Solutions Magazine - March 2018

MARCH 2018
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 1

From the
General Manager
Hi all, it’s been a month of very heightened activity on every front and I’m very
pleased to say that we are forging forward. While we’re in the thick of projects
there are not so many ‘formal’ milestones to celebrate, however we’ve ticked
quite a few boxes over the past month.
It’s been great to see quite a few new faces at 30 Currie
Street, and I welcome all the temp and contract staff that
have joined us (and thank you all for being available!). I
can only imagine how challenging it is to be learning a
new business while the business is involved in so many
transition projects - it highlights the need to focus on
‘business as usual’ in tandem with our other activities,
particularly as we are now very close to the end of the
FBT year.
Our ‘Noble Park’ team are now no longer at Noble Park,
and as I understand are settling in well in the 550 Bourke
Street building. Definitely a dynamic workplace, with
many staff representing many parts of the group and a
great opportunity for the NL Sales, Settlements and CS
teams to integrate further with other teams. I’d especially
like to thank Jodie Frederickson for her outstanding
contribution to making this move a success!
I thank you all for the questions I’ve had around
our organisational strategy with the recent news of
resignations across the group. The executive team have
been reviewing our objectives and structure very closely
and we will make an announcement on this to all staff
later next week.
A particular shout out to our leadership team this month
- they have been balancing the BAU and transition
workload amazingly well, given that the two main
objectives often collide!
Onward and forward into the new FBT year…
Best,
BT.
Phoenix is coming into focus now and the State of Matter
development team are full steam ahead. Our task now is
to deeply understand the functional differences between
the version of Phoenix we will be migrating to in June
(V1.5) and our current V2 system. Understanding these
differences will form the backbone of our internal and
external training, client communications and strategies
for migration. What we can say with certainty is that the
target of “migration by July 1” is immovable…
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 2

How are we
tracking?
Novated Leasing Update
February was another challenging month for Novated and as we’ve come to expect
a number of individuals rose to the occasion. Starting with a lower than desired
pipeline we needed everything to go 100% and when playing with fire, we got
burned; falling far too short of our target to be anything other than disappointed.
We had the total number of sales required, perhaps
a little too late in the month compared to others but
couldn’t get them over the line by COB.
Some personal best performances from the Leasing
Consultants was very pleasing and conversion rates
lifted across the board. If everything settled we would
have had a conversion rate 10% higher than the last few
months which is a huge achievement.
Last but not least it would have been great to reach
target again given the transition (not farewell!) of the
Settlement Coordinators who are now reporting to
Dave Hutchison (Selectus Settlements Team Leader) in
the Bourke St office.
I’m quite excited by this change in reporting line knowing
they will be in a dedicated settlement team with a
dedicated settlement team leader, whereby they can
improve their understanding, processes and day to day
activities at a faster rate than could have been achieved
otherwise. This logical adjustment will set the team and
the individuals within for future success and opportunity.
To keep to a few words is tough but I’ll do my best!
Thanks to Sachin for moving heaven and Earth to ensure
nothing was impossible, Claudia for her kindness and
empathy to support her colleagues and Jake for his
attention to detail and problem solving ability. Between
the three of you every base is covered and as mentioned
before, with Dave’s leadership and 100% commitment
you will add significant value to SmartGroup.
February saw the Novated leasing business development
team in full-swing with our colleagues from Smartsalary
and Autopia meeting with our key clients. By the end
of the week we would have completed all meetings and
it is great to note that our taxable clients (known as
‘corporate’ in Smartgroup) have largely embraced the
change in aligning them to the groups novated leasing
specialists. Candice and Phil would have most certainly
racked up some frequent flyer points that is for sure!!!
What’s great is that this team is now fully armed with all
the marketing collateral we need to get the best possible
outcomes in the months ahead in terms of leasing
enquiries, which is a huge element in making sure our
leasing team do what they do best, get our clients into
their new cars!
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 3

How are we
tracking?
Marketing Update
This past month saw the launch of the “New Lease Resolution”
novated lease competition.
This competition has prompted the highest amount
of leads generated through the Salary Solutions
website since the transition to Smartgroup. The
leads are expected to continue for this month as well
with a competition reminder eDM scheduled to over
13,000 people.
Also, with the new website up and running there has
been an influx of users viewing the site, well above the
2017 average on the old site. With the number of pages
viewed per visit also significantly up on the 2017 average
it shows the new website has made it easy for users to
explore and navigate through the site as they wish.
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 4

How are we
tracking?
Operations Update
Well, I think it’s fair to say that February has simply flown by and we are well and
truly into the full swing of the End of FBT Year.
As at the end of February we are beginning to see the
backlog of the DMS workflow subside, however we
still have a significant amount of work to do during the
month of March, as we meet member expectations,
while we continue to work through the End of FBT
Year End reporting and repackaging tasks. The level
of commitment, understanding and focus has been an
inspiration across the business and sets a benchmark
for others to aspire to.
Continue to stay focused on the requirement of the end of
FBT Year, support each other in our collective goals and
continue to showcase our Operational strength.
The move form Noble Park to our Bourke Street address
in Melbourne was finalised and a complete success, with
a big thank-you to everyone involved. Having seen the
Bourke street office, I’m sure those who made the move
are enjoying the new facilities.
The move itself was one of the many projects currently
underway across our business, with our new operating
platform, Phoenix getting closer to its first stage release
with Advantage. Vijay has been busy working on the
training component of the project, leading from the front
in preparation for July when it will be introduced into
Salary Solutions. There is still a great deal of work to
go, however with the level of resources involved it will
be successful. Phoenix will well and truly allow us to be
more efficient and interactive with our members, which
will only enhance their experience with us. We will also
see the transition of Novated Leasing clients to Autopia in
mid-May and SmartSalary transitions occurring in mid-
April…..talk about busy!
Brett Taylor
(Salary Solutions General Manager)
with Ben Morris
(Salary Solutions Operations Manager)
were hosting Heidi Limareff
(Can:Do Group Chief Executive)
and her partner Andrew in the
Redbull Corporate Suite while lucky enough to
get their hands on the actual winners trophy.
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 5

Trivia Time
Try answering the 5 questions below.
Once you have finished please submit your answers to:
marketing@salarysolutions.com.au
1:
2:
3:
4:
What is Mel Gibson’s middle name?
Who founded the Death Row label
with Marion ‘Suge’ Knight?
What were the names of the two rival
gangs in West Side Story?
At the beginning of the 1990s which
country had most camels?
5: Freddie Mercury died in which year?
Previous issue answers:
1. A brain.
2. 88.
3. Tyrone Bogues.
4. 2001.
5. Craig MacTavish
Colleague
Movements
This past month has seen some
more colleague movement
within the business.
So we would all like to acknowledge the following
colleague who will be departing the Salary
Solutions business:
• Paul Ogilvie Mitchell
Other colleagues who are either changing roles or
moving to a different brand within Smartgroup are:
• Julia lavers
(moved to SmartSalary)
• Carly Turner
(changed role to Priority Team leader)
We wish everyone well, and those that are
departing or moving to another brand will be
greatly missed from the Salary Solution family.
Unfortunately, no colleague was
able to answer all 5 questions
from the last magazine correctly.
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 6

Training Update
Training
Contractor training is going on as per the
requirements. They are trained on multiple
workflows which is helping create capacity
within the Operations team.
Phoenix
There are some parts of the Smartgroup
business that are going live on Phoenix
well before Salary Solutions, and
Advantage has been chosen as the first
cab off the rank. We are helping the
Phoenix team develop training and process
material, that will be utilised by Advantage
for their migration to Phoenix and will be
customised later for our internal use.
Compliance
It’s imperative that we always comply
by our policies. All Policies are saved
in our shared drive. If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to
raise a Compliance Job log.
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 7

Social Committee Update
On Friday we had our first Quarterly Drinks with an Oriental twist! This year we
have added to the events by including the quarterly Reward and Recognition
awards to the agenda.
Brett Taylor presented the following Salary
Solutions staff members with their certificates
and a $50 Coles/Myer voucher:
Natalie Trotter and Brendan Shea have been working
tirelessly in the Payroll Reconciliation space and have
been doing an amazing job of assessing and approving
payrolls for process based on cleared funds as well as
identifying and working through any client exceptions or
issues that have come out of the new process.
Zoe Jackson has hit the ground running in the finance
team since she came on board in December and has
played a key part in conquering our Finalisation back
log. As at the date of this report, she has completed
896 Finalisations in roughly 10 weeks.
Carly Turner has picked up the Priority Team Leader role
and owned it! Outstanding ability to perform under the
high level requirements of our business while ensuring
and supporting the micro requirements, supporting,
driving and delivery on performance. Well done!
Lisa Neal is a point of contact for anything in
Queensland, taking on any task given to her with gusto,
averaging 75 tasks per day for the last 2 months. Lisa
understands the business requirements, consistently
helping out and doing overtime hours.
Jodie Frederickson displayed outstanding leadership
and attention to everyone’s needs during the transition of
the Salary Solutions office in Victoria. From coordinating
the packing and document management through to being
on site all day Saturday to manage the removalists.
Alan Cramer has recently developed a robot to automate
some manual processes. Whilst this took away some
time that could have produced a sale or two for him
personally, the benefit to the team far outweighed any
individual outcome.
Aileen Acacio has played an instrumental role in the
afterhours CSO support, not only doing her role as a
Priority staff member but often jumping in and assisting
in GSP calls. The total number of volunteered hours for
February were 26, often giving up her weekends to clear
the centre back log.
Please join us in congratulating all winners
for this quarter!
Anyone can submit content
Don’t be shy, if you have anything you believe to be of interest and relevant to staff
please feel free to send through content to marketing@salarysolutions.com.au
Solutions | March 2018 | Page 8