JT3 doubles savings with ADP

ADP’s comprehensive outsourcing services (COS) are
enabling companies to drive savings in their HR operations.
Dan Wild, CFO of engineering company JT3, explains how.

Scrutinizing expenses is a task all too familiar to government contractors – being able to identify inefficiencies and construct an effective action plan is a coveted talent and a trained skill. So you can imagine the gratification of a CFO when a solution returns a 30 percent saving in operating expenses, with a potential for even more. Especially when the project was anticipated to yield savings of ‘just’ 15-20 percent.

That is precisely what happened to Dan Wild, vice president and CFO of JT3, LLC ( Joint Test, Tactics and Training), when he chose ADP’s comprehensive outsourcing services (COS) for the engineering firm’s payroll, benefits and human resources operations.

Sophisticated services for a sophisticated workforce
For several years, JT3 – a joint venture between EG&G Technical Services and Raytheon Technical Services – relied on its parent company for basic HR and payroll. Wild decided to change HR resources when it became apparent that operating expenses were increasing year after year – and the pattern was likely to continue. A primary challenge in his search for a replacement solution was the firm’s technically savvy workforce. The staff wanted more advanced HR services, such as paperless payroll, online benefits enrollment, flexible spending account debit cards for healthcare services, and web-based access to payroll and benefits information. These types of advanced services were cost-prohibitive with an internal
solution. As Wild puts it: “At the end of the day, no other outsourced HR services provider could match ADP’s products and quality.”

Savings add up quickly
The company has long encouraged its employees to use direct deposit for payroll. Yet, it still distributed paper-based pay stubs for its employees’ recordkeeping. Additionally,Wild calculated that sorting and distributing paychecks consumed nearly four man-hours every payday at each of three locations.

As soon as its COS solution, which included paperless payroll and self-service, was activated, pay stubs became available to employees online and the savings began.The company also stopped incurring overnight charges to ship pay stubs to multiple engineering offices. “We were spending lots of money simply to print, ship and distribute something that had no value other than to disseminate information, a task much better accomplished electronically,” says Wild. He also reports that the three employees previously occupied with nonproductive and very costly distribution duties, are now accomplishing more strategic tasks.

Efficiencies grow in value, too
“ADP is very thorough. They have extensive payroll and HR experience and provide a larger number of services than we ever could offer our employees otherwise — they take care of it all,” says Wild. Even when employees inquire about an HR, payroll or benefits-related issue, they reach a dedicated customer service professionals on the other end of the line.

Questions are answered quickly and efficiently. In fact, according to Wild, most inquiries are resolved in one conversation.And JT3 now has more control over how its HR offerings and judgment calls are handled. “In the past, employees merely called whomever they knew best within the department regarding issues and questions.Now, all calls go to the contact center where they are well-documented and all call histories are tracked.”Wild now receives monthly reports detailing call center activity, such as: call volume, average answer times and resolution statistics, meaning the call center’s performance indicators are always within reach.

Cost savings of 30 percent… and still improving
One of the first tests for the new COS solution was the execution of the annual benefits enrollment process. It passed with flying colors. Even though it occurred within the first two months of implementation,Wild reports that the transition was seamless. “Benefits enrollment went flawlessly. This year I only received one phone call regarding the enrollment process. In the past, we’ve received hundreds.” Employees even got to choose from a broader set of benefits options as a result of the new HR solution. “The feedback from employees has all been very positive,” reports Wild.

Wild’s overall conclusion on the partnership? “The decision to go with ADP’s COS was a big win for JT3.Not only have we been able to add more services for our employees, apply tighter controls, and create more efficient processes, we’ve also cut operating expenses over the previous provider (our parent company) by 30 percent – and that percentage is still growing.”