HR business process outsourcing

Advantec integrates, develops and supports human resource business process outsourcing (HR BPO) models to meet a variety of client needs.

HRM. Analysts are predicting the HR BPO market is set to explode over the next three years. What is driving this market growth?
ADV. Great market opportunities are open for small and mid market HR BPO providers. Prospective clients in this market are striving to compete in a global economy and face challenges that are new to this era of American business. Employers are faced with escalating labor factors – cost of wages, benefits, and complex regulations. Employees also face new challenges: maintaining affordable health care, saving for retirement amid concerns about the future of government programs, and finding the proper balance between work and family life. Employees are looking to their company to provide information and support.

To maintain an edge, companies must do more than find new ways of reducing costs and enhancing their efficiency – clients today need to serve their employees. A new generation of HR BPO providers has emerged, equipped with expertise in HR, Benefits, Compliance, and Risk Management. HR BPO solutions from the right provider will provide essential support to employees and give their employers freedom to focus on productivity and profitability.

The market is set to explode because HR BPO providers are finally able to offer optimal solutions to client companies and their employees at a time when their need is great. The provider who best anticipates and serves the market needs, who listens to the ‘voice of the consumer’ will dominate this space over the next three years.

HRM. Advantec offers a turnkey solution, based on a ‘one-to-many’ model. Given that every business is unique, how can a company be sure this solution will fit its operations?
ADV. Every business has unique processes that may be specific to their business or industry. The goal of the HR BPO provider is to build a strong foundation of well-developed processes that are adaptable yet balanced. We have built our foundations on standards that are common to all strong and successful businesses: legislative requirements and well-defined business practices in HR administration, benefits and payroll. Our clients benefit from an opportunity to examine their own unique internal practices and compare them to best practices industry standards. Once we can be certain that a client’s unique practices are compliant, the client can measure the performance of an individual practice against the standard to evaluate its productivity. Often, a client finds that the cost of a unique process outweighs the convenience.

HRM. You also offer a more targeted set of solutions for companies. What are the advantages of buying the complete solution, and when is the more targeted solution recommended?
ADV. Our varied market solutions allow clients to scale from a 1) co-employment model in which we provide all administrative services, compliance consulting, and risk administration and can also offer health insurance; 2) administrative services offering in which the client assumes greater risk and co-ownership of the business processes; to 3) human resources outsourcing in which Advantec provides the administrative services, HRMS/HRIS, human capital management and management of a call center to support benefits, HR, and payroll.

At a fundamental level, we can assess the client’s needs based upon variables and then quickly identify which of our solutions will be the best fit for that client. To make this determination, we examine the level of complexity of the business model, the level of risk the employer is willing to assume, and the size and/or business mode (expansion or contraction) of the company.

Our complete solution is ideal for smaller companies with high complexity and relatively low assumed risk. For larger clients with a less complex business model and a higher tolerance for risk, targeted services offerings are an excellent fit. Targeted solutions are also valuable to companies that strive to market a best of breed product or service. The value to one of our clients is that we can provide a solution for any business need, because our solutions are integrated and coordinated in a way that maximizes success for our clients.

HRM. Aside from the more transactional HR functions you also offer a consulting service on some of the more strategic HR functions such as policies and management strategies. How does this service add value to a business?
ADV. No one can answer that question better than Dean Akers, the CEO of Ideal Image, an Advantec Client. According to Akers: “The value of Advantec’s consultative support touches on every area of our business and has been a strong component of our success. In comparison to the national payroll service approach, Ideal Image has easily saved the equivalent of two or three highly knowledgeable HR & compliance experts. The compliance consulting support we receive from Advantec, though our HCC (Human Capital Consultant), is essential to Ideal Image. In a rapid growth mode, we cannot afford to find ourselves out of compliance.”

HRM. As the market grows how are you looking to improve your own services to retain a competitive edge?
ADV. At Advantec, we believe in the importance of responding to the voice of the customer. To do this, we use a variety of techniques, including traditional surveys and call-trend analysis. We also hold Town Hall Meetings that reach beyond these more traditional methods and provide our clients an opportunity to meet with us face-to-face and share their business challenges. These frequent meetings allow us to understand and ascertain the pulse of our clients and encourage feedback that has helped strengthen our service and product offerings. We will incorporate market needs expressed by clients and prospects at these meetings into our business planning.

All too often, business leaders fail to connect with their clients on a peer level. We find the Advantec Town Hall forum is a unique opportunity to listen, learn, and improve. It is the relationships that we have developed with our clients that will drive our future success.