It’s common for organizations to turn to an outsourced payroll model in order to reduce risk, manage processes, and eliminate some of the time-consuming aspects of this responsibility. This is a great place to start for the growing business. But oftentimes, a business needs more than just payroll services to keep it running like a well-oiled machine.
Why do companies choose payroll as their primary outsourced support?
Let’s first examine why payroll is generally the first aspect of human resources to go to an outsourced solution. In a growing organization, it’s the norm for there to be one human resource or one accounting person trying to manage many functions. Payroll is very time consuming and tedious, therefore it can become burdensome for a small team to manage.
Outsourcing payroll and other HR services can be viewed as a competitive advantage. This helps transform the organization and how it operates. As more organizations shift to agile management of processes and projects, it only makes sense that outsourcing payroll and other HR administrative tasks can increase efficiency, effectiveness, and cost optimization of valuable resources.
Some of the advantages of outsourcing payroll include:
- Having access to a secure and updated payroll and time management program
- Live customer support for employees who have payroll-related questions
- Predetermined weekly deposit and tax bills to manage payroll costs
- Managing direct deposits, garnishment payments, and W-2 forms
- Lowers liability because the outsourced company takes the compliance risk
- Handling all tax liabilities, FICA and Social Security, and benefit payments
Instead of bringing a salaried payroll manager on staff, any company can scale up with an outsourced model and have access to a large staff of payroll experts. This can also reduce the risk of not following some employment law because there is another set of eyes on data to correct any errors before any damage is done.
Why stop at just payroll outsourcing when there’s more HR support?
While payroll is the backbone of running a smooth business, there are many other aspects of human resource functions that can be outsourced. According to the Deloitte 2018 Global Outsourcing Survey (the most recent available), 84 percent of the leading executives from over 500 organizations responded that they, “have either initiated discussions, conducted pilots, or have implemented at least some disruptive [outsourcing] solutions.” This is in keeping up with changing ways of operating businesses in a more agile and responsive business environment.
Full HR support is available
Added support for a business that is growing and adapting to the markets can be as simple as adding more solutions, such as full human resource support to manage all the aspects of human capital. For example, you can get help with improving employee relations with better training, using best practices, and drafting more accurate job descriptions. Your outsourcing partner can even handle employee pre-screenings for you, to improve the quality of every hire. Employee performance management tools enable new hires to thrive as they feel supported by their supervisors and have access to on-demand training.
Group health insurance and enrollment
Insurance and employee benefit management in another area that an HR outsourced provider can handle for your business. From designing comprehensive group health insurance plans that take advantage of competitive premiums to getting employees enrolled in their annual benefits — this can be seamlessly woven into any payroll program. Throughout the year, if there are claims issues or if bringing on new hires, the insurance outsourcing firm can handle this and help to retain more good employees. Leave the cost negotiations to the outsourced vendor who has established relationships with some of the best insurance providers in the U.S. and can also handle multiple-state requirements.
Workplace training and safety
In any businesses, the safety of the workforce is of major concern. That’s why organizations will choose to outsource various aspects of safety such as training sessions, safety audits, updated safety guidelines in employee handbooks and improved processes. Many can even provide certificates of insurance to show OSHA officers. If an injury occurs, the outsourced provider can handle everything from the employee intake and case management to getting the proper medical therapies and workers’ compensation claims handled correctly. So there is less disruption to the team and the injured employee can get back to work sooner through a special return-to-work program. Choosing to outsource this area of HR management can help reduce insurance costs and protect your workforce.
Access to the top of the line HR technology
One of the best perks of deciding to outsource HR tasks is the ability to use some of the latest HR technology that’s available. This alone is worth it because otherwise, it would be impossible to afford to have HR software developed and maintained for a small business. Some of the bells and whistles of this technology include full access to the electronic onboarding of new hires that works seamlessly with the hiring process management functions. This makes the new hire experience much more pleasant. Then there is a full CRM system that can help maintain communications and processes.
Employee-self service scheduling and attendance
In addition to being able to manage payroll, the employee self-service portal gives employees more control over logging in their time worked, scheduling days off, and attendance tracking. They can check to see how much paid time off they’ve accrued and used over time. Management can also engage with employees by using performance management, documentation, and reporting tools. This is far more efficient than using calendar-based and paper request systems that don’t talk to each other.
To recap, the benefits of outsourcing multiple HR administrative functions include:
- Full access to a cloud-based 24/7 self-serve portal for employees and administrators
- Seamless recruitment to onboarding platform to improve the new hire experience
- Cost containment and management of workers’ compensation claims
- Audits to ensure the workplace is safe, running well, and in compliance
- Group health insurance plan design and enrollment to reduce costs and improve retention
- Payroll and accounting management, including taxes, garnishments, and benefit payments
- Employee scheduling, attendance, and PTO management to handle absences and reduce shortages
- Performance management tools to train and monitor the progress of every employee
How can you know if your business is ready to expand to more outsourcing solutions?
The key to expanding your business in a strategic way is understanding the junctions at which you can outsource your in-house functions more efficiently. What are these junctions?
#1 Increased demand on administration requires hiring one or more people to handle the extra work.
If your accounting and HR professionals are at their maximum workload, outsourcing is a less costly way to boost productivity without the time and expense of hiring another administrator. Many functions can be handled off-site (as evidenced by the above) and therefore it’s time to move at least the most tedious functions to the outsourced model.
#2 Using the outsourced model can propel the business forward rather than slow things down.
Instead of gradual growth and expansion, outsourcing enables any business to rapidly expand. This is especially important if a large client is obtained or the company wants to move into a new area of the business. In order to survive, time is of the essence. Outsourcing offers immediate support on a larger scale.
#3 Internal capabilities are limited and it’s time for an upgrade.
Oftentimes, skills become outdated or internal workers may not have the time and resources to learn new skills. For example, IT may find it difficult to keep up with what’s occurring in terms of HR technology requirements. The outsourced provider has these resources and this essential upgrades your business.
#4 The company is ready to hire a large number of workers in a short period of time.
Landing a big client or project and need to hire a large number of employees, fast? Don’t have the internal resources to manage all those interviews? Outsourced solutions enable electronic recruitment, screening, hiring, training, and onboarding of new employees. This is handled by the same company and this makes for a more efficient and less confusing experience for employees.
#5 There is room for improvement of the current team efficiencies.
Anytime your organization notices that the team is falling behind in some area due to inefficiencies or poor ways of managing things, an outsourced model may be in your immediate future. Analyze what is slowing the business down from progressing and seek out the right outsourced services to address this. The sooner you explore the options, the better your business will fare.
HR and payroll outsourcing is the perfect fit for many growing businesses. It takes the strain off internal teams and replaces this with tools and solutions that seamlessly integrate with the company processes and operations. In these times of uncertainty, it’s important to understand how human resource outsourcing provided by reputable companies like Worklogic HR can provide your business with the best possible future.
For a free HR consultation, or more information on how Worklogic HR can help your business during or after COVID-19, contact us today. We’re here to help.
