GET TO KNOW: SEM TOLA- The Payroll Champion

Meet Tola, the Senior Executive of Rewards, one of the main people behind our company's employee satisfaction and motivation. Rumor said he has an eye for detail and rarely misses the deadline of his work, learn more about Tola and his working tips here.

Describe your position at Urbanland! What are your responsibilities? 

My position at Urbanland is: Senior Executive – Rewards. My main role is taking care of Employee Payroll & Benefits, Handle on drafting function communication, Consolidate HR & Admin Expense report, Supporting on HR & Admin Budgeting, and another assigned task.

Can you describe your key milestones or journey at Urbanland?

I Joined Urbanland in June 2022 as an Executive – Rewards, demonstrating analytic skill and gaining in budgeting projection skill and from September 2023, I was promoted to be Senior Executive – Rewards. I have developed on compensation structure, budget projection, excel skill and learn how to prepare and design monthly executive team meeting slide deck.

Can you describe your life at Urbanland? How much do you express yourself or any freedom that you can contribute here?

Urbanland fosters a collaborative and supportive work environment. I feel empowered to express my ideas and expertise. Urbanland also creates a lot of wellbeing programs that help me boost my both mental and physical wellness. After joining Urbanland for almost 2 years, I have become an active person on exercising.

What is your working style like?

I’m mostly focused during working time. One more thing, I am also a supportive person. I would go out my way to support anytime when my team ask for help.

Do you have any tips for those who are reading out there?
My tips on how I stay focused:

• Take up one thing at a time: constantly switching between tasks is likely to make me tired and distracted and it reduces the chance of getting anything done at all, so I try to finish one task before jumping to another.

• Not procrastinating things for tomorrow: postponing tasks for tomorrow tend to stress me out at the start of the day seeing all tasks I didn’t get done the day before. So, I always try my best to get the works done by the end the of the day and not procrastinate for tomorrow.
• Keep my phone out of sight: Phone can be very distracting, and it’s sometimes hard to resist the urge to pick it up and check it whenever there’s a notification so I always keep my phone facing down on my desk.
• Block out all the noise: It’s impossible to have everyone in the office being completely silent. I usually have my earphones in, listening to natural sounds or calm instrumental music while working to help me stay focused.