Having time to focus on the vital revenue-generating responsibilities of running your business can seem like a never ending challenge. It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day administrative tasks that it takes to keep your business running and lose sight of your moneymaking initiatives.
With a professional employer organization (PEO), also known as HR outsourcing, you can turn over many of your business’s time-consuming HR tasks to a dedicated team of HR specialists, so that you can concentrate on your more profitable responsibilities.
Here are three ways a PEO can help keep you from getting side-tracked and support you in making your business the best it can be.
1. Help keep you in compliance
With the ever-changing landscape of government regulations and employment law only getting more complicated, it’s important to understand how they impact your business. Do you know which laws are changing and if you’re in compliance? Do you know how the Fair Labor Standards Act affects you? Are your employee records in good shape and audit-ready? Do you know the anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws?
One of the biggest mistakes you can make as an employer is to miscalculate the importance of operating within the boundaries set by government regulation and employment laws. Often businesses don’t know there’s a problem until charges are brought against them. And then it’s too late. One error can lead to costly litigation and fines, not to mention the loss of time and production.
To avoid this disruption to your business, you must get ahead of these issues. But how do you do this when you have so many other to-dos already on your plate?
That’s where a PEO can help.
A PEO can:
- Administer payroll in accordance with federal and state laws, and properly report federal, state and local taxes
- Administer unemployment claims
- Respond to employment verifications
- Comply with many federal laws affecting PEO-sponsored benefits (e.g., COBRA, HIPAA and ERISA)
- Provide guidance with OSHA
- Assist with health care reform compliance
When you work with a PEO, you get access to a team of knowledgeable specialists who are well versed in the latest employment and labor laws, and regulations that apply to your business. Their guidance can help you make sure that your business remains in compliance at all times.
This way, you can avoid litigation and fines that can hinder your company’s progress and distract from perusing key business initiatives.
2. Develop a strategy for success
Engaged employees grow your business and improve your bottom line. You’re investing in your greatest asset when you take the time to create a positive work environment where your employees can thrive.
Likewise, when there is confusion, discord and lack of direction, your business will suffer – in more ways than you may think.
Consider the domino effect this can have on your company:
- Lost productivity
- High employee turnover
- Lost time and money to recruit and train replacements
- Damaged employee morale
- Dissatisfied clients
By working with a PEO, you will have the expertise you need to cultivate a positive culture that supports an engaged workforce who are committed to making your business a success.
Engaged employees:
- Boost your bottom line
- Are more productive
- Demonstrate commitment
- Deliver high-quality customer service
- Provide a greater return on investment
It starts with taking a good look at how you’re running your business. Do you operate within a tactical HR structure? Or are you proactively managing your employees to maximize their success and the success of your business (a strategic approach)?
Take a look at some of the differences:
Tactical
- Processing payroll
- Filing payroll taxes
- Sponsoring and managing employee benefit plans
- Enforcing workplace policies
Strategic
- Setting employee goals that are tied to your business objectives
- Recruiting people who fit your company culture
- Developing motivation and reward programs
- Proactively dealing with conflict resolution
When you create a collaborative work environment that your employees appreciate, they’ll care more about their jobs and be more vested in the success of your company. This isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s a process that’s cultivated, nurtured and tailored to fit your workforce and your business needs.
Things to think about:
- What leadership attributes need to be strengthened to maximize your road ahead?
- Is there open communication between the different departments in your company?
- How are you doing from a financial perspective? Are you where you want to be?
- Do you have a mission, vision and values statement that rings true for your company?
It can be hard for you or your HR people to spend time on strategy when you’re bogged down with paperwork and administrative duties.
When you partner with a PEO, you get access to experienced HR specialists who can help you develop and implement your HR strategy and lend a helping hand with your day-to-day HR duties.
It starts with the PEO taking a close look at your business and creating a strategic HR plan that will help you:
- Train your staff so they can continue to add value to your company in the future
- Assess, align and facilitate collaboration among your leadership team
- Develop a succession plan, so you can limit disruptions to your business if there’s a change in management or structure
- Attract, hire and manage talent that aligns with your company’s core values
When you are proactively anticipating changes and challenges that your business may face, your business is less likely to veer off track when things happen. You save time and resources when you’re strategically prepared.
The end result is a collaborative relationship that provides a solid foundation for your business to thrive.
3. Prepare for growth
If growth is your goal, it’s important to plan ahead to keep your business moving in the right direction. A successful growth plan is deliberate and requires forethought.
Do you have the right people in the right places to support your growth or any potential changes? Do you have a training program that can prepare your current employees for future promotions? Do you have a goal-oriented performance strategy? Having a culture in place that promotes growth and personal development is key to growing your business.
When you work with a PEO, you have access to specialists who can take a broad look at your business, employee base and management structure and advise you on how to put your company on the best trajectory for growth.
Having a team of HR experts proactively directing your path can keep your business from taking a wrong turn and losing momentum.
PEOs take the guesswork out of planning for your company’s growth by working with you to:
- Identify skill sets your company needs to reach growth objectives
- Create detailed job descriptions and establish a strategic selection process
- Design and implement an ongoing performance management process
- Develop company policies and practices to help limit your liability and costly litigation
- Receive guidance on how to establish competitive pay so you can attract and retain talent
- Develop your company’s mission, vision and values
Businesses that continue to expand have proven that their strategies, processes and workforce have what it takes to succeed. But in an unfavorable economy, missteps could be catastrophic.
By working with a PEO, you can fully examine your current organizational structure, departmental and individual goals, and company policies to help ensure everything is aligned and pointing in the same direction.
By partnering with a PEO, your growth will be a thoughtful and deliberate process that will continue to support your business through every cycle.
A PEO can help you keep your business on the right track by taking on much of the cumbersome jobs of HR administration so that you have more time and resources to devote to running your business.
When the burdensome responsibilities of employer-related governmental compliance, HR strategy and growth plans are handled proactively, you have fewer employee relations concerns that can distract you from your core business objectives – opening the door for you to achieve success.
Keep your business momentum moving forward by downloading our free e-book, HR Outsourcing: A Step-by-Step Guide to Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs).