By Andrew Lubash

It’s crazy to have reached the final month of my tenure as NAPEO chair—and what a year it’s been! Just 12 months ago, many of us were finalizing plans for a very different kickoff to the new decade. Few could have imagined the circumstances we now find ourselves in, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to test the crisis preparedness of nearly every organization.

As challenging as this year has been, and as uncertain as the road ahead may seem, COVID-19 brings the PEO industry invaluable opportunities to truly analyze what works, what doesn’t, and what adjustments must be made to facilitate a successful transition into the next decade and beyond. The world sure looks different, but there are plenty of lessons learned through all this that can help us discover the most effective strategies to move our businesses forward.

One of the biggest lessons of COVID-19, and this year in general, is that everything can change in an instant. It would be unwise for businesses to operate as if the adjustments we’re making as a society are temporary. Now is the time to prepare for a new normal, and that includes safeguarding our businesses against any potential future threats—including the outbreak of new diseases.

From managing payroll and staffing changes and keeping up with a constant flux of legislative developments, to helping our clients adjust to a new normal, the PEO industry at large has been at the forefront of this crisis from the start, supporting our clients through each wave of change. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that we can always expect more change.

With so much still up in the air about how things will progress or how long this pandemic will last, it’s easy to see why so many businesses are struggling to adjust all on their own. Within these past several months, I’ve witnessed firsthand the value the PEO industry provides to businesses of all sizes, and it’s clear that we’re always stronger together.

Another resounding lesson of COVID-19: Companies that work with PEOs are much stronger than those that go it alone. It’s difficult enough to manage the disruptions of COVID-19 on daily operations and core business functions. With the complexity of HR management and compliance issues thrown into the mix, it can get to be too much for any business. I’m exceptionally proud to be part of an industry that has been so instrumental in helping businesses through such a trying time.

It’s been a heck of a time to be NAPEO chair. I’ve gained so much during my tenure, and I hope I’ve served as a helpful resource to anyone I had the pleasure of interacting with during this past year. With so many phone calls day in and day out, it almost feels like I’ve been working for NAPEO this whole time! But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. While it’s been undoubtedly difficult, COVID-19 continues to reveal how much we have to offer—both as an industry and as individual experts in our fields—to small and mid-size businesses across the United States.

Thank you for an incredible year. Stay safe.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted how business is done. From remote work efforts across every industry to retailers screening customer temperatures, it’s clear that things are different now, and no one is quite sure what normal might look like in the future.

As businesses work their way through the many challenges, agility and adaptability are proving to be pivotal to success. PEOs are dedicated to serving as trusted partners to their clients, guiding them through the pandemic. To deliver on that promise, we’ve had to adapt our service and delivery models to reflect current business needs and those of the business community at large.

Because COVID-19 mandated that all but essential employees transition to remote work, many businesses that were previously reluctant are finally opening up to the benefits. Allowing employees to work remotely when possible significantly reduces the risk of exposure for both remote-enabled employees and employees who must be in the workplace. It also enables companies to hire the best talent possible, not just the best talent locally available.

Though there are many benefits, remote work doesn’t come without its challenges. PEOs have been working around the clock to help clients manage the changes caused by modifications to their workforces. Here at PrestigePEO, our HR specialists provide clients with one-on-one support to handle adjustments to payroll, employee benefits administration, and any other areas impacted by changes in an employee’s status.

Collaboration is key to any successful business. In a world impacted by COVID-19, many professionals have had to expand their idea of what it means to effectively collaborate. No longer confined to the closed doors of corporate offices, teams everywhere are coming together virtually to share ideas and move their businesses forward.

This also extends to client service. Businesses of all kinds are meeting their clients where they are—online—enabling them to continue providing an exceptional client experience uninterrupted by COVID-19. For many PEOs, Zoom calls and videoconferencing have replaced in-person meetings, but that hasn’t changed the dedication to providing the best possible support to help clients navigate this crisis.

COVID-19 underscores the critical need for adequate HR support to successfully handle the unprecedented business challenges facing the small business community.

While some businesses are feeling the pressures of navigating through COVID-19 on their own, businesses that partner with PEOs rest assured knowing they have expert support to help guide them through it all. Partnering with a PEO ensures that a business is protected from missing or mismanaging any of the changes impacting HR processes and procedures. It also means they have access to innovative technology that empowers employers and employees to access digital self-service options, stay connected, and get quick answers to any questions they may have.

Things might never look the same, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. COVID-19 gives rise to a number of complications and new challenges, but it also presents opportunities for businesses to do things differently and effect positive change within their organizations. Above all, it’s important for businesses to remain flexible, be open to new approaches, and reach out to experts for support when it’s needed.

By Andrew Lubash

When I initially started to write this article (on a completely different topic), the world was a very different place. Each time I proofed the article for submission, the world changed even again. One constant: PEOs are here for our clients and NAPEO is here for our members. A lot has gone on over the past few months. Legislation is being passed that affects every one of our clients. Guidance is being issued daily, and that guidance often contradicts the guidance issued the prior day. Our clients are depending on us to provide accurate information.

• The heavily-attended weekly webinars have been invaluable. The content has educated member PEOs about the complexities of recently passed legislation. This has enabled PEOs to remain ahead of the curve in assisting client companies.
• NAPEO staff and its members have spent countless hours (literally 24/seven) reviewing legislation as it is enacted, contacting Senators and Representatives to ensure the legislation being passed does not harm PEO clients. These efforts have resulted in the addition of PEO guidance that resolved the 941 issue in the Department of Treasury’s FAQs.
• NAPEO retained the services of the former administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to guide us through the process so PEOs could advise our clients. The administrator provided NAPEO with a line of communication to the SBA at a time when others could not gain access. The result was that Treasury issued guidance clarifying that a business’s relationship with a PEO does not affect eligibility for a PPP loan and PEO documents are sufficient to fulfill the application requirements.

• PEOs are shining! Client companies are singing the praises of PEOs. Clients are sending non-stop emails and calling, thanking PEOs for being there through this unprecedented crisis.
• New business—the RFP pipeline is full:
  • Peers of current clients are asking how they are navigating this crisis. Clients say: “My PEO has handled it all. They have been wonderful.” The response: “What’s a PEO?” The result: a new prospect.
  • Former prospects that did not see the value of a PEO now see the value.
  • There are new prospects that need a PEO.

• PEOs are shining! Client companies are singing the praises of PEOs. Clients are sending non-stop emails and calling, thanking PEOs for being there through this unprecedented crisis.
• New business—the RFP pipeline is full:
  • Peers of current clients are asking how they are navigating this crisis. Clients say: “My PEO has handled it all. They have been wonderful.” The response: “What’s a PEO?” The result: a new prospect.
  • Former prospects that did not see the value of a PEO now see the value.
  • There are new prospects that need a PEO.

PEOs are shining! Client companies are singing the praises of PEOs. Clients are sending non-stop emails and calling, thanking PEOs for being there through this unprecedented crisis.

New business—the RFP pipeline is full:

Peers of current clients are asking how they are navigating this crisis. Clients say: “My PEO has handled it all. They have been wonderful.” The response: “What’s a PEO?” The result: a new prospect.

Former prospects that did not see the value of a PEO now see the value.

There are new prospects that need a PEO.

By Andrew Lubash

One of the most important value propositions that a PEO offers to a small to mid-size business is technology. On a standalone basis, technology is often financially out of reach of clients in a PEO’s target market. PEOs take the small business technology experience to an entirely different level.

Technology is often overlooked during the sales process. Client companies and prospects look at the cost or savings of using a PEO in hard dollars, but fail to quantify the benefits of better technology. Improved technology is one of the primary reasons that businesses that use PEOs are more profitable than businesses that don’t use PEOs.

Having human resources, employee benefits, and payroll information on one technological platform creates efficiency and reduces the errors that are caused by manual processes. Manual processes are a thing of the past.

Technology also provides a positive impact on how new employees view their new employer. The old way just does not cut it anymore. A lot of paperwork is necessary to properly onboard a new employee and the requirements are constantly changing. Electronic onboarding permits client companies and their employees to always know which documents have been completed and which are still pending. The business world is trending toward electronic onboarding. Small to mid-size businesses must adapt or be left behind.

Employees today require a self-service portal. They want information on their schedules, not just during office hours. Employees want access 24/seven to paystub, wage, and tax information, access to employee benefits enrollment data, plan designs, and carrier links. Employees want access to update personal information, including addresses and direct deposit accounts, request time off, and view up-to-date paid time off (PTO) balances.

Today’s managers also require access to technology. They require access to the platform at a higher level, enabling them to view their employees’ data, hire and terminate employees, track events, make pay rate changes, process payroll, and run reports for demographic, wage, or benefits information. In addition, a PEO’s technological platform permits customizable approval and notification policies, skills and education tracking, and even can create general ledger downloads, formatted for your accounting system.

Technology is becoming more than a trend. It is becoming a necessity. Reviewing your PEO’s technology platform is as important as reviewing your employee benefits program. PEOs need to ensure that the technology offered is what the market is demanding. Do not get left behind.

By Andrew Lubash

Think about where we were and where we are now: white papers, banner ads, social media content and graphics, radio voiceovers, newspaper ads, presentations, and op-eds. These are the result of NAPEO staff and a large member committee offering their time and ideas.

Again, think about where we were and where we are now: federal recognition, the Certified PEO program, PEO legislation in most states, improved relationships with federal and state agencies, to just name a few. This did not happen in a vacuum. NAPEO members and staff have spent countless hours getting us here.

Most likely, a NAPEO member or associate member who you met at a conference or state Leadership Council Forum. More value.

The planning committees are finalizing the remainder of NAPEO’s schedule for 2020. Realize the value of your membership, learn new things, and meet new people at these NAPEO events:

• Risk Management Workshop: Nashville, Tennessee, March 3-4. Take home ideas that your PEO can employ to improve your risk management practices.
• CEO Forum: Palo Alto, California, March 12-13. My favorite NAPEO event. Learn from three well-known Stanford professors.
• CFO & Payroll Seminar: Chicago, Illinois, June 22-23. This year NAPEO has added PEO-specific payroll education to the curriculum.
• Annual Conference & Marketplace: Marco Island, Florida, September 14-16. NAPEOs largest and most multi-faceted educational and networking event.

Whether you come to one or all, you will obtain knowledge that you can take home with you and develop relationships with people you can have dinner with when you are away from home.

By Andrew Lubash

Current clients. During a recession, clients require the PEO value proposition more than ever. The PEOs HR business partners assist with:

• Communication: It is important to build trust through honest, effective, and frequent communication. During a recession, it’s all the more important to communicate and build employees’ trust.
• HR can assure employees that their jobs are safe. If employees’ jobs are at risk, HR can develop a communications strategy to explain the process the company will use to notify employees of layoff.

Prospective clients. Businesses will be exploring cost-cutting initiatives.

• Frequently, PEO economies of scale can offer savings in employee benefits, workers’ compensation, and payroll taxes, while offering the vital HR expertise that may be lacking.
• During a recession, businesses frequently terminate or downsize HR personnel. A business may look to a PEO as a cost-effective alternative.
• Businesses that do not have HR personnel realize they need the expertise to handle terminations, furloughs, and other cost-cutting strategies. They may look to PEOs for expertise.

Which industries are negatively affected by recession? It is a good idea to pay closer attention to clients in industries/businesses that are commonly harmed by recession, including financial services, traveler accommodation, office supplies, stationery/gift stores, printing and publishing, furniture and home furnishing, construction and suppliers, and motor vehicle dealers. PEOs take on a wide range of liabilities and closer scrutiny of a client’s financial health is prudent.

Which industries thrive? PEOs can continue to retain and add clients with the proper strategy. These are the clients we can look to add during a recession. These are businesses that provide basic needs and are less likely to flounder during a recession: food and beverage, consignment, IT, repair shops, medical/pharmacy/senior services, cleaning services, and funeral homes.

Recessions don’t last forever. Economic recovery follows. PEOs offer an incredible value proposition. If we help guide clients through the tough times, we will all benefit during the good ones. Clients like to brag about success.

By Andrew Lubash

This is one of the most important services a PEO provides. Most small to mid-sized businesses that I have visited do not have an up-to-date, compliant employee handbook. During the initial interview, most prospects claim they have been working on the handbook for quite a while or they have been meaning to update it for years. Creating an employee handbook is not a revenue producing task and repeatedly gets pushed down the to-do list. The handbook is the first document a labor attorney will request when an employee is considering litigation against an employer. A few months ago, I attended a labor seminar. One of the speakers was plaintiffs’ counsel. His message was loud and clear: Employers with no handbook, or handbooks that are not current, are low-hanging fruit. He also added that an employer can have the most complete handbook, but if there is no signed confirmation that employees received the handbook, they never did—write me a check.

Small to mid-sized businesses struggle to provide training for their employees. To compound matters, many states have enacted legislation requiring mandatory training. Most business owners are not aware of the legislation and are exposed to potential fines. They just don’t have the resources to keep up—especially if they have employees in multiple states. PEOs help clients with mandatory training and compliance. Training does not stop with compliance. Human resources professionals also help employers develop their employees. A training program allows client companies to strengthen the skills that each employee needs to improve. A development program brings all employees to a higher level, so they all have similar skills and knowledge. This helps reduce any weak links within the company: Employees rely heavily on one another to complete basic work tasks.

These are just a few of the core human resources values that PEOs provide. Studies show that once clients engage the services of a PEO, they may move to another PEO, but they rarely bring the HR function back in-house. Just another reason that every business should consider a PEO.

By Andrew Lubash

Strengthen the PEO brand identity to increase awareness and grow the industry. It’s hard to not notice NAPEO working toward this goal. Kerry Carruthers and her team are working closely with the Marketing & Communications Committee, along with branding, marketing, and content agencies. The team has created user-ready social media and print ads, radio voiceovers, and additional valuable resources for NAPEO members. The first round of content was distributed during Marketing Day at the annual conference in September. This moves the needle toward the goal of PEO becoming a household name and doubling the number of worksite employees by 2022. As part of this plan, NAPEO has been promoting the October Push. This push was designed for PEOs to use the materials provided by NAPEO or individual PEO-created materials to promote the PEO industry to the general public and legislators. We will soon see the results of this effort.

Continue to create a favorable legal and regulatory environment. The first goal of the strategic plan assists in executing this goal as well. Increasing awareness not only creates additional sales for member PEOs, but it also creates awareness of what we do at the regulatory level. If legislators recognize the value that PEOs bring small to mid-sized businesses, they are less likely to introduce harmful legislation. The industry has been able to diffuse many negative legislative situations when legislators have been educated about the benefits and services PEOs provide. Daniel Harris and his team, in coordination with the State Government Affairs Committee, create a state action plan each year and continue to proactively promote and monitor PEO legislative activity in each state.

Contribute to the operational excellence of the NAPEO membership. NAPEO staff, committees, associate members, and working groups create and regularly update content that enables member PEOs to stay ahead of emerging issues in HR, compliance, employee benefits, payroll, risk management, and retirement plans. This is being accomplished through webinars, regulatory notices and updates, published best practices, and the NAPEO Forum. Thom Stohler and NAPEO staff continue to work with the IRS to streamline the Certified PEO process while updating and improving existing NAPEO resources that support members who want to obtain IRS certification.

Position NAPEO to operate, grow, and succeed in its mission. The key to the success of any association is developing and maintaining a clear and compelling value proposition. It’s obvious that Goals 1 to 3 provide value to NAPEO members. However, to continue to promote new ideas, more members need to become involved. The plan calls for new and diverse industry leaders at all levels. This means you! Get involved!

Paying for it all: One of the desired results of the fourth goal is that NAPEO has sustainable and growing funding from diversified sources. This is a concern for any association. Industry consolidation has impacted NAPEO’s revenue. The Dues Task Force has been created to conduct a complete review of the current dues structure. Taskforce members continue to meet via onsite meetings and conference calls to discuss methods to ensure the financial stability of the association.

Determine NAPEO’s role in the broader employer services sector. This has been a topic of debate. Does NAPEO expand the tent to include members from emerging market companies? A task force headed by the Membership & Services Committee chair is being created to study this question. Stay tuned.

This is by no means the complete strategic plan. If you would like a copy of the complete plan or would like to offer any input about the plan, please feel welcome to reach out to me. My door is always open. My email is alubash@prestigepeo.com.

By Andrew Lubash

Businesses recognize that they require the expertise of professionals to succeed. They hire an accountant, an attorney, and a host of other advisors. PEOs are just as vital to their success—they just don’t know it yet! Imagine how much more business we would all add if our prospects truly knew what we do when we met with them.

As chair of NAPEO’s State Government Affairs Committee for five years, I witnessed countless issues that arose at the state and federal levels. Most of these threats were neutralized when NAPEO staff rushed to the scene and explained what PEOs are and how we are good for businesses. An effective branding program would educate legislators about what PEOs are and help prevent misguided actions.

How many of us spend countless hours explaining our business model to our vendors? How many more vendors would enter the PEO market if corporate understood our industry? An effective branding program would educate additional vendors and insurance carriers about PEOs and encourage them to enter the marketplace. More competitive products lead to more profitable PEOs.

NAPEO’s current branding initiative is just another example of the value of your membership. We have retained the services of three talented agencies to take us to the next level:

• LGND: A digital storytelling agency that combines cutting-edge strategy with innovative design, technology, and video services;
• Povaddo: An agency that specializes in marketing research. Povaddo helps organizations tell their stories; and
• Bluematter: Architects of NAPEO’s advertising campaign.

In addition to implementing NAPEO’s campaign, along with the Marketing & Communications Committee, these agencies have created tools that our members can already use for their branding and marketing, all included as part of your NAPEO dues!

• Plug-and-play social media posts;
• 90-second videos;
• Customizable newspaper ads; and
• Radio scripts.

The success of this initiative will result in:

• Increased sales for your PEO;
• Additional vendors in the PEO space, resulting in more competitive programs; and
• Legislative certainty/recognition.

I encourage all of you to get involved. Increased success results from increased participation. Please reach out to NAPEO Vice President of Marketing & Communications Kerry Carruthers at kcarruthers@napeo.org and join the NAPEO Marketing & Communications Committee.