satisfaction and legal compliance are hugely important to any business 

The week has gained particular significance in recent years as payroll has become increasingly complex, with legislative changes, digital transformation, and the rise of real-time reporting requirements. Many UK payroll software providers, consultancies, and professional services firms now actively participate, offering webinars, workshops, and resources to support continuing professional development during the week. 

As National Payroll Week approaches, the spotlight turns to your payroll department, a vital component within your organisation. Acknowledging the significance of their role takes on added importance within a large organisation, where the reach of this department's contributions is extensive. Let’s look at five ways you can celebrate your payroll team during National Payroll Week.  

1. Organise an in-person meet up 

In the context of larger organisations, the scope of employees deserving recognition during National Payroll Week tends to be broad. To make a bigger impact, opt for a team lunch or breakfast as a highlight of your National Payroll Week 2025. This provides an opportunity for your expansive payroll team to meet up in an informal setting, share in their achievements and feel appreciated whilst enjoying some food and good company. Not only will this show them they are appreciated, but it is also likely to boost morale which is a key factor in employee engagement and satisfaction.  

Consider providing vouchers for team leaders to treat their teams and encourage them to share pictures from these lunches across your internal communications channels. This approach works particularly well in large organisations where payroll teams may be distributed across multiple locations or departments. Rather than attempting to coordinate one massive gathering, empowering individual team leaders creates multiple celebration moments whilst maintaining that personal touch that's often lost in larger companies. 

Find our more ways to boost morale in our guide 15 best non-monetary rewards that will motivate your employees. 

2. Send out an email or newsletter 

It can be difficult to convey a message when there are lots of people to communicate with, but technology can be the ideal tool. Through a company-wide email or dedicated newsletter segment, invite employees to join in by expressing their thanks to the payroll team. This shared recognition not only amplifies the employer's acknowledgment but weaves stronger bonds among colleagues, fostering unity and a collaborative workforce which can only be a positive for your organisation. 

In larger companies, payroll teams often work behind the scenes, with limited visibility across different departments and locations. A company-wide communication instantly elevates their profile organisation-wide, ensuring every employee understands the vital role payroll plays in their working life. The collective voice of appreciation from a company-wide initiative carries more weight than individual recognition alone. 

Moreover, large organisations often struggle with creating connections across different divisions and geographical locations. When employees from various departments and offices contribute their thanks, it demonstrates the impact payroll teams have across the whole organisation. This can resonate strongly in complex, multi-layered company structures where such cross-functional appreciation can be rare. 

3. Offer training and progression opportunities 

Whilst you should celebrate the successes of your payroll team during National Payroll Week (and beyond), it is also crucial that you as an organisation can support the personal career development goals and aspirations of the individuals within the payroll department.   

This involves finding out what career trajectories your payroll employees want to embark on and identifying the best ways you can help them reach them. Providing your employees with a wide range of training opportunities will ensure they everyone is able to learn more and push themselves further.   

4. Continually improve payroll processes 

Your payroll team will undoubtedly understand the ins and outs of the systems they work with daily, but this isn’t to say that improvements can’t be made. Using a critical eye to review your current payroll processes and speaking to the team members themselves will help ensure that you make suitable changes that benefit everyone.  

By re-investing in your payroll system, you can tighten processes and make them more efficient. If you're considering a larger payroll system upgrade as part of your broader HR tech transformation, our comprehensive guide to Moving up the HR tech stack with confidence could help you navigate the entire journey with confidence. Access expert insights on recognising when it's time to change, building a business case, and managing implementation successfully. Rolling out these changes to the whole team and providing support and training where needed will ensure that the process is smooth. It will also likely improve the payroll team’s level of engagement and satisfaction with the work they do in the knowledge that changes have been put in place to make their jobs easier and streamline processes.  

5. Employee appreciation and recognition 

Despite employee recognition not being specific to payroll, it’s important to include because everyone enjoys being recognised and rewarded for the challenging work they do and the contributions they make to an organisation. This is the case for payroll employees too, who may find that the work they do is seen as unnoticed and going on quietly in the background.   

But let’s face it – being paid right and on time, every time is an essential business operation and is also expected from everyone within the company. For big organisations with many employees, ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of payroll processes can be complex, requiring efficient coordination across multiple departments. Therefore, recognising the importance of this function and the individuals behind it is integral. 

In larger companies, payroll teams face unique pressures that their counterparts in smaller organisations simply don't encounter. They're managing thousands of employee records, navigating complex multi-jurisdictional compliance requirements, and coordinating with numerous departments. Yet despite this increased complexity, their work remains largely invisible to the broader workforce. 

This invisibility could be particularly pronounced in large organisations where employees may never interact directly with payroll staff, unlike in smaller companies where these relationships are more personal. Recognition becomes a powerful tool for addressing this disconnect. When payroll teams feel valued, it can directly impact their engagement and performance. 

Read our article on What is employee recognition? to learn more about utilising the right forms of reward and recognition for your business and employees. 

We hope that the above suggestions have given you some ideas on how to celebrate your payroll team during National Payroll Week.

It’s important to tailor your plans to suit the individuals within your payroll department but there are plenty of activities your organisation can get involved in specifically for National Payroll Week.

Find out about what is available through the CIPP here: National Payroll Week 2025 Payroll & Pensions Event | CIPP. The CIPP has also scheduled several free webinars to cover relevant topics in the industry, including the growth of AI in payroll.