Why should a small company owner hire a PEO (Professional Employer Organization)? Owners of small business many times were many hats inside their own company, even in one single day. And never mind how highly qualified this owner may be, he cannot perform as an expert in all these areas of the business, or not at the level the business demands for its ultimate success. And one of the trickiest areas is human resources.
Human resources is not only about recruiting, finding candidates and hiring them. Human resources is also about employment law, federal and state regulations, time and attendance, payroll management, workers’ compensation, risk management or employee benefits. Many of these are time-consuming process that require expertise so they are done properly and in compliance. In order to avoid all these burdens and to make sure that everything related to HR in the company is done properly, many business owners these days decide working with a Professional Employer Organization aka PEO.
If you want your business to be successful and you want to have the best engaged employees, you have to make sure that your employees have reasonable and fair wages, that they always get their payroll on time and properly, that they receive a good benefits package, they have a proper communication with supervisors and coworkers, they work in a nice environment, and that the company is fully compliant with all employment laws such as OSHA and workers’ compensation. And hiring a Human Resources specialist is often something too expensive for small businesses.
This is where the figure of the PEO appears. PEOs offer companies a cost-effective solution to manage all the HR, payroll and employee benefits administration, without having to hire a full-time HR team. The cost of all these processes is increasing, and partnering with a PEO allow companies to offer better benefits at a better cost. Besides, all rules and regulations regarding employment are in constant change, so being update is a big challenge for business owners. Partnering with a PEO is like having an in-house specialized HR team but without the cost that that would mean.
So, to sum-up, these would be the main benefits that working with a PEO mean to companies:
Business owners can avoid all the paperwork and the burdens related to all the human resources and payroll administration. One single error regarding employment taxes can have terrible consequences for a small business. When working with a PEO, HR professionals take care of all these tasks and you can focus on the real core business. Studies reveal that small businesses that use PEOs grow faster than those who don’t.
Nowadays businesses have the possibility of expanding pretty easily to other states all around the country. In case any small business is willing to expand, it will be way easier for them if they work with a PEO, as there are many differences regarding employment laws such as workers’ compensation or minimum wage from state to state. And working with a PEO you can leave all these worries to the HR professionals and focus on the company growth and expansion.
Offering a good employee benefits package is one of the best ways of attracting top talent. And it is through their employees that businesses get their best performance and effectiveness. The better the employees and the higher the motivation, the higher the performance. PEOs have more capability to negotiate with healthcare insurance suppliers to get the best insurance coverage at the best prices, as well as with financial companies, in order to get the best options for retirement plans and wealth management. These benefits package that companies can get advantage of by partnering with a PEO, make them more competitive in terms of hiring top talent.