Payroll Like a Boss: The Movement Begins

Payroll Like a Boss: The Movement Begins

From It's About Payroll by WRKdefined

April 28, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

Brian discusses the importance of payroll as a strategic function with payroll leaders John Bernatovicz and Tammy Gillenwater.

In Episode 204 of It’s About Payroll, Brian welcomes two powerhouse voices in payroll leadership: John Bernatovicz, founder of Willory, author, keynote speaker, podcast host, and HR/payroll leader, and Tammy Gillenwater, CPP, senior consultant at Willory, speaker, and advocate for the payroll profession. Together, John and Tammy discuss their upcoming book, Payroll Like a Boss, scheduled for release on April 28, 2026, during Global Payroll Week. The conversation explores how payroll professionals often feel invisible, why payroll must be seen as a strategic business function, and how leaders can develop payroll teams beyond gross-to-net processing and tax compliance. Tammy shares her journey of “falling into payroll” and later realizing it was a true career, while John explains how the “Like a Boss” concept grew from HR leadership into a payroll movement. Listeners will gain encouragement, practical perspective, and a renewed understanding of payroll’s role in business strategy, workforce planning, compliance, technology, and organizational impact.

People in this episode

Host: Brian

Guests: John Bernatovicz, Tammy Gillenwater

Topics covered

  • payroll leadership
  • strategic business function
  • payroll profession
  • workforce planning
  • compliance
  • organizational impact

Keywords

  • payroll
  • business strategy
  • HR leadership
  • compliance
  • technology
  • payroll teams
  • gross-to-net processing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Willory

Books & works: Payroll Like a Boss

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