ICON July 2000

Your HR Blueprint

By Tim Dennis and Lani Stewart

An HR blueprint – do you have one? We’re talking about an honest-to-goodness, ink-on-paper plan on how your company attracts, motivates, manages and retains one of your most important business resources – your employees.

As an architect, you know that renderings are not converted into reality without written plans and blueprints. The same is true of your business, and while many companies have a "business" plan, few have a true "people" plan. But your people are the ones who are going to execute your business plan. Most business owners agree that it makes sense to have an up-to-date, comprehensive human resources blueprint, but putting one together efficiently and effectively is the challenge. Well, we have some good news – there’s an easy way to handle this chore and even turn it into a competitive advantage.

More and more companies are saying good-bye to administrative hassles like payroll, benefits management, and other employment-related business interruptions, by saying hello to Administaff, (NYSE: ASF), a leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO). A PEO serves as an offsite, full-service human resources department for more than 3,200 small and medium-sized businesses throughout the United States.

Administaff provides entrepreneurs with the HR blueprint they need through its comprehensive Personnel Management System that includes employment administration, benefits management, government compliance, recruiting and selection, employer liability management, training and development, performance management, and owner support.

"Architects are typically visionary and creative, but often lack the necessary human resource skills needed to effectively run a business, particularly in the area of payroll taxes and benefits management," said Jim Wallace, president and owner of Wallace, Garcia & Associates, Inc., an Administaff client in Houston. "We would rather devote time to the creative part of our business rather than the administrative hassles," Wallace said.

Administaff delivers its personnel management services by entering into a co-employment relationship with a client company’s existing employees, including the business owner. Under this arrangement, Administaff assumes or shares many of the responsibilities of being an employer, allowing the client owner to focus on core business matters. With Administaff, the client company and its employees gain a wide array of value-added benefits and services not typically available to small businesses. Furthermore, this relationship enables the PEO to assume or share many of the liabilities associated with being an employer. For example, Administaff can help its clients defend unemployment claims and handle workers’ compensation cases. In addition, Administaff’s human resource specialists are available to screen job candidates, give direction on hiring and termination issues, and help create personnel-related policies and procedures.

"Administaff has impacted our business in many ways," Wallace continued. "Using a PEO has not only helped our firm attract good people, but also retain valuable employees in an industry that normally experiences a relatively high turnover. A number of architecture firms compete not only for design projects, but also for up-and-coming industry talent. It is extremely important, therefore, to be able to provide your staff with quality benefits and the necessary professional support services to maximize the value of those benefits."

Competition for employees also comes from outside the architectural industry and many small businesses have turned to a PEO in order to help compete with Fortune 500 companies for qualified personnel. By using the purchasing power of a large employee base, Administaff is able to provide employees at small and medium-sized businesses with an array of big-company benefits, such as health, vision and dental plans, a 401(k) plan, a credit union, educational assistance, an employee assistance plan, a dependent care spending account, disability and life insurance, and even adoption assistance. The combination of such high-quality benefits and a small business setting is proving to be a very attractive proposition to many prospective employees. Administaff also provides employment resources like productivity-based training courses in time management, communication skills, and customer service.

Additionally, Administaff offers its clients and worksite employees access to bizzportSM, its exclusive eCommerce portal. This portal offers a broad range of value-added products and services from Administaff’s strategic alliances with leading companies including American Express, Aon Enterprise Insurance Services, Bank One, Dell, Forrester Research, IBM, and Works.com. As an added benefit, Administaff clients also can use bizzport to offer their services to Administaff’s growing client base.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Administaff has 27 sales offices and three service centers in 16 major markets. One of the largest PEOs in the nation, Administaff is accredited by the Institute for the Accreditation of Professional Employer Organizations and is an active member of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations.

In early 2000, Administaff was named again to Fortune magazine’s list of "America’s Most Admired Companies," ranking among the top five businesses in the Outsourcing Services Category for the second straight year. The company also ranked number 83 on the InformationWeek 500 list of leading information technology innovators.

Tim Dennis is District Manager of Administaff’s Ontario, California office. Lani Stewart is a Business Consultant in Administaff’s Ontario, California office, and is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

To learn more about Administaff, call (909) 945-3400, or toll-free at (888) 945-3455, x207.

Reprinted with permission from ICON.