ADP Women in STEM Profile: Laurie Liszewski
"As a leader, I'm outgoing and have strong opinions. But when it comes to the team, I want people to feel comfortable challenging me. I want to create an environment of empowerment with diversity of thought and perspectives." - Laurie Liszewski, VP Product Development
If you tell Laurie Liszewski she can't do something, she will do it, take pictures, and show you how well she did it. "It's my mantra!"
Laurie grew up in New Jersey and isn't afraid to try or learn anything. She's been a real estate agent, an emergency medical technician working on an ambulance, and now is a vice president of product development at ADP.
"Find what drives you. We all work so hard. You have to love what you do and work for people where you feel comfortable being yourself," she says.
Coming to ADP
Laurie says she fell into a job at ADP. Her husband worked for the company in the "Total Time" area as a customer service rep. Laurie's family had grown to three children and it was time to pursue a new work opportunity. So, she applied to work as an administrative assistant at ADP and says, "It was a great way to learn the business and get experience from the ground up."
She started as an assistant to the business systems analyst team that managed ADP's Autopay solution. "I was in awe of the people I worked for," Laurie says. "They had such deep knowledge of both tech and business. I asked how they got there; it turns out no one there went to school to be a business systems analyst. It evolved from a core skill set."
Above: Laurie Liszewski
For people who don't know what business systems analysts do, Laurie explained, "they bridge the business need with the technology and design. You have to understand and speak both tech and business. Today, the title isn't as prevalent as it was in the 1990s. The position has evolved more into product management, although we have a few core areas like compliance where the role is vital."
It wasn't long before the vice president in that area noticed and was impressed with Laurie's work. She told Laurie she was very analytical and had a unique perspective, then asked her to consider a three-year training program to become a business systems analyst. Laurie jumped at the opportunity and says, "That's where my true tech career started." Laurie's vice president was Bernie Sussina, her first mentor and sponsor. "I always aspired to be as well respected and valued as Bernie. She was truly an icon to me, an inspirational woman in leadership in a predominately male world of tech. To this day, I am forever grateful to Bernie for the opportunity."
Laurie completed the program and moved into an associate systems analyst role, then worked her way up to senior systems analyst.
When ADP began working on the new platform for small business services (SBS), many people on her team moved over to the new product. Laurie ended up following them and took a role working on the design of a client-facing user interface.
"I learned so much because I was at the front end working with clients," she says. "You can see how they actually used the system. I was able to attend trade shows and client user groups. I also had the opportunity to do ride-alongs with the sales team. It opened a whole new world for me and so much clicked. I realized that what they were doing was much more than just a series of tasks. I learned and understood what they needed to accomplish to run their business."
Becoming a manager
When Laurie started thinking about the next steps in her career, she began to pay attention to how people were chosen for different roles. "ADP is great at seeing people's potential rather than just their experience," she says.
"I had great leaders who inspired me to become a leader. But it's a big shift. You move from controlling your own destiny to your success depending entirely on the success of your team."
She applied for her first leadership role and was pretty sure she wouldn't get it because she didn't have management experience.
"I scheduled a one-on-one with Rich Wilson, the senior vice president of SBS product development, and asked why I wouldn't be qualified for the job. If I wasn't qualified, I wanted to know what I needed to do. He had no idea who I was and was a little taken aback. I wondered if I had made a mistake. But he was impressed, and I got the position. I chuckle to this day because he loved to tell that story. Rich was my second huge supporter, mentor and sponsor.
"Don't get me wrong, he was tough. I attribute much of my success to his rigor. As I reflect on my career, Rich pushed me to stretch and grow in ways I never had before. He always put me in roles I wasn't sure I was ready for. It was the best preparation for my future because I kept learning the tools and skills I needed for the next step on the journey. I am forever grateful to Rich for believing in me.
"I was also very inspired by Regina Lee, division president for SBS, who explained it is a leader's responsibility to help people grow in their ADP careers. Our obligation is to not only hold people to their current goals but also to empower our teams to hold us to the career goals they set for themselves."
Next, an opportunity opened on the ADP retirement services team. Laurie talked to the new senior vice president about it, and he encouraged her to apply.
"I had my payroll wings, but only had a small idea of what the retirement business was based on my own personal experience with 401(k) plans," she says. "That role gave me the opportunity to learn that part of the business and a new product. While I was there, one of my key responsibilities was to help the organization move from a waterfall development life cycle to the more modern agile methodology since we had done the transition on the backend of the RUN Powered by ADP® payroll solution a few years before."
The above photo was taken in October 2019, at the GPT conference in Miama, FL. ADP associates shown, left to right, are: Karen Stavert, Erin Moss, Manish Bhatnagar, Laurie, Mike Ruangutai* and Ranjan Aggarwal. (*No longer at ADP.)
About the same time, ADP moved as an organization from business systems analysts to product managers.
"I had a choice to be the Senior Product Manager for ADP's retirement services division or go back to the RUN team," Laurie says. "I scheduled a meeting with Don Weinstein, ADP's chief product and technology officer, and asked where ADP needed me most and where I could make the greatest impact. After talking with him about it, I decided to go back to the RUN team as a senior product owner."
Eventually, Laurie moved from product management back to product development, where she focused more on compliance and statutory requirements and worked as a liaison with the legal team. Additionally, she led portfolio management for the Autopay solution and loved her team and work there.
For Laurie, it was like going home. At the same time, she could see how far she had come.
"I went from ordering pencils to leading the team I was in awe of when I started this journey," she says. "I wondered how I would ever measure up and whether I would be strong enough to lead these amazing people. Earning their respect was the best thing I've done. I also love compliance work, and this gave me the opportunity to lead that for the major and national account services payroll engine."
She landed in her current role as vice president of product development when the senior vice president of ADP's small business services division took a role in compliance services. Laurie loved working with him because of his transparency and honesty. It was also an opportunity to learn something new, particularly employer tax compliance, reporting, filing and payments.
"Tax is a whole other level of complexity," Laurie says. "In every group I've had the honor to work in across ADP, each team thinks their systems are the most complex. And it's true! It's all complex."
The above was taken at a Girls, Inc. event in June 2019. Shown left is Alyssa Liszewski (ADP La Palma, CA office) with Laurie.
Laurie loves the challenge and responsibility.
"Here I am. Never, ever would I have thought that I would be leading a division responsible for managing all the tax liabilities for the clients we service," she says. "It's enough to keep you up at night, thinking about the impact you have on people and the economy. The value ADP brings to the economy and each individual we pay and employer we service has never been more amplified than these past 13 months with the pandemic. The number of stimulus plans and tax law changes all of the compliance teams had to react to are like nothing I've ever experienced in my career.
"As a leader, I'm outgoing and have strong opinions. But when it comes to the team, I want people to feel comfortable challenging me. I want to create an environment of empowerment with diversity of thought and perspectives. We need people who understand our clients and know what it's like for employees as well as businesses – out of the box thinkers who evolve with the market."
Ready for more?
Explore the stories of these and other ADP Women in STEM, and learn about careers at ADP.
The above was taken at a team building event in October 2019. ADP associates pictured left to right are: Victor Mak, Erik Kachmarsky, Mike Plonski*, Laurie, Margo Dear, Ajit Kumar, Jordi Conrado, Maya McGuinness, Mat Saunders*, Mike Ruangutai* and Arjun Hegde. (*No longer at ADP.)
