The hybrid work model has become increasingly popular in recent years—particularly since the pandemic in 2020. A blend of working from home and working in an office environment has been shown to have a positive impact on productivity and overall employee satisfaction. When your company partners with a PEO, however, what does that mean for the services you’ll receive as a business owner or manager?
Professional employer organizations—or PEOs—handle the administrative tasks of a business like onboarding, payroll, workers’ compensation, and risk management. Relieving the administrative burden can create space for business owners and HR professionals to focus on the employees themselves. But what challenges come with adapting PEO services for hybrid work models, and what solutions can be offered?
Challenges of Managing Hybrid Work with PEO Services
PEOs typically offer software for both employers and employees to have easy access to things like personal data and payroll. A portal or dashboard specific to each employee can be incredibly helpful for time-tracking and communication. However, there can also be challenges when it comes to the hybrid work model.
When employees work in an office, it’s easy to see when they arrive at work in the morning and leave at the end of the day—there’s no question about clocking in and clocking out. When an employee works from home, however, there has to be accountability for when they start working and when they finish for the day.
While an employee dashboard can help make tracking time easier for your team, it also makes it easier for people to be deceptive about when they are or are not working. The hope, of course, is that every employee would be honest about the time they’ve worked, but that may be something difficult to ensure.
Solutions Offered by PEOs for Hybrid Work
Though there may be some challenges to managing hybrid work with PEO services, there are also many benefits. Partnering with a PEO can make the onboarding process smooth and streamlined, no matter where in the world your employees are located. Onboarding new hires can be complex, but with PEO software to help walk each new employee through the required documentation and training programs, the process is much more straightforward.
PEOs also specialize in having a full understanding of state and federal rules and regulations surrounding labor, which helps ensure compliance no matter where your employees are located. These ever-changing labor laws can be difficult to keep track of for employers—particularly when they have employees all over the world. Working with a PEO ensures your company stays up-to-date with those regulations, avoiding the issue of non-compliance.
One challenge of working remotely is keeping employees engaged at work. PEOs offer solutions to this by providing training and development programs for employees to work through within their dashboard. This not only helps employees continue to grow and evolve, but it also allows them to feel more involved within the company.
Adapting PEO Services to a Flexible Workforce
PEO services are easily adaptable to a hybrid work model, and advancements in technology mean even more features unfolding with time. Offering chat options between employees is a great idea going forward to help maintain open lines of communication. Without the ability to have quick, in-person chats with your coworkers at the office, it can sometimes be challenging to keep certain tasks moving forward. A chat option would help employees easily communicate throughout the day, boosting productivity and engagement.
The Future of PEOs in Hybrid Work Environments
Streamlined onboarding for employees worldwide, compliance with state and federal labor laws, and increased employee productivity, engagement, and overall morale are crucial ways that PEO services have solved hybrid work model challenges. Technological advancements continue to improve the way PEOs can support business owners and HR professionals in the future.
If your company has a hybrid work model and you’re ready for support when it comes to the administrative tasks of your business, reach out to the experienced team at PEOPayGo. We can help you streamline and simplify your onboarding, payroll, and everything in between.
