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  • As your business grows, so does your to-do list. Managing it all in-house becomes increasingly complex. While professional employer organizations (PEOs) are often associated with startups or small businesses, the reality is that midsize and fast-growing companies are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the PEO model. 

     

    If you’re expanding your workforce, entering new markets, or struggling to keep up with human resources (HR) demands, partnering with a PEO is a smart, strategic move. 

     

    Scalable HR Support Without Increasing Your Headcount 

    When companies grow rapidly, their internal resources, especially in Human Resources (HR), often struggle to keep up. You may need support with compliance, payroll, benefits administration, and employee relations simultaneously. Hiring full-time specialists for each of these functions can be expensive and time-consuming. 

     

    A PEO offers your organization access to expert HR professionals. They become an extension of your internal team, handling the day-to-day tasks and complex compliance matters, so your staff can stay focused on big-picture goals. 

     

    Support for Multi-State Expansion 

    Expanding into new states is an exciting company milestone, but it introduces new layers of complexity. Each state has its own employment laws, tax codes, wage requirements, and workers’ compensation regulations. Staying compliant in multiple locations can be overwhelming for an internal HR team. 

     

    This is where a PEO’s co-employment model becomes especially valuable. In a co-employment relationship, your business maintains control over daily operations and management decisions, while the PEO becomes the employer of record for HR, benefits, payroll, and tax purposes. This allows the PEO to take on certain legal and administrative responsibilities on your behalf. 

     

    The PEO handles tasks such as registering for state unemployment insurance, managing workers’ compensation policies, processing payroll in accordance with state laws, and ensuring proper employee classification and documentation. This level of support gives your business the freedom to expand into new markets with confidence, knowing you’re backed by a team that’s focused on keeping you compliant and protected. 

     

    Simplified Operations Through Centralized Services 

    As companies grow, they often find themselves juggling multiple vendors and platforms for payroll, benefits, risk management, and other HR functions. Managing these systems separately creates inefficiencies, increases administrative workloads, and opens the door to costly errors. 

     

    A PEO simplifies this complexity by consolidating all your HR needs into one centralized solution. Everything from onboarding documents and time-off requests to payroll records and benefits enrollment is stored in a single, secure Human Resource Information System (HRIS). With all your employee data and HR functions housed under one digital roof, you can reduce paperwork, eliminate manual processes, and improve accuracy. 

     

    GMS Connect is our intuitive, all-in-one HR platform. It gives both employers and employees self-service access to payroll, benefits, tax documents, compliance tools, and more. Whether you’re tracking paid time off (PTO), submitting payroll, or preparing for year-end reporting, everything you need is just a few clicks away. 

     

    Access to Competitive Benefits at a Better Cost 

    Offering high-quality benefits is essential for attracting and retaining top talent. However, putting together a competitive benefits package on your own can be expensive and difficult to manage. 

     

    When you partner with a PEO like GMS, you gain access to benefits that are typically only available to larger organizations. Through GMS’ Master Health Plan, your business joins a larger pool of participating companies. This group buying power allows us to negotiate better rates, reduce volatility in renewal costs, and offer stronger coverage options for your employees. 

     

    In addition to health insurance, GMS offers a comprehensive suite of benefits, including dental, vision, life insurance, and more. These are all managed through one seamless platform, making it easier for your team to enroll and stay informed. 

     

    With better benefits and simplified administration, you can offer your employees more value, without overextending your budget or internal resources. 

     

    Why GMS Is the Right Partner for Growing Companies 

    Growth is a sign of success, but it also brings new challenges. As your business expands, you need an HR strategy that can scale with you, adapt to new markets, and support your team throughout the process. 

     

    At GMS, we specialize in helping growing companies streamline their HR, payroll, and benefits through our full-service PEO model. Whether you’re entering new states, looking to reduce administrative burdens, or trying to offer more competitive employee benefits, we’re here to make it easier. Our team of experts becomes an extension of yours, providing proactive support, compliance guidance, and the tools you need to grow with confidence. 

     

    Ready to simplify your HR and fuel your growth? Request a quote today! 

  • When you take your business online, you are offered a wide range of benefits; however, it also increases the risk of scams and cyber-attacks. Since the pandemic in 2020, there have been an extensive number of new challenges for businesses.

    Restrictions that were set by the government forced employees to work from home. In response, technology and the way of doing business have become even more digitalized. Although there is an increase in the need for technology, businesses still are not taking the right precautions to create a cyber-safe remote working environment.

    Continue reading to learn how your business can protect itself against cyberattacks.

    Secure Your Devices And Data

    A simple way to protect your business and employees from cyberattacks is by ensuring your devices and data are secure. Make sure you are regularly updating your operating system and security software. This will allow for necessary security upgrades to be installed to ensure there are no viruses. 

    If you don’t already have security software within your technology, implement it immediately. This will help prevent any viruses and phishing attempts. Be sure to include anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-spam filters. Remember, malware or viruses can infect all computers, laptops, and mobile devices throughout your entire business.

    Ensure You Use Multi-Factor Authentication 

    Multi-factor authentication is an approach to secure data and applications where a system requires a user to present a combination of two or more credentials to verify a user’s identity or log in. Utilizing this tool in your business adds an additional layer of security making it more challenging for hackers to gain access to your devices and online accounts. 

    Whether you have one employee or thousands, every business should utilize multi-factor authentication. Amongst you and your employees, there are tons of passwords and confidential information hackers can gain access to. Hackers utilize technology that enables them to test billions of password combinations every second. This makes 90% of user-generated passwords vulnerable to an attack. Implementing multi-factor authentication makes it harder for hackers to access your accounts by requiring a second piece of information from you to confirm your identity.

    Invest In Cyber Insurance

    The U.S. government’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency defines the purpose of cybersecurity insurance as, “designed to mitigate losses from a variety of cyber incidents, including data breaches, business interruption, and network damage.” For small to mid-sized businesses, there has been an increase in cyber-attacks and data breaches. Why? Well, these hackers know that most small businesses lack the resources that larger companies must protect their data, leaving them more vulnerable. 

    In 2021, there was a Kaseya ransomware attack that was later determined to have compromised data from more than 1,500 small to mid-sized businesses. The businesses that had cyber insurance came out from this incident way ahead of those businesses that didn’t have cyber insurance. There are a handful of different cyber coverages your business can invest in to protect itself from a cyber incident that leaves your pockets empty.

    Train Your Staff

    Companies that use employee-owned devices, make insecure connections, or use devices improperly are vulnerable to a host of network interferences. This is exactly why training your employees in cybersecurity awareness is a necessity within your business. Below is a list of steps you can take to ensure the safety of your confidential information: 

    • Make your cybersecurity problems aware to employees
    • Host training sessions to show your employees what they can do to ensure their information doesn’t get hacked
    • Teach your employees how to spot suspicious activity
    • Reinforce confidentiality 
    • Examine individual cases of cybersecurity breaches
    • Report suspicious activity in Outlook that sends your company updates on the types of emails or senders to look for

    How GMS Can Assist In Protecting Your Business

    We understand the complexity of cybersecurity. Our experts provide you and your employees with safety training and guidance on the steps you can take to ensure safety within your business. GMS can help business owners take a proactive approach to workplace safety through various services including onsite consulting, job site inspections, training, and more. Brett Kowalski, GMS’ IT Director, explains, “In today’s business world, cybersecurity threats are increasing at an alarming rate. The ‘bad guys’ are getting more and more sophisticated with how they can penetrate an unsuspecting company environment. I urge all business owners to invest in frequent cybersecurity training for their user groups and look at alternative services such as phishing tests, network penetrations tests, and other preventative options to keep their company’s computing environment and data safe and secure.”

    Contact us today to protect your business from cyber-attacks. 

  • Inflation has been rising and studies have shown that unfortunately, inflation hurts low-income Americans and small business owners the most. According to Fox Business, prices for consumers have surged 6.2% in October, compared to the previous year. Moreover, core prices, which exclude the more volatile measurements of energy and food, rose 4.6% over the past year, which was the largest increase since 1990. Prices have risen 0.9% from September to October.  

    Not only is the rise of inflation hard for consumers, but it can also be detrimental to small businesses. It is proven that when inflation is high, small businesses have less buying power – which means you don’t have as much freedom to search for new hires and expand your business in the ways you usually do when you have extra money to spend. As Inflation Data explains, owners of small businesses have a greater financial risk when inflation is high.  

    Small business owners may not have the same access to financial cushions as big businesses do. This means that money will come directly from the company and there will be little money to expand the business at the end of the year. Another problem that small businesses will face is whether to raise their prices and have customers upset or leave the prices and lose their own money. The last option is to switch vendors that cost less – which might mean that they are choosing one that provides lower quality. 

    Due to COVID-19, small business owners have been hit so hard that they are just now recovering from the money loss and high inflation rates are making them realize they won’t be able to recover the way that they were hoping to. This makes it so important to figure out where you need to focus your money and efforts.  

    Staying savvy during these hard times is crucial when costs are rising. Trying to find time to focus your efforts on improving your core business can be difficult, too. You may want to reevaluate your healthcare plan, workers’ comp., and so forth. Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing all of these administrative functions can help you save time and money in the long run. This will give you more free time to recruit and focus on where you think your company has room to grow. 

    If you’ve been contemplating how your business can alleviate some of its financial strains, whether it’s saving on administrative fees or finding a better healthcare option, now is the time. Contact us today. 

  • Why Certified Professional Employer Organizations Are Critical To Franchises

    Franchising has proven to be an extraordinarily successful business model for hundreds of thousands across the country, as it delicately blends entrepreneurship with tailored guidance. For most successful franchisees, their strength lies in the structure of their business operations. So, it makes perfect sense that adding a Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO) further increases a franchise’s operational efficiencies – especially considering that effective employee management is ranked #2 in the three biggest challenges that franchises face.

    Franchise owners are exceptionally fond of the CPEO model because they maintain control of all organizational decision-making, while HR burdens and liabilities are shifted to the CPEO.

    CPEOs manage a plethora of duties within the employment process – from benefits to HR services, and even payroll and tax, thus providing an extra layer of safety by ensuring regulatory compliance. Having undergone rigorous background, financial, and reporting requirements set by the IRS, fewer than 7 percent of PEOs in the U.S. are currently certified.

    Partnering with a CPEO offers your franchise:

    Benefits: Benefits administration can be tolling, especially when you consider onboarding, claims, and most importantly… rates. Because the CPEO model aggregates the employees of its clients, they then having the buying power of large corporations. In turn, your franchise and its employees enjoy competitive rates and solid coverage.

    HR Services: Whether it’s employee handbooks, onboarding, drug testing services, or employment verification – amongst other things, your CPEO helps you simplify your HR plans. Now more than ever, as the country faces a workforce shortage, finetuning your employee experience is vital for your recruiting and retention.

    Payroll and Tax: CPEOs assume the responsibility for federal tax liability and penalties and are required to post an annual bond of up to $1 million guaranteeing payment of its federal employment tax liabilities. CPEOs ensure financial protections and tax benefits that non-certified PEOs do not necessarily have. This means paying your employees, record keeping + management reports, PTO accruals, and more, are no longer on your plate.

    Compliance: The co-employment relationship allows your franchise to substantially mitigate the risk associated with being an employer. A CPEO will provide guidance and support on new hire reporting, Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI), unemployment and workers’ compensation insurance filings.

    A good CPEO can ease the mind of franchise owners while helping to reduce both their cost and liability. Contact us today to see how your franchise could benefit from with a CPEO.

  • My two older boys, ages 9 and 10, are playing ‘kid pitch’ baseball this year. Believe it or not, when I asked them what position they wanted to play, they both said “Dad, I want to be the pitcher”.

    Then we asked each player on the team what position they wanted to play and each and every player said “Pitcher”. On paper this is not strange, as this is the most glorified position in baseball. After all, they make the most money, get the most publicity (when they are good), and seem to have the biggest fan base.

    The other coaches and I talked to our 13-man roster about how important every position is on the team and how every position contributes to the overall goal. We teach them that they all have to play together to win.

    This conversation made me think of a business and all the “players” within a company. I bet if you asked most employees, “If I could give you a new position, what would it be?”, a popular responses would be, “I want to be the manager, the president, or the owner.”

    I am not downplaying the pitcher, the manager, the president, or the owner positions, as they are still important. But isn’t the baseball team just like a company, where that every position is important?

    • Without Risk Managers – workers gets hurt and worker’s comp rates go through the roof.
    • Without Payroll Employees – we have anarchy because no one gets paid.
    • Without Tax Administrators – the IRS is knocking at the door (actually they don’t even knock, they just enter.)
    • Without Sales People – there are no new customers.
    • Without Benefits Administrators – no one has healthcare, 401K’s, or vision and dental insurance.
    • Without Wellness Coordinators – people miss out on learning to improve their health choices.
    • Without Human Resource Employees – you have a disheveled mess.

    You get my point? Every business needs:

    • Right, center, and left fielders
    • Catchers and pitchers
    • First, second, and third basemen
    • Shortstops
    • Teammates on the bench ready to play
    • Fans
    • Beloved mascots
    • Coaches
    • Umpires

    No team is successful without all of these positions working together towards a unified goal. Isn’t the same true in business? Whenever everyone works together—bringing their special talents and experiences with them—games are won, and businesses grow.

    “Trend Following Little League Team,” © 2012 Michael Covel, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

  • Do you travel for work? Do you find it hard to keep a routine? You aren’t alone.

    Research from Columbia University has found that people who travel for two weeks or more per month are more likely to gain weight than those that don’t travel.

    I recently attended the Social Media Strategies Summit 2013 in Chicago with Tim Austin (GMS Vice President of Sales). As part of the conference, we picked up some great tips about staying healthy while travelling for business. These tips were provided by frequent business travelers and experts including healthy-living TV host Hope Bertram, who is also the director of marketing at SMSS. Bertram shared great ways to combat this risk by doing a little research and preparation before you travel.

      1. Working Out

    Does your hotel have a fitness center? What are the hours of operation? Arrange your schedule to take advantage of these facilities.

      1. Healthy Dining

    Are there restaurants nearby that serve healthy food? Use your phone to search for ‘healthy restaurants.’

      1. Healthy Snacking

    Plan ahead and bring healthy snacks. Apples, peanut butter packets, and similar items transport easily and give you an energy boost.

      1. Walking

    While you’re traveling, don’t stop walking! Walk from your hotel to the conference center instead of taking a cab. If your conference is in your hotel, take a room far from the elevator.

      1. Paying Attention

    Don’t mindlessly eat. Track your calories on an app so you know what you’re consuming. Drink water to stay hydrated and get as much rest as you can.

    As I say in the release, “As you send your employees to attend seminars, it’s important to have wellness at the forefront of their minds by incorporating healthy business travel opportunities. Make sure you have policies in place to encourage your employees to make smart and healthy decisions while traveling.”

    “Red Apple,” © 2009 Abhijit Tembhekar, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

  • We’re happy to announce that this week, Group Management Services (GMS), received the Weatherhead 100 award in recognition as one of Northeast Ohio’s fastest growing companies. From 2008 through 2012, GMS experienced a 55.5% growth in sales, making us the largest Ohio-based professional employer organization. The Weatherhead 100 award is given to companies whose net sales grew from at least $100,000 to over $1 million in the last five years and employed a minimum of 16 people full-time in 2012. 

     

     

    Mike Kahoe founded Group Management Services in 1996 and has built the company into an industry and regional leader with over $30 million in revenue. An 8-time Weatherhead recipient, GMS services over 800 clients in 42 states.  With over 90% of our clients renewing their contracts each year, our administrative outsourcing services touch the lives of more than 14,000 employees.

    As a professional employer organization, GMS helps small and medium sized business owners focus on what matters most – growing their business. With GMS, business owners can eliminate the time and costly resources dedicated to administrative duties such as:

    • Human Resources
    • Payroll & Tax Services
    • Benefits
    • Risk Management

    Group Management Services has continually expanded its services for small and medium sized business and in 2013, launched Group Captive Management, a self-insured captive insurance company. To enhance their third-party administration services, GMS merged Ogden Benefits Administration, Employee Benefit Concepts and Variable Protection Administrators into their offerings this year. 

    The Weatherhead School of Management has been recognizing the region’s fastest growing companies for more than 25 years. The Weatherhead 100 awards were established to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of Northeast Ohio and to recognize those companies which serve as leaders to all the region’s businesses. 

  • “Keeping the plates spinning,” is an idiom many small businesses use to describe the way they manage their human resource responsibilities. Some outsource HR functions to various companies while some tasks are handled by an in-house team member who has many other job duties

    There’s no need to juggle between outsourcing tasks to multiple companies and attempting to have them work together on your behalf. Professional employee organizations, or PEOs, can help minimize the stress, time and costly resources you spend administering your HR functions by managing: 

     

    Human resources, including employee recruiting and training, performance management, HR audits and more. GMS provides an online system solution to coordinate communication and centralize information. 

    Payroll, by assuming all responsibility and liability for your business taxes. With GMS, you and your employees have constant access to the online payroll service in our secure and easy-to-use web-based system. 

    Competitive benefits at a reduced rate. Attract and retain talented employees with health insurance, 401(k) plans, and other benefits at the rate large companies receive. With more than 20,000 workers, GMS can achieve great economy of scale when purchasing benefits coverage. 

    Risk and liability to prevent and effectively handle problems when they do arise. The risk management experts at GMS can manage Workers’ Compensation programs, unemployment claims, and OSHA safety regulations. 

    When you outsource your administrative duties to a PEO like GMS, your small-to medium-sized businesses can experience the benefits of a big business HR department. You can offer the very best benefits to your employees while saving your company time and money.

    Think you could benefit from a PEO provider? So do we. Let’s talk.

  • Did you know that January 17th has been named National Ditch Your Resolution Day? It has been reported this is the average day that most people give up on their healthy resolutions.  This is an important day for us in the” Wellness World”, but it is also the average day most people give up on all of their work and personal goals too. This is the time that most people who have been working so hard since the New Year become tired and simply give up. 

    So how does someone go from throwing out all of the “bad” food, habits, attitudes, spending a small fortune on “good” food, gym memberships, and changing work habits to giving up merely 17 days later?  Before they jump right in to making and attacking resolutions, they need to have a plan in place.

    As a wellness coordinator, I use these 3 basic rules for achieving health and fitness goals.  I feel these also can be used in all aspects of a person’s life.

    Set up alerts

    Set up alerts – Keep the momentum going!  Create an alert on your phone or computer to go off once a week with a motivating quote, a small goal to have been met, a video or story to read that will inspire you to keep working towards your goals. Fridays are “let loose nights” for me. – I look forward to enjoying a night without worrying about my food or activity calendar. I set an alert for every Saturday morning at 10 am with a “ get back at it “ reminder  so that I don’t blow all my hard work during the week over the weekend!

    Find an accountability partner

    This works in all aspects of your life!

    1. A partner or coach that you have regular workouts with to keep you accountable for showing up.
    2. A coworker or peer that you can go to with ideas and timelines so that someone other than yourself knows what and when you would like to accomplish a task. 
    3. A family member who you share personal goals with, like spending a certain amount of family time a week that can help you reach that goal.

    Set a “consequence”

    Unfortunately, many resolutions come and go quickly because there is no real consequence for quitting. Give yourself realistic consequences, write them down and share with your accountability partner or family member. for example:

    1. If I miss 2 workouts in a row with my partner, I will have to pay for their class, coffee, next session, etc.
    2. If I miss a work deadline that I set for myself, I will spend the next weekend getting caught up.
    3. If as a family we miss out on scheduled family time we will make it up in the following week to continue to bond.
    These 3 basic rules can help all of us stick to those resolutions that we were so excited for in the New Year. Changing one bad habit at a time can make great strides in helping us live a healthy life. Remember, goals and resolutions are an ongoing change that requires progress.

  • Ahhhh—feel the ocean breeze blowing through your hair, your toes digging into the sand, and the cool drink in your hand. Your computer is nowhere in sight. That’s right, you’re on vacation!

    As an employee, taking time off is important. It keeps you focused, gives you a break and lets you spend some quality time with your family or friends. As a company, administering a paid time off (PTO) policy is also important, and much less relaxing than taking the time off. 

    With traditional PTO and sick time plans, your company is trying define and limit the liability of paying an employee for time they didn’t work. Sounds simple. 

    But how do you keep track of it all? Without a streamlined system it can be easy to miscalculate PTO for your employees. Miscalculations mean lost money for your company. According to a 2010 survey by Kronos conducted with Mercer, poorly planned absences cost U.S. organizations over 8% of their payroll each year.

    GMS PEO services can help effectively manage PTO for your compnay company. Go ahead, take a vacation! “Walking in sugary white sand on #AmericasBestBeaches” by Visit St.Pete/Clearwater is licensed under CC BY 2.0

    What can your business do to effectively manage PTO?

    Maybe you’ve seen that some companies offer unlimited vacation days, or an “open” vacation policy. This may be an option for some companies, but it requires a high level of trust and accountability between employees and managers, and would still require planning for coverage of the absent employee. It also brings into question state requirements about reimbursement for unused PTO if an employee were to leave a company. This clearly isn’t a solution for everyone. 

    A better option is to look to a professional employer organization (PEO) to outsource human resource (HR) functions, including management of PTO. 

    Online HR Portal Available 24/7 

    If you’re nervous that outsourcing HR functions like PTO means you have less control over your business, you’re not alone. In reality, though, the opposite is true. GMS actually gives you stronger control. 

    How? We store all the information that you and your employees need so you can have a centralized place to measure, track and review critical HR information 24 hours a day, including, but not limited to:

    • Time off requests
    • Performance reviews
    • Job descriptions
    • Employee handbooks
    • Company communication
    Talk with GMS to learn more. Once we’ve had the chance to talk, we’re pretty sure the only question you’ll have is what you can do with time you used to spend keeping track of your employees’ PTO.
     
    We suggest taking a vacation—you deserve it.

    Photo Credit: ““Walking in sugary white sand on #AmericasBestBeaches” by Visit St.Pete/Clearwater is licensed under CC BY 2.0