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  • Do any of these sound familiar?

    • Losing good employees to competitors.
    • A cranky work environment.
    • Excessive workplace injuries.
    • Out-of-control healthcare costs.
    • Ridiculously high unemployment insurance costs.

    If you’ve been dealing with any of these issues, no doubt you’ve come to the conclusion that HR is more than just a luxury enjoyed at big corporations. HR is a necessity for small and medium-sized businesses, too.

    It’s possible that you have HR problems. What are you going to do?

    HR Outsourcing

    You’ve heard about HR outsourcing, but maybe you don’t know what it entails or how to learn more about it. How can you tell if it is right for your company?

    You’ve heard about Professional Employer Organizations (PEO). But maybe it sounds a little shaky since you don’t know of anyone who’s using a PEO. How popular are PEOs?

    You might be surprised.

    The HR outsourcing industry has grown from $61 billion in 2002 to $103 billion in 2007 and is projected to grow to $162 billion in 2015. The largest chunk of that is the PEO industry.

    Professional Employer Organizations (PEO)

    PEOs work with small businesses to help reduce time and cost when it comes to the things that an HR department would do at a large company. If you walked into a large corporation with thousands of employees and asked to see their HR department, what do you think you would see? The department would include a payroll department, a benefits department, a risk management department and actual HR manager or department. You might even find a wellness department to work hand-in-hand with the benefits department.

    These huge companies have tons of money to throw at problems and lots of high-priced attorneys to get them out of trouble. Yet they still keep all of these departments active. They know how important HR can be.

    Big corporations realize they need HR departments. It’s even more crucial that small businesses understand that they should have access to these essential HR services.

    Specializing in Small Business HR

    Not all small businesses have the means or the resources to keep all of these HR departments in-house, and that’s when they should begin looking at outsourcing their HR.

    A small business is already probably outsourcing their payroll, their benefits and their Worker’s Comp administration to different companies. All of those departments need to be able to share information with each other. If you can have one vendor do all of that for you, allowing you to focus on growing your business, wouldn’t you? What if you could do that while saving money as well? What if in addition to saving money, you could also offload a lot of your tax and employee liability in the process? Can you see why this industry is growing?

    What about compliancy issues? In the last five years, have you seen an increase or a decrease in the amount of regulations imposed on your business? What about the Affordable Care Act? Do you need to be compliant? If not now, will you someday? What does that mean to you? Do you know who to turn to find out?

    There are tons of HR questions that small businesses have, and PEOs—like GMS—have the answers. Ask us anything.

    ***

    “Footbridge to Canary Wharf,” © 2008 Stephen McKay, 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. 

  • Human resources is a very important part of any business, but it can take a lot of time and money to properly manage. Even then, there are cashflow hurdles that you may come across simply because you aren’t an HR professional with all of the proper tools of the trade.

    A Professional Employment Organization (PEO) like GMS can get over those hurdles because HR is what we do. We’ve already discussed how a PEO can improve your cashflow through loss prevention, cost containment, payroll, and unemployment claims management strategies, but there’s another major factor as to how we can save you money: economy of scale.

    PEOs make your business stronger through economies of scale.

    Bigger Scale, Bigger Value 

    What the heck do we mean by economy of scale? Economy of scale is the term for the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to size, output, or scale of operation. In short, GMS can get you lower premiums and tax  burdens because we represent roughly 20,000 workers over 850 different companies.

    That means you can get competitive benefits that attract talented applicants and retain valuable employees, all at a reduced rate. Even if you own a small business, our expertise can help your bottom line because of economy of scale.

    PEOs Are an Extension of Your Business

    You don’t need to own a big business to get big-business treatment. In fact, think of a PEO as an extension of your company – one that helps your bottom line and makes your life simpler, and you never have to fear about losing control of your business. 

    GMS can save you time and money, so get a quote from us today if you think that a PEO is the right move for you.

  • If you’re like most business owners, you probably didn’t go to school to learn the intricacies of human resource management. As a result, you’re either spending too much time on HR or too little. Neither is good for your bottom line.

    Managing HR by yourself can cause big headaches. Consider a PEO instead.

    I’m Spending Too Much Time on HR Management 

    According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), there are 45 components to successful HR management. Forty-five!

    If you’re trying to be proactive about HR management, good for you. But if you have to manage multiple vendors who are working in “silos” while trying to make sense of everything they’re doing for you, you’re probably not spending as much time as you’d like growing your business. Either that or you’re burning the midnight oil to keep up. 

    Neither option seems that appealing, do they?

    I’m Not Spending Enough Time on HR Management

    On the other hand, if you’re not spending enough time on HR management, you’re more likely to be at risk for non-compliance fees, inefficiencies that slow down your production schedule, lower employee morale, and more. And you’re probably losing sleep at night because when it comes to HR, you don’t know what you don’t know.   

    HR Management is never a problem… until there is a problem and then it’s too late.

    Complete Guide to PEOs

    Manage HR Functions Effectively and Efficiently With a PEO

    Regardless of which path you’ve chosen when it comes to HR management, a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) can be a good fit for your business.

    When you partner with a PEO, you get access to a full team of HR experts that can help you:

    • Maintain / obtain COBRA, ERISA, HIPAA, ADA, FMLA, EEOC, and DOL compliance
    • Find and recruit top talent
    • Write detailed job descriptions 
    • Develop employee handbooks
    • Set up training and rewards programs 
    • Ensure that you’re compliant for employee terminations, and more

    Additionally, because PEOs can also help you with risk management, payroll administration, and employee benefit administration, you can find money-saving opportunities that would have been much more difficult to spot with siloed vendors.

    Best of all, you get the final say on all decisions. PEOs just make those decisions a little easier.

    Stop living in fear of HR problems and get back to growing your business. Contact GMS online or give us a call at 888-823-2084 today.

  • Good businesses need good employees, and good employees look for good opportunities. A competitive benefits package plays a major part in attracting quality talent to your company, as well as retaining current workers. 

    Employee benefit administration can be a time-consuming and costly endeavor for a small- to mid-size company, especially one that wants to offer a complex benefits package. Instead of just accepting the hassle as a necessity, you should consider the possibility of teaming up with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) like Group Management Services (GMS) to benefit your benefits.

    Employee benefits administration is yet another service provided by a PEO.

    Many Parts, One Partner

    A good benefits package in a pretty complex affair. Some elements of a package may include:

    • Health insurance

    • 401k retirement plans

    • Profit sharing

    • Supplemental insurance plans

    • Benefit administration

    • Group life

    • COBRA

    • Disability

    • Dental

    • Vision

    That’s a lot of information to have to focus on and administer out to your employees. Fortunately, a PEO has trained professionals that can manage your business’ benefits package.

    This also leaves you with one point of contact for your benefits package needs, instead of needing to deal with multiple providers when you have questions.

    Saving Time and Money

    Another advantage of partnering with a PEO is that it allows you more time to focus on your business. While you handle your area of expertise, GMS’ experts can streamline your employee benefits administration. In fact, we help out so many employers and their employees that we have greater buying power through economy of scale.

    The Right Fit

    A good benefits package can help you attract and retain talented employees. If you’re looking to save some time and money on employee benefits administration, contact us today to see if a PEO is the right fit for you and your company.

  • It’s always good to research your options before making a business decision. The questions may differ depending on the industry your company is in, but payroll plays a factor in every business, and it sure isn’t cheap. 

    Statistics show that it costs small- to mid-size companies an average of $2,000 per employee per year to handle payroll. Even if you’re a small- or mid-size company, a Professional Employer Organization like Group Management Services may be a good fit to help streamline your payroll needs.

    Of course, working with a PEO is a big decision, so you’ll want to find out what they can offer your business. Here are some ways to find out if a PEO is good fit to handle your payroll.

    Payroll services from a professional employment organization.

    Determine Your Payroll Needs

    One big reason why businesses struggle to make their HR process both efficient and cost-effective is because many people aren’t trained to handle things like payroll or employee benefits. GMS is, and we can offer you several services to help, including:

    • Web-based software

    • Simplified payroll management

    • Payroll tax administration

    • Management of tax records

    • Simplified deduction tracking

    If you’re losing time and money trying to handle payroll, it may be time to consider working with a PEO.

    Ask Questions

    Don’t be afraid to see if a PEO can match your business needs. Want to find out how your accountant would play into a partnership with GMS? Wondering about time-keeping systems? Worried about account accessibility? These are all questions that may make a difference in your PEO decision.

    We are happy to answer any questions you may have when it comes to how a PEO can impact your payroll. In fact, some may even be answered in our Payroll FAQs.

    Learn More

    Working with a PEO is an important decision for your business. Even if you’re a small- or mid-sized company, GMS can provide you with top-quality payroll services. 

    Want to learn more? Find out how GMS meets your needs and get a quote today if you think a PEO is the way to go.

  • The unemployment process isn’t an easy one, both for the former employee and the employer. While many small- and medium-sized companies view unemployment as an unmanageable major expense, there are ways that you can save money so that the process isn’t as much of a threat to your company’s cashflow.

    Professional Employment Organizations (PEO) can protect your business from unemployment claims, while helping your business’ bottom line, allowing you to focus on the future without being held back by the past.

    Work with a PEO to help your bottom line when it comes to the unemployment claims management.

    How Much Can Unemployment Really Cost Me?

    That can depend on a couple of things. After taking in factors like your state, company size, and unemployment claim history, unemployment taxes can cost your business anywhere from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars per year.

    Protecting Your Business

    It’s hard to predict what the future may bring, so you need to prepare for potential issues. You can protect yourself in unemployment cases by providing detailed employee handbooks for new employees and issuing written warnings that require sign-off from offenders. 

    PEOs, like GMS, can also help businesses reduce unemployment tax risks in a number of ways. Specifically, PEOs:

    • Reduce liability for unemployment taxes

    • Help you write handbooks and job descriptions

    • Consult with you on the employee discipline and termination process

    • Ensure you stay compliant with unemployment laws and regulations

    • Provide representation at claims hearings

    Saving Money While Maintaining Control

    By working with a PEO, like GMS, you can increase cashflow and eliminate liability. And just like with our loss prevention, cost containment, and payroll strategies, you retain full control over your employees while freeing up time for you to focus on growing your business.

    Contact us today to find out how much a PEO can help your business improve its bottom line through unemployment claims management.

  • It’s expensive to pay employees, and I’m not just talking about salaries and benefits. 

    The payroll process is pricier than many business owners realize. It costs an average of $2,000 per employee per year for a small or mid-sized company to handle payroll. In addition, up to 40 percent of businesses in the United States are given an average of $845 in IRS penalties each year.

    These costs add up and can really hurt a company’s cashflow. We’ve already discussed how loss prevention and cost containment can help your business, but a professional employer organization (PEO) can also save you money and time by handling your payroll.

    Payroll costs you more than just your employees wages.

    Preventing Penalties

    You probably didn’t go to school to be an HR professional, so you shouldn’t be expected to understand all of the payroll penalty risks you face each day. But the people who work for PEOs are experienced HR professionals who can make your business simpler, safer, and stronger.

    For example, many PEOs assign a team of HR experts to your account. These professionals will help manage tax records and the storage of necessary payroll documentation, reducing your responsibility and liability in the process. 

    Saving Time

    Many PEOs like Group Management Services also provide you and your employees with anytime, anywhere access to tax and payroll information. Plus, you can realize efficiencies in tracking paid time off and in direct-depositing paychecks that you never thought possible when you did it on your own.

    Yes, you’re still involved in the payroll process; PEOs just make it much faster and easier.

    Making Payroll Easy

    Saving money is great. It’s even better when you can cut costs while streamlining a part of your business. Contact us today if you have any questions about payroll.

  • Accidents happen, which is why workers’ compensation is a mandatory expense. Still, high rates can destroy your cashflow. 

    In my last post, I talked about how loss prevention strategies help prevent accidents in the first place, which can lower your rates. Today, I’d like to explain how an effective Cost Containment strategy can cut your costs, even if a claim is filed. 

    Risk management can benefit your business’ budget. Contact GMS to find out how a PEO can help.

    Cost Containment Services

    Many business owners consider worker’s compensation a cost of doing business. But professional employer organizations (PEOs) give you options to contain that cost.

    PEOs help you:

    • Choose the most appropriate workers’ compensation coverage for your group

    • Negotiate competitive programs with insurance providers

    • Implement a return-to-work program

    • Keep good records that can be used during the claims process, and more.

    Packaged together, these services make a huge difference in what you spend on workers’ compensation.

    More Than Just Cash Savings

    It is often said that your time is your most valuable asset. If you’re spending too much time fighting workers’ compensation claims, you aren’t focused on growing your business. 

    Many PEOs save you time by offering the following services:

    • Claims investigation

    • Claims certification

    • Hearing representation

    • And merit rate predictions

    We handle the details so you have the time to grow your business again.

    Better Cashflow Through a PEO

    We are extremely successful at fighting our clients’ workers’ compensation claims, saving them clients thousands of dollars in the process. If you’re tired of dealing with rising worker’s compensation costs, or simply want to know more let’s talk.

  • Cashflow is key for any business. That’s an easy concept. What’s more difficult to understand is how to effectively manage all the things that pose a risk to that precious cashflow.

    As a business owner, one of your biggest risks is workers’ compensation. According to the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, workers’ compensation cost business owners nearly $60 billion in 2012. That’s a lot of money!

    The good news is that you don’t have to accept rising costs – and a strained cashflow – as a fact of business life.

    Loss prevention can help limit workers’ compensation claims and lower your rates.

    Avoiding Claims

    It may sound obvious, but prevention is the best medicine. The safer the environment, the less likely you’ll have to deal with workers’ compensation. This is just one of many ways a professional employer organization (PEO) can help. 

    Specifically, PEOs can help your business implement loss prevention strategies that will reduce the risk of unfortunate incidents in the workplace.

    Some of these strategies include

    • Safety training programs

    • Development of safety manuals

    • Development of safety guidelines for employees

    • Workplace inspection and guidance on OSHA compliance

    • Development of drug-free and drug-testing programs

    Better Cashflow Through a PEO

    A study released by OSHA claims that a 15% reduction in injuries and illnesses from businesses that don’t have safety and health programs could result in a savings of $9 billion per year. On an individual level, that means more money that can be invested in the growth of your business.

    Have you thought about the potential impact loss prevention strategies can have on your bottom line? Ready to learn more? Contact GMS today.