When running your business there is no shortage of things that keep you busy and distracted from selling, product development, marketing and the long list of other things you should be doing to grow your business. One of the most time consuming activities is managing your employees. With today’s complex employment laws it is difficult if not nearly impossible to keep everything in compliance.

In addition to the time spent organizing payroll there is also the cost of worker’s compensation insurance, payroll services, and health and retirement benefits. For a small business, like many of us have, in the Miss-Lou this weight can be almost unbearable. However, there are ways to lighten the load while becoming more profitable and still improving employee benefits.

There has been a recent trend to outsource some of these services. Professional Employment Organizations or PEOs are companies that can alleviate some of your small business’s HR workload.

Some of the services they can offer are: payroll and payroll tax processing, benefits administration (retirement plans), offer competitive medical benefits, help with recruitment and performance management, help with OSHA and EEOC compliance, provide worker’s compensation insurance for certain businesses, human resources and workplace discrimination mitigation.

By outsourcing some of these services not only can you and your key employees focus on business development, but also attract and retain qualified employees by offering them benefits that, until now, only larger companies could offer. In today’s employment market there are few things more enticing than a broad, well-designed benefits program.

Outsourcing can sometimes be a scary word. However, implementing a PEO can transform your business into a much more efficient operation.

Tate Hobdy is a commercial insurance specialist at Stephens and Hobdy Insurance in Natchez.