A solid HR infrastructure lays the foundation for growth
Virtas Partners is experiencing the difference a true HR partner can make to an organization’s growth trajectory. From employee benefits that help attract great employees to multistate HR compliance support, Virtas relies on Insperity’s HR mastery and guidance.
The Challenge
- Rapid expansion
- Bad previous PEO experience
- HR compliance assistance
- Competition for talent
The Solution
- Full-service HR
- Top-tier customer service
- Multistate experience
- Competitive benefit plans
The Result
- HR infrastructure
- Trusted relationship
- Scalable expansion
- Expanded workforce
“I would never consider referring business to Insperity if I didn’t really believe in them and hadn’t experienced great results firsthand.”
Neal McNamara
Founder and CEO
Virtas Partners
The right PEO makes a difference
Neal McNamara, founder and president of Virtas, knew from the company’s inception in 2017 that working with a professional employer organization (PEO) was the way to go. As a new boutique consulting firm, McNamara wanted to minimize the many administrative tasks and employer-related risks, as well as the overhead, associated with insourcing HR. Additionally, Virtas wanted employees to have access to a robust benefits package to compete with larger firms for experienced talent and needed an infrastructure in place, including HR compliance guidance, to facilitate growth and expansion into new regions.
“Having an in-house HR function, at our size, involves a lot of brain drain and risk. I believe in getting a managed service provider to take care of the things I don’t have the bandwidth to do. A PEO allows management teams and executives to focus more on value-added priorities for the firm. At Virtas, we have actually advised our own clients to get on the PEO model.”
Unfortunately, he initially selected the wrong PEO.
“I’m in the client service business, so I understand what client service is supposed to look like. The client service that Virtas received with our former PEO was absolutely terrible. Our problems included insufficient communication and lack of responsiveness, a reactive rather than proactive approach and many errors, including mistakes with our 401(k) plan that exposed us to tax risk. It was poor service from every metric possible,” McNamara said. “The reason we chose this PEO originally was because they had such low costs. When you have a small organization with three to four people, that was a big deal.”
Indeed, the team at Virtas understands deeply the importance of client service. After all, they help organizations navigate critical business transitions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, financial transformations, initial public offerings, accounting investigations, restatements and restructurings. They work with public and private companies, private equity firms, family offices, entrepreneurs and investment banks covering a range of industries to achieve outstanding results and high client satisfaction.
The company’s mission and values – what their clients expect from them and what they expect from their PEO – are right there in the name: Virtas, which is derived from the Latin words for virtue and truth.
Superior service and growth
Motivated by a desire to resolve their dilemma around receiving poor PEO service and improve the HR function at Virtas, McNamara asked other trusted sources for PEO referrals. Through this process, McNamara learned more about Insperity’s full-service HR solution and confirmed that Insperity provides high-caliber, comprehensive and tailored HR services; has a dedicated team with a primary point of contact assigned to each company; is highly responsive; and works diligently to help mitigate HR risks and missteps.
In 2020, Virtas began working with Insperity and has enjoyed excellent client service throughout the partnership.
“We have essentially outsourced everything HR related to Insperity; we don’t have anyone in HR in-house, just an administrative team member who serves as a go-between for Insperity and our people. Insperity has been very helpful and proactive. Now, everything runs smoothly and easily,” McNamara said.
Benefits that attract the best
Typically, boutique firms like Virtas might struggle to recruit consultants because it’s hard to compete with larger firms that can offer more robust benefits packages. However, with Insperity as its PEO, Virtas’ employees have access to competitive benefits offerings, and the company has been able to tout those to people trying to join their organization.
“Many people we’ve talked to have assumed that, when leaving their current organization for Virtas, they would have to adjust downward in benefits or increase their compensation to make up for the hit they would take in benefits. It’s been a big boost for us to explain that we have a professional HR partner with Insperity and show that benefits are comparable to what they’re accustomed to. It really checks that box and takes those potential objections to joining Virtas off the table so we can instead highlight our high-performing culture, day-to-day operations and the opportunities available at our company – the things that make us exceptional,” McNamara said.
Proactive multistate compliance
As Virtas has grown and expanded operations, the company has adapted to current market conditions and employee preferences by embracing remote work. Today, employees work from several states, including Illinois, California, Oregon, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York and Washington D.C.
With this incredible growth comes increased HR complexity, as HR regulations can vary from state to state. Keeping up with the evolving HR compliance issues across multiple states demands significant time and resources. With Insperity, Virtas has been able to rely on the support and guidance of the PEO, providing the peace of mind that comes from having trusted HR compliance support on standby to assist with issues.
“We need frictionless support. As one example, we have an employee based in Oregon and there was a change that needed to be made to our employee handbook to comply with Oregon law. Insperity automatically made the change and sent us a link to our updated handbook. We wouldn’t have known about this legal issue otherwise. When a PEO can make HR compliance super easy, that’s gold,” McNamara said.
A collaborative effort
Another significant differentiator for Insperity was the opportunity for Virtas to join Insperity’s referral network by recommending their clients to Insperity as prospective customers.
“I would never consider referring business to Insperity if I didn’t really believe in them and hadn’t experienced great results firsthand,” McNamara said.
Looking to the future, McNamara expects the Virtas workforce to continue growing exponentially. He looks forward to Insperity’s reliable support in that journey while embracing their mutually beneficial relationship.