Kari Petrovics, PCP
Sun Peaks Resort – Sun Peaks, BC
Kari Petrovics has snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, trekked through the Moroccan desert on a camel, toured western Australia by helicopter, and traversed an Asian jungle atop an elephant. She has toured the Adriatic coast of Croatia by sailboat and holds a special place in her heart for Scotland, where she worked in a pub and also went rappelling, rafting and hiking through an ancient forest.
So, it is perhaps an understatement to say that Kari enjoys meeting people from other places. As the Senior Payroll and Benefits Specialist for Sun Peaks Resort LLP, in Sun Peaks, B.C., the world comes to her: “I get to live and work where people from all over the world come to vacation.”
With her taste for adventure and experience working in hospitality, finding a job at Sun Peaks in 2010 was a perfect fit for Kari. Working in the Food and Beverage department, she planned to only stay one season. But she was hooked. In 2010, she moved to the reception desk, then into accounting, where she took a payroll position for a maternity leave replacement. She really liked the work, and started to take courses towards earning her PCP, which was the defining moment of her career: “Once I got those letters behind my name, I wasn’t a receptionist anymore. I was the payroll professional.”
She loves the dynamic nature of payroll, which was obvious during the pandemic. “We were in the middle of our biggest winter season when we had to shut down – we had to offboard about 300 people within a week or so. As soon as I heard about the shutdown, I knew it was going to be three weeks of nonstop work. That was an adventure!”
Kari says that Sun Peaks Resort really focuses on the employee experience. “It means people wanting to come to work and liking work and having the freedom to go play,” Kari said, adding that the company encourages its employees to enjoy all the resort has to offer so that they can be true brand ambassadors to guests.
She says this is a huge bonus on really good ski days. “You can always tell when it’s a powder day because there’s hardly anyone in the office!”
Enthusiastic, engaged employees are critical to the resort’s success, and it’s her job in payroll to oversee the perks that ultimately retain employees. “I help the company by managing benefits such as flexible schedules, so employees can have their best work-life balance and arrange their family time or childcare and have time to enjoy their work perks.”
It’s her own work-life balance that will ultimately further her ongoing love of travel: “I live in paradise and I travel to paradise. My career has afforded me that.”
