The modern version of many people’s American Dream now includes owning their own business. There are 30.7 million small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. Accounting for 99.9% of all businesses.
With numbers like that, it’s safe to say the dream is alive and well!
But owning a business and running a business are two different things. Many times new small-business owners get overwhelmed or bogged down with all the moving parts. Surely there is some way to ease the workload without giving up on the dream.
Enter co-employment.
Co-employment just may be everything you never knew your business really needed. Read on and we’ll tell you all about it.
What Is Co-Employment?
It’s a contractual agreement between your business and a professional employer organization (PEO). The contract allocates and divides responsibilities between your business and the PEO. Both entities are considered employers.
Sometimes this can look like the PEO taking on the tasks of clerical management and an HR department. The PEO could handle things like hiring, payroll, and benefits. You would still manage the day-to-day management of staff and responsibilities.
To see how co-employment could work for you have a look here.
What Are the Benefits of Co-Employment?
With co-employment, you may be able to increase the profitability of your business by creating operational efficiencies, minimizing your company’s risk, and maximizing available talent.
Co-employment allows you to focus on running your business while trained professionals in the PEO manage your IT needs, taxes, insurance, HR functions, etc. Partnering up with the PEO may even open up a wide variety of benefits previously unavailable to your employees.
PEO’s can offer rich benefit packages typically not available to the small-business owner. Including but not limited to, health insurance, educational opportunities, disability insurance, and retirement plans.
Dispelling Co-Employment Myths
There are some myths out there that do co-employment a disservice. We’ll take a peek at a few of the most common.
First off, co-employment doesn’t mean you will lose control of your business. You set the terms of the arrangement between your business and the PEO. The bounds are set in advance and you retain control of day-to-day operations.
You won’t upset your employees. Some people fear that their workforce won’t be happy with the changes. In many cases, they may be able to access more robust benefits without additional cost to you.
You won’t be pushing HR off a cliff. By working with existing HR professionals, PEO’s can better understand your vision and company culture. In the long-term, this can help you realize greater profits and grow a solid team.
Co-Employment For the Win
As you can see, there are many benefits to working with a PEO to help grow your business. And in today’s ever-complex world the small-business owner can use all the help they can get.
Teaming up with a PEO can help ensure you’re getting the best talent for the job. Your company’s stellar culture will help retain them. A truly symbiotic relationship.
Now that you understand what co-employment is, you can begin the search for a reputable PEO that fits best for your company with confidence.