Sequent, Inc. Provides Best Practices in HR Services
“Entrepreneurs have great ideas and passion,” said Joe Cole, Regional Director/Executive Vice President, Sequent, Inc. “They are out there to start a company. They are focused on their customers, products, and financial pro formas. But that same passionate entrepreneur, once she signs up an employee, often doesn’t fully understand the magnitude of the employer responsibilities and liabilities she now has.”
That’s where Sequent, Inc., acting as an Expert Network provider, is supplying valuable advice, expertise, and best practices to TechColumbus engaged clients. Sequent provides a broad and diverse set of services for managing the people side of any business.
“It doesn’t make sense for a startup to build out human resources infrastructure,” Cole said. “We want to educate emerging organizations on a potentially better approach including off- loading responsibility for administration and compliance, and sharing liability to another organization like Sequent.”
Payroll, taxes, hiring, background checks, employee files, reporting, administration, benefits, retirement plans, workplace policies, job descriptions, and…and…and…
Companies establish risk partners every day in areas where they don’t have expertise —attorneys, accountants, insurance providers. Businesses outsource these services because the details are extensive and complex.
It’s the same with human resources, and yet this is an area that many entrepreneurs don’t anticipate that they need help or even contemplate as they pursue their dream.
“People are a company’s greatest asset,” Cole said. “The second greatest asset, particularly in the startup phase, is the time, attention and energy of the leadership team. That’s finite. Entrepreneurs need to focus on their customers and building their company. We take over the administrative burden on the people side of the business.”
Sequent aggregates experience and creates economies of scale to emulate a Fortune 100 human resources experience for startup businesses allowing the small entrepreneur to compete with the larger companies for top talent.
Sequent’s willingness to really listen to entrepreneurs’ needs is especially beneficial.
From offer letters to employee handbooks, to payroll and tax reporting, Sequent helps startups get off on the right foot.
“We start by sitting down with the client to understand who they are and where they’re going,” Cole said. “We want to educate them and provide instantly deployable services, depending on where they are in the life cycle of their business.”
“Entrepreneurs told us they were too small to need our services,” said Lisa Studer, Sequent business development representative. “They felt that all they needed was payroll.”When Sequent began as an Expert Network partner, there were some roadblocks.
In response, Sequent developed a standalone payroll and tax management service.
“To our surprise,” Studer said, “that service has opened the door for companies that originally thought they were too small to make the determination that they need and can afford a fuller range of HR services.”
Planning for success and getting ahead on due diligence
It’s tempting for an entrepreneur to postpone these considerations, but sound HR practices and thorough documentation can make a company more valuable and a better target for funding and/or exit strategies.
“We help entrepreneurs deploy best practices with our three mission critical technology platforms including our web-based HR system,” Cole says. “We fully manage the employee life cycle. Everything is digitized in electronic files. It remains in our digital vault as long our clients need it to.”
The goal of the Expert Network is to help entrepreneurs adopt best practices with the assistance from trusted service providers like Sequent, Inc. This in turn will accelerate their ability to attract and retain top talent as well as grow and protect their new business venture.
