Being the little guy on the block is never much fun. However, small businesses are discovering finding that competitive edge has become easier with the help of a (PEO) professional employer organization.

Trying to establish and maintain a business presence in today’s marketplace is difficult enough for large companies but even more difficult for the smaller ones. This is why the little guys on the block are getting big help by choosing to take advantage of human resources outsourcing for recruitment services, HR management, government compliance, employee/labor relations as well as other HR functions.

The current economic climate is making it harder for small businesses to thrive. The high costs of employee benefits and government compliance are forcing organizations to explore new strategies to lower their operating costs to remain competitive. Human resources outsourcing provides the HR consulting and HR management that relieves employers of the many pressures of hiring, training and maintaining their staff.

Small businesses are cutting costs and increasing their efficiency by having an administrative services organization take over the responsibilities of payroll services, safety and worker’s compensation, employee leasing and other HR services.

Whether you have 2 employees or 2,000, utilizing a PEO can help businesses find talented employees as well as offer their management expertise to train and maintain them while lowering costs and saving the employer both time and energy.

A company’s goal is to succeed and become profitable. In many cases this means growth and expansion. A PEO understands the needs of both employer and employee. Their sole focus is to minimize costs while implementing an HR management structure to maximize efficiency.

Taking advantage of the cumulative experience of a PEO provider will help manage everything from employee relations to interpersonal communications between employees and customers.

Regardless of the competition, small business owners do not have to compromise on productivity or profitability. Small business owners can take advantage of the many opportunities for growth and success by using a professional employee organization to achieve the competent HR management that will give them the competitive edge.

Sherri Bovino, President and CEO of 1st Flagship, has been working in the human resources industry for nearly 30 years and has been the principle owner of the international human resources and consulting firm specializing in productivity, gainsharing and operation management since 1985. She takes great pride in providing companies as well as individuals with new opportunities for growth and expansion.

However, the most memorable aspect of Ms. Bovino is not simply her notable career accomplishments, of which she has many, but it is her considerable philanthropic work that truly makes her a remarkable person.

Ms. Bovino is a major contributor and co-chair of the Women’s Philanthropy Fund of Orange County which is an organization solely focused on helping women and children who are in need of support.

Founded in 2002, the Women’s Philanthropy Fund consists of over 110 members who give $10,000 or more every year to support the Orange County United Way. The WPF is the most successful group of women philanthropists in Orange County and in conjunction with the United Way provide crucial help to thousands of underprivileged women and children who are in need of basic services such as medical, education, financial and counseling.

The WPF member’s collective support of the women and children of Orange County has transformed the lives of many families in the community by providing them with the emotional and financial support to get them back on their feet to ensure them safer and brighter futures.

Ms. Bovino’s philanthropic reach extends even further by serving as the Executive Director of the Owl Foundation. The Owl Foundation is focused on out-of-school/out-of-work youth to raise their self-esteem by while enabling them to continue on with their education and teaching them the job skills to help make them successful and independent adults.

Ms. Bovino attended Boise State University and majored in Business Administration before going on to become owner and president of 1st Flagship which is the parent company of GHRO, a professional employer organization and administrative services organization which specializes in human resources outsourcing.

Even though Ms. Bovino’s many accomplishments take up most of her time she still manages to enjoy her family and pursue some more leisure interests including traveling, reading, snow skiing and learning to play golf.

However, despite her busy schedule, the amazing fact remains she is dedicated to making it a priority to contribute to the future well being of Orange County’s families and youth by generously giving her time and money to important local philanthropic work.

With advancing technologies currently dominating the marketplace, companies are seeking the help of Professional Employee Organizations (PEO’s) to find the qualified employees they need in order for to stay competitive.

Searching for talent can be a big ticket item and many businesses are finding they are coming up empty handed without enlisting the help of human resources specialists whose sole focus is to find, train and retain skilled employees.

The Benson Strategy Group released a 2009 study indicating that as high as 62% of employers reported difficulty finding employees that met the criteria of the positions they needed to fill. Based on the online surveys and telephone polls of 1,000 workers and over 600 employers, findings indicated that the shortage of qualified employees has had, and continues to have, a negative impact on businesses.

As a significant percentage of the jobs that are opening up are in fields such as advancing technologies, medicine, clean energy research, biotech and engineering, many companies are struggling to gain access to a job pool with the required skill set.

The biggest problem seems to be a discrepancy between the supply of qualified applicants and the demand for them. Most of the higher paying jobs with attractive benefits packages once drew plenty experienced candidates, but the tasks of filling these positions has become more time consuming and expensive than many businesses can afford in a down economy.

This is why many small and mid-sized businesses are adapting to the times and hiring PEO’s to do what they can’t: fill open positions for skilled labor. A professional employer organization offers recruitment services and HR management that includes human resources outsourcing, benefits outsourcing, employee/labor relations, employee leasing, HR consulting, payroll services, safety and worker’s compensation and many other HR services.

A full service PEO provides solutions for businesses staffing shortages and specializes in matching the most qualifies employees with the right employers. A PEO’s goal is not only to recruit the best candidates for their clients but also to increase job satisfaction and retention rate.

Utilizing the Hr services of a PEO is the ideal solution for businesses that are experiencing staffing shortages. Many companies are realizing they are not only cost effective, but are an advantage in regards to their production rate as well as to their bottom line.

To help reduce costly mistakes, an increasing numbers of companies are turning to a professional employer organization (PEO) to have better access to experienced HR consultants who can help with many time-consuming HR functions.

A Professional Employment Organization is a single source provider of HR outsourcing that will serve as a human resources department for client companies who want to utilize their services to reduce costs and raise efficiency.

PEO’s provide experienced human resources specialists who perform the duties of a staffing agency while also extending HR consulting and management of payroll services, risk management, employee benefits and other human resources functions.

The reason PEO’s work so well for small and mid-sized companies is because they assume the responsibilities and risks of employee maintenance.

When hiring a PEO, client companies enter into a practice referred to as co-employment. They take on the burdens of procuring and retaining employees as well as the tasks of assuring government compliance and the requirements of safety and workers compensation by becoming their employer of record for tax and insurance purposes.

A  PEO supplies companies with administrative services, reduced liabilities, benefits outsourcing, employee benefits, employee handbook, employee/labor relations, employee leasing, HR consulting and HR management.

A full service PEO will provide the following:

• Payroll Services
• Recruitment  services
• Risk Management
• Employee Benefits
• Human Resource Services

Hiring a PEO means a company can focus on their core business and cost-effectively outsource the expense and often complex employee relations that can strain a company’s budget as well as deflect from achieving their overall goals.

A professional employer organization will enable business owners to enter into a co-employment relationship knowing that the successful management of employees is in the experienced hands of human resources administrators whose number one priority is to save their client company time, money and effort.

Two major conferences were held this month to address the challenges facing government contractors and the Human Resources industry. We attended the GSA Opening Doors 2010 business-to-government conference in Los Angeles August 9-11 and the Navy Gold Coast Conference held at the San Diego Convention Center August 17-19 to discuss HR functions for government contractors.

Our representatives attended the conferences and focused on finding solutions for effective HR contracts with the US Government.

Our representatives had booths set up to speak to attendees about how government services can best utilize Professional Employee Organizations (PEO’s). “We started off as a prime contractor for the navy and do a lot for the Department of Defense as well as the Department of Labor,” states Brandon Carl, Business Development Manager for GHRO. “This experience has spun into us handling a lot of the HR functions for other government contractors because of how difficult it is. We have been doing it since 1955 so we’ve been navigating those waters effectively for a long time.” He continued by saying, “Since we’re good at what we do it is the perfect opportunity to talk about partnering, obtaining new contracts and helping the government maintain what they’re doing.”

The conferences were held to connect businesses with government agencies to promote opportunities in a recovering economy. The government has budgetary restraints just as the private sector does and as a result has enlisted the help of Human Resources Outsourcers to provide viable business efficiency solutions to better serve the public.

Our representatives were happy to be among the attendees and found the conferences had successfully addressed many of the pressing issues the government is having in regards to contracting PEO’s for recruitment services, safety and worker’s compensation, payroll services and many other HR functions.

Did you see us there? How was your experience at the conferences?

A growing number of companies are choosing to incorporate human resources outsourcing into their business model. However, to be successful it takes professionals who are capable of implementing successful HR outsourcing strategies:

Top 5 HR Outsourcing Strategies:

1.    Recruiting Qualified Employees – With the evolution of technology, finding experienced employees who have the skills required to make a business successful in today’s marketplace is an integral part of the hiring process. Human resources outsourcing provides professional recruitment services that will focus on connecting the most qualified employees with the right employers. By utilizing the services of an HRO, PEO or ASO, companies gain access to a diverse workforce with a wide variety of expertise and skill sets. Bad hiring practices are a common mistake companies are finding very costly, resulting in substantial losses to their production and deeply impacting their bottom line.

2. Superior Training Techniques – Adequately training a workforce is time consuming and can drain a company’s resources without the critical input of human resources experts to establish well organized and successful training techniques. When neglecting to sufficiently train employees job performance and employee retention suffer and will ultimately reflect a company’s profits as well as their credibility. Training and development requires a company to be proactive. Relying on professional HR management for guidance and structure has proven to be vital for any business model.

3.  Employee Relations – Maintaining employees is complex and involves clear-cut policies that need to continually be communicated. Employee benefits, an employee handbook and employee/labor relations are all important business practices that are designed to cultivate a working relationship between business owners and employees. Avoiding potential problems and litigation is a critical aspect of HR that is significantly facilitated by a professional employer organization.

4. Observance of Government Regulations – Companies who do not comply with the mounting amount of changing local, state and federal regulations are subject to huge fines and must pay thousands of dollars per employee to comply.  While compliance is costly the penalties for not complying is more expensive. Keeping organizations up-to-date with these regulations takes the support of HR consulting services that specialize in government compliance.

5.   Employee Incentives – The key element to effective employee relations is to reinforce an employee’s value on a continual basis. Companies must motivate their employees to retain them. A management system designed to improve retention and employee/labor relations will reward the employee for their hard work and boosting job performance and output.

Human resource outsourcing is becoming a commonly used business solution for companies who want to lower their expenditures while expanding their labor pool. Most companies are seeking creative and effective strategies to improve their profit margin in a troubled economy.

One of the most popular alternatives is the outsourcing of non-core business such as HR management and payroll services to save money and increase output without cutting back on quality.  Human resource outsourcing is important to any business because it is more cost efficient and time saving to hire an agency to recruit and train employees rather than to do it in-house. Outsourcing workers also relieves companies of the burden of assuming all of the risks and responsibilities of employee/labor relations, safety and workers compensation.

From employee benefits services and payroll processing to HR consulting and technology services, more and more companies are relying on outsourced employees to bring specialized skills to their businesses. High quality employees are any company’s most critical asset.  Outsourcing for fields such as technology and professional services has been proven to be advantageous for companies who want to focus on their core business and but still progress in the marketplace.

Your company more likely than not already outsources some services for these reasons. The most common functions outsourced by employers include:

1.    Call Centers
2.    IT
3.    Distribution
4.    Security
5.    Customer Service
6.    Tax Advisory
7.    Applications Management
8.    Bank Tellers
9.    Technicians
10.    Front Office Administration

Using the recruitment services of a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) or an Administrative Services Organization (ASO) allows a company to rely on their recruitment services and employee leasing services without having to pay the additional high price of employee benefits.

Keeping up with the competition is more difficult to do in a down economy. Utilizing human resources outsourcing is an efficient way for businesses to raise their performance while lowering costs. HR outsourcing is an invaluable tool for recruiting the right people with the experience and expertise that will help a business stay competitive.

Small businesses need to continue to grow in order to for the middle class to flourish and remain a stabilizing economic force. It is often said the middle class is the backbone of the American economy. This is certainly true when considering the combined contributions small businesses have made to their communities as well as to the nation’s economy as a whole.

Large corporations are considered too big to fail and the damage brought about by their demise is a topic widely debated. However, the impact of loosing a good portion of the small businesses responsible for significantly raising the standard of living and being one of the most effective driving forces of the affluence enjoyed throughout the 1980s and well into the 2000s is grossly underestimated.

Small business is vital to keep the opportunities open for hard working individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit to positively contribute to the economy.

It is not only important for banks to keep loaning money and ensuring that small businesses have the capitol they need to expand and help nourish the sickly economy back to health, but also for small business owners to take advantage of all the resources that are available to them.

These resources include human resources outsourcing to cut costs, stay competitive and have access to a more skilled and reliable work force.

Small businesses are critical to economic recovery. Over the past ten years small businesses were reportedly responsible for nearly 80 percent of the new jobs created annually. This is why it is so vital for them to not only be supported by our government, banks and other financial institutions, but it is also necessary for small business owners to utilize all of the tools in today’s tool shed, which includes human resources outsourcing as a valid cost cutting and time saving business solution.

Andrew Mason is a 29-year-old music major from Northwestern and appears to be an average guy, save for one discernable feature: he has single-handedly managed to establish the fastest-growing company in Internet history.

Groupon is an online e-commerce website that is racking up astronomical sales making it the one of the most profitable portals for retailers to offer their wares. Mason combined the words “group” and “coupon” to come up with the aptly named Internet company “Groupon.” The website offers online customers attractive discounts for products and services.

Not only did Mason have the foresight to set up operations in an 85,000 square foot warehouse (previously owned by a Montgomery Ward) in the heart of Chicago, but he also took advantage of human resources outsourcing and tapped into a valuable commodity by utilizing a group of talented writers, many from the Chicago Improv scene, to help him take a unique concept and turn into reality.

The witty taglines and clever campaigns have helped the company effectively capture and dominate not only the public’s attention, but also a competitive share of the e-commerce marketplace. Despite its fledging status and the fact Groupon has only been in operation just shy of 2 years, it was recently valued at 1.35 billion.

The call to action used by this young entrepreneur “Act now” is nothing new in regards to advertising strategy in and of itself. However, coupled with the ingenious idea of making purchasing items a team effort by providing the stellar deals contingent on a number of online purchasers following suit by buying the same item on the same day and then executing the concept with upbeat advertising pitches has effectively turned his site into to a retailer’s dream and consumer-driven powerhouse.

The newly made millionaire shares profits with vendors of upwards to 50% of the take which would ordinarily make retailers scoff at such ridiculous profit-sharing strategy; but   selling in bulk is the name of the game and with the site’s over 13 million subscribers Groupon is hitting homeruns with the public as well as with its participating affiliates.

Investors like Digital Sky Technologies, (the group backing Facebook and Zynga) only add to the company’s cache and investors estimate Groupon will surpass 500 million in revenue this year alone. Groupon presently has expanded into 88 US cities and 22 countries including Turkey and Chile.

Pangea 3 is a legal outsourcing firm in Noida, India specializing in outsourcing young Indian lawyers eager to get assigned to lawyers in the United States. With most of the world’s legal outsourcing firms setting up shop in India and only a significantly smaller percentage establishing firms in other countries such as the Philippines, companies like Pangea 3 are actively recruiting Western lawyers who are willing to leave Wall Street for New Delhi.

They are relocating them in order to manage the growing population of English speaking lawyers who work for a fraction of what a law firm in the West would charge. Greg McPolin, managing director of Pangea 3’s litigation services group is one of these Western Lawyers who divides his time between India and New York. He says his company is “getting more resumés from United States lawyers than we know what to do with.”

Legal outsourcing in India has grown from a few tiny firms who were more of an experiment than a serious investment to becoming a mainstream addition and is currently how law is practiced around the world. Large multi-national corporations, Wall Street banks, Energy giants, Insurance companies and most other leading industries are using outsourced lawyers from India to do everything from research and constructing legal briefs to due diligence and contract law.

However, for the more sophisticated public relations aspect of the law business Indian firms are continuing to bring in more seasoned lawyers form Great Britain and the United States.

Christopher Wheeler, a former assistant attorney general for New York State, knows first hand that Western Lawyers are finding it very attractive to be a valuable commodity in India’s rapidly expanding legal outsourcing business sector. Mr. Wheeler took that leap and is now managing a team of 110 Indian lawyers who primarily work for law firms in the United States for pennies on the dollar.

By the end of 2009 there were more than 140 legal outsourcing companies in India. This was a remarkable jump from 2005 when there were no more than 40 in the entire country.

Forecasted revenue for India’s legal outsourcing firms are estimated at $440 million in 2010 and is rumored to surpass the billion dollar mark by 2014.