On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Katharine ‘Kat’ Smith, an Australian payroll leader and one of the emerging voices behind the idea of ‘payroll diplomacy’, for a thoughtful conversation on advocacy, literacy, risk, and the evolving role of payroll in the enterprise.

The conversation explores ‘payroll diplomacy’: the skill of translating payroll’s operational complexity into language that executives, HR, finance, recruiters, and business leaders can understand. She shares why it’s all about influence, storytelling, community, and building the language needed to make payroll’s value visible.

The group explores why payroll needs stronger advocacy, why literacy is still one of the profession’s biggest gaps, and how leaders can move beyond fear-based messaging to tell better stories about risk, compliance, records, employee experience, and business value.  

They also dig into the growing pressure on payroll professionals in markets like Australia, where compliance complexity, recordkeeping expectations, and potential criminal liability are raising the stakes.  Plus, how to build payroll foundations from the ground up, with governance and controls to documentation, employee experience, and trust.

Connect with Katharine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smithkatharine/

Connect with the show:

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0

X: @HRPayroll2_0 

X: @PeteTiliakos 

X: @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0 

WRKDefined Podcast Network: https://wrkdefined.com/podcast/hr-payroll-20 

Thank you to our marquee sponsors for powering the HR & Payroll 2.0 podcast forward! 

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Thank you to our ‘wizard behind the curtain’ and show producer Ryan Kielma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-kielma/