Life At PayrollHero From Our Newest Team Member Maita Ocampo

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Stephen Jagger

Editors Note: Introducing Maita Ocampo, Business Development at PayrollHero. She will be contributing to the PayrollHero blog from time to time.

Wait What?

Overwhelmed, confused, and highly emotional – these are not the end of day emotions that I’ve imagined my first day with PayrollHero to be like. Apparently, I found myself having dinner alone in a restaurant after my first day and my thought bubble said something like: WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED.

Looking back, I think it was just “info overload” on my end. Haha! Well, to be honest, technology is not really my area of expertise. However, one of the reasons why I took the job at PayrollHero is because I knew that I was ready and up for the challenge. Getting sent to visit the team in Singapore after a month and working directly with the co-founder is of course, a plus. Boom! The opportunities are endless.

(Myself with Steve Jagger, Michael Stephenson and Adam Baechler in Singapore checking out the view of the Marina Bay Sands.)

First Three Months

My first three months were more of getting accustomed to the tools, getting to know the product, and catching up with the company and our timelines. Now that three months have passed, I couldn’t be thankful enough for PayrollHero and its founders for giving me the opportunity to be part of a platform that aims to make the lives of employees and their respective companies better. This is something that really excites me!

Non-Stop Learning

Let me share with you 3 key learnings from my first three months with PayrollHero:

Ask, ask, ask – Never assume anything. If you’re not certain about something, it is better to ask. Asking questions will not make you look lame, ignorant, or unsure. In fact, asking questions is a sign of strength and intelligence. It can also give way to deeper insights and better answers.
Waking up early rocks – I wake up at 6AM every day and work usually ends at 4PM. Crazy, right? These past few months, I’ve learned that you actually get to do more work when you wake up early. At the same time, you get to spend quality time with people you love. According to Forbes and Harvard biologist Christoph Randler, “morning people” are more proactive and are more likely to agree with statements like “I feel in charge of making things happen.” His research also revealed that they are more likely to anticipate problems and minimize them efficiently.
Productivity tools – I remember telling Steve, our co-founder, on my first day that I haven’t downloaded so many apps in one day! Haha. Yes, PayrollHero embraces technology (a lot). It helps us in our open communication mandate. We love PipelineDeals, Asana, Google Docs (Google white paper on PayrollHero), LinkedIn, Slack, Sqwiggle, Appear and Zopim to name a few. It may seem hard to take it all in, but these apps are just a matter of getting used to. Not only does it make learning everyday more fun, it’s definitely helping us work efficiently as well.

Exciting Times Ahead

I guess, no matter what your job is, your first couple of days at work could really be a nerve-racking experience so it’s important for one to focus and have the proper mindset for it.

What I enjoy the most about working for PayrollHero is that everyone’s contributing and thinking of ways to achieve better results for our clients while enjoying the process. We get to learn a lot from each other too!

(Myself with Cristian Guerrero, Kieran Peppiatt, Stephen Jagger, Adam Baechler and Mike Stephenson at the Hyatt in the City of Dreams Manila)

As we’re expanding rapidly in the Philippines and have soft launched in Singapore, I am looking forward for the next countries that we’re targeting this year to become payroll live and the adventures that come along with it. Exciting times, indeed!

Want to read more about our Adventure Engineering lifestyle?

– You might like Nico’s story about his first few days in the Whistler office after leaving the Philippines.

– Adventure Engineers scatter

– Looking to join us? Check out our hiring page or how our work from home program works.

Attention Singapore Restaurants | Singapore Payroll Software

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Stephen Jagger

Our next event is coming up. On April 14th at 1:30pm we are holding a free event in our Singapore office for restaurant owners and managers who want to learn more about how PayrollHero works within the restaurant industry.

Come learn about PayrollHero’s time, attendance, scheduling, HRIS, business intelligence and Singapore payroll platform and how it can work within your restaurant.

This free event is a perfect way to learn more about PayrollHero and see if there is a fit for your business!

Plus, PayrollHero qualifies for Spring’s Innovation & Capability Voucher (ICV) – Integrated Solutions (IS) – fill in your information here to see if your qualified.

Why should you attend?

1. Learn how PayrollHero’s time/attendance platform eliminates fraud
2. See the platform in action
3. Learn why Krispy Kreme, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and others use PayrollHero
4. Get your questions answered
5. Understand the costs of not having a proper platform in place
6. Plus much more…

Singapore Payroll Software by PayrollHero

Here is what Earl Chua has to say about PayrollHero for his restaurant chain:

Choose Your Adventure to Learn About PayrollHero

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Stephen Jagger

Payroll Hero Payroll Software

Different people like to communicate in different ways. That is why we communicate with people interested in learning more about PayrollHero in different ways.

You can go the traditional route and check out our websites, you can learn more about our business, what we do in our free time, who is on our team, the charities we support, etc from this blog. If your feeling social, we are on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram. If you want the real deal, straight from the adventure engineering team then check out the release notes. More of a research person, you can dig through our knowledge-base all day long. They are hundreds of articles on how PayrollHero works. If you prefer to sit back and watch, our YouTube channel has tons of videos.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out as we would be pleased to help.

Tired of Commuting?

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Kieran Peppiatt

philippine traffic problems Editors Note: Introducing Kieran Peppiatt, Head of Client Success at PayrollHero. He will be contributing to the PayrollHero blog from time to time.

So it might seem a bit peculiar to make my inaugural post to be about commuting! I actually plan to write about Client Success in the Philippines. However, if you live in the Philippines you’ll know it’s a pretty big problem. Traffic in Manila is some of the worst I have experienced. There are now over one billion cars on the planet and I am pretty sure they’re all here!

According to Time.com the average American’s commute to work is 25 ½ minutes, well the average commute in the Philippines is around 2 hours. The Philippine’s is ranked 9th worst for traffic in the world, and although that’s better than their airport rating it’s still not a ranking to be proud of.

Manila’s rush hour, like any, is a total misnomer. In fact the Philippine government estimates that Manila’s traffic costs the country around $3 billion per year. This is from wasted fuel, break downs, road works, deaths (you will go nowhere in an ambulance) and productivity.

Something to think about…

What does commuting mean for ensuring clients are successful?

Studies have shown that commuting will increase your blood sugar levels, cholesterol and likelihood of depression. The UK office of national statistics has also shown that your anxiety levels drastically increase, and another study by the University of Utah shows that your blood pressure temporarily spikes as direct result of a long commute.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg and keep in mind that all of these studies based their findings on commutes that exceed thirty minutes, which is way below the standard here in the Philippines.

Think about that for a moment. Your team arrive, there was a big pile up on the highway. There late and already frustrated before they’ve even logged in to their computer. There’s a backlog of tickets because they’re only just in the door. Is that really going to create an environment that is conducive to excellent customer service?

Commuting means it’s not 9 to 5… it’s more like 7 till 7.

It’s really hard to build a team of truly exceptional employees in any industry. Add to the fact that even a two mile commute is a one hour mission. It starts to shrink the area of your employment pool. People just don’t want the hassle and who would? If you commute for two hours each way you are wasting 43 days of your life every year stuck in traffic. Not to mention the travel conditions for some commuters.

When it comes to Client Success attracting the right people is important. Without truly empathetic people whatever you try it’s all irrelevant. You want people who instinctively put themselves in the clients shoes, who can evaluate situations quickly, figure out a problem and act to create an environment in which your clients can thrive. These types of people are hard to come by.

So, how do you get them to commute to you? What should you do to try and attract the right talent into making the trip every day to your office? You don’t. We made a rule, you either live within walking distance of the office or you don’t come in. All you need to have is a computer and internet connection that is good enough to bring the office to you.

It’s quite early in our trials and this is definitely going to be a topic that I write about in the future. I’ll keep you guys informed on what we learn from it. That said, the staff who have opted to go down this route are genuinely happier and definitely more productive. They choose to spend more time helping out and don’t have to worry about getting up early to commute to work, or leaving late to miss the traffic home.

The plan is to meet up every second weekend so we can have face to face time, good food and a few drinks. We will also do a retroactive look back on the last two weeks. This is where we can see what we did well, not so well and most importantly learn how we can improve. Something I definitely plan to share more with you on in the future.

By the way, if you didn’t notice we’re hiring in a big way. If you love customers even more than we hate commuting get in touch.

Pictures: Singapore Ruby Meeting @PayrollHero

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Stephen Jagger

The Singapore Ruby Meetup was held at PayrollHero’s Singapore office on Feb. 24th at 7pm. If was a packed house of ruby enthusiasts, wanting to learn more and meet other engineers.

The speakers consisted of:

1. Testing Shell Scripts – Bjorn Andersson / @gaqzi
2. Development to Devops – Justin Burris / @justinbburris
3. 5 Random Ruby Tips – Akira Hirakawa

Thanks to everyone for coming out. There will be more events to come!

singapore payroll software

Singapore Ruby Meeting @PayrollHero

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Stephen Jagger

global_123774742 The next Singapore Ruby Meetup will be held at PayrollHero’s Singapore office on Feb. 24th at 7pm. If you are a ruby enthusiast, want to learn more, meet other engineers or just say hi come by and check it out.

Here is the agenda:

1. Testing Shell Scripts – Bjorn Andersson / @gaqzi
2. Development to Devops – Justin Burris / @justinbburris
3. 5 Random Ruby Tips – Akira Hirakawa

* Hot Picks
– This is a 5-10 minute session during which anyone can
stand up and say something interesting!

Be sure to register here as space is limited.

Adventure Engineer from the Philippines arrives in Canada

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Stephen Jagger

Another one of PayrollHero’s Adventure Engineers has arrived in Canada. Nico Suria, a Philippine native has moved over to our Whistler office as part of his quest for Canadian Residency. I sent Nico a few questions about his experience thus far (he has been there about 1 week) and here is what he had to say:

1. What was the biggest shock when coming to Canada?
A lot of us Asians, especially ones that haven’t been to Canada before, will say the cold. I’ve spent some time in Ontario as a kid so I don’t have the same problem. But.. yup, it was still the cold.

Also being able to drink directly from the tap. Melted glacier water is yummy.

2. How do you like the weather?
You really just have to dress correctly and, once I got used to it, I had a great time walking around and just enjoying the sights. There’s something about walking the streets of a city like Vancouver or the forest paths of Whistler, all bundled up and with your breath fogging that I find really pleasant.

3. What do you think of Vancouver?
Rainy. I didn’t get to really go out a lot outside Yaletown, and it was only sunny for an hour the whole time I was there but when it did, it was lovely. Looked like there were lots of interesting places and people everywhere.

4. What do you think of Whistler?
I’ve never lived in a small town but I can definitely say that I like it. The weather’s cold but the people are warm and friendly. The place itself is quite beautiful. They’ve done a great job of designing the town to complement nature instead of just building on top of it. All of this and I’ve never even visited the mountains themselves – which people spend heaps of money just to be around of.

5. What do you miss about the Philippines?
Mostly my family and friends. The food (and prices) too.

6. What Filipino thing did you find in Canada that shocked you?
Well, Filipino’s themselves! They everywhere. I needed a single envelope for mail but the post office only sold them in 50’s so I went to the UPS store to see if they sold singles. The guy just asked me in Tagalog how many I needed and gave it to me for free.

7. How was the process of getting setup? (SIN number, bank, etc)
Let me just say this: with nobody to show me around much less serve as my ‘fixer‘, I was able to 1) Get a post-paid mobile plan with great data, 2) Get a Social Insurance Number, and 3) Open a bank account – all within 12 hours.

Read more about our Adventure Engineers here.

What is an Adventure Engineer, watch below;

We are always hiring.

Adventure Engineers Scatter This Weekend

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Stephen Jagger

Our team has been full on the past few months so a few of them took this weekend to see the sights around the region. The timing was was a coincident, but we have PayrollHero #AdventureEngineers in 7 cities around the world today. They are in Hong Kong, Shenyang China, Whistler Canada, Singapore, Manila Philippines, Cebu Philippines and Squamish Canada. Below are a few pictures from their adventures.

Nico Suria is in Hong Kong along with Kieran Peppiatt and their girlfriends seeing the sights, doing a little shopping and taking in some of the local culture.

adventure engineer in hong kong

(Nico in Hong Kong)

adventure engineer kieran in hong kong

(Kieran Peppiatt in Hong Kong)

Bram Whillock, the very definition of #AdventureEngineer takes his outdoor time to the next level. Today, he can be found in the far off peeks of Whistler mountain in Canada.
whistler mountain ruby on rails engineer (Bram Whillock on Whistler mountain ~
photo by Bradford McArthur of ForeverExploring.com)

Aidan Sullivan is in Shenyang, China which is one hour north of Beijing. Shenyang is one of China’s very polluted cities as you can see from the picture below.
aidan in china

(Aidan Sullivan in Shenyang, China) china adventure engineer

(pollution in Shenyang, China)
(Vince Paca in Cebu, Philippines)
singapore payroll guys (Michael Stephenson and Adam Baechler in Singapore)

Are you looking to join a hard working team? We are looking for a few people to join our team. Roles available: Event Manager, Content Writer, Ruby on Rails Engineer, Customer Service Specialist, Business Development and Marketing Manager.

Watch our Adventure Engineering video below to learn more about us…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyyaprfMifg

We have another new team member Justin!

Posted on March 21, 2014 by

Justin joins our PayrollHero Whistler office as a Client Success Hero with our support team. Despite being a Vancouver native now, he hails from the Philippines and brings our team an array of helpful attributes. Welcome Justin!

“I’m Justin, 25 years old and I can fit in your pocket! My motto has always been “Less is More.”

I moved to Vancouver from the Philippines in 1995 with my single mother and two older siblings. Fast forward: continuous soul searching, plenty of mistakes along the way, living off Craigslist gigs, and even worked as a VW/Audi mechanic at some point.

Now I live a purpose driven life that aligns my musical calling, with my spiritual calling.

You can catch me making beats in my man cave, DJ’ing at local/international nightclubs, weight training, being in the great outdoors and most importantly, building my relationships with the people who matter most to me.

I’ve had experience in many different fields, but the common denominator is this: Helping others. PayrollHero seems to be aligned with the same mentality of changing and helping how people live and work in the business world. That is why I’m more than excited to be part of such a passionate, driven, and most of all, friendly team! Thank you for reading!”

We would like to welcome Kieran Peppiatt to our team!

Posted on March 20, 2014 by

Another new team member has joined PayrollHero. Meet Kieran, he hails from Scotland and has joined our Whistler office. Welcome Kieran!

“Hello my name is Kieran. Apparently it’s an Irish name meaning little dark one. Although I have dark hair there is nothing little about me so this has always struck me as a bit of a misnomer! I am 26 years old and come from Scotland. This of course means I should have a deeply instilled love of drinking fine beverages, eating deep fried food and wearing kilts in ridiculously cold weather. In truth though I don’t really do much of the latter.

I went to school in a small town called Banchory which is in the North East of Scotland. I left at sixteen deciding that formal education wasn’t really my thing and got a job for a large financial institution. I started working there as a cashier and this was the role which cultivated my passion for helping people. From there I rose through the ranks and spent the next four years as a Business Adviser. Basically this meant I supported a large portfolio of businesses advising them on the best course of action for their company.

I really learned the importance of cultivating long term relationships with customers, getting it right first time and making it happen for my customers. So after that I have spent my time working in other customer orientated roles and occasionally visiting other countries.

With a background in finance and customer service coming to work for the Customer Success Team at PayrollHero seemed like a great fit. I love the excitement of working with a company that has such vision and passion for their customers. This attitude towards their customers is apparent in everything they do. They also have the very same attitude towards their staff to!

Look forward to this new adventure!”