GNSA Unites People, Processes to Optimize Business Productivity, Potential


GNSA team outside its Portland headquarters

Brand Story – Integrating payroll services, human capital management makes for better bottom line, happier workers.

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Post-pandemic and with a potential recession looming, the workplace is evolving, and companies must adapt to the future of work to remain competitive.

Organizations that want to recruit and retain top talent must cater to changing employee expectations while boosting productivity and navigating more complex federal, state and local labor laws and other regulations.

Employers across the board are looking for ways to streamline payroll, HR and benefits and identify cost-cutting solutions while zeroing in on sales and operations. To do so, they are finding it more important than ever to partner with a company like Great Northern Staff Administrators (GNSA).  

Headquartered in Portland, but with a nationwide customer portfolio, GNSA melds processes, people and technology to ease the employee administration burden. By automating and integrating document management, payroll and HR tasks within a human capital management (HCM) system, such as GNSA’s PeoplePro platform, employers can forgo the great paper chase. The cloud-based suite can help with hiring, tracking productivity and performance, assisting in scheduling, analyzing trends, reducing errors and more, all in a few clicks.

556A4126Robert Nicholl, Business Advisor (left) and Katharina Fink, President

“Companies have traditionally used piecemeal solutions across employee operations. By bringing it all under one platform and providing services around it, GNSA covers all of these employment-related needs for companies so that way they can focus on their core business and not back-office processes,” said GNSA President Katharina Fink.

More traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems focus on finances and track goods, costs and revenues but ignore the human factor. PeoplePro, from GNSA, is a boon both for business and the individual worker.

Talent Management
With the upheaval of the past several years — the Great Resignation, Great Reshuffle, and Great Return — recruiting and retention are top of mind. Remote work has improved work-life balance for employees, but can be a nightmare for administrators, particularly when staff may be scattered across many cities or states.

“To retain their employees, (companies are) having to update and improve their employee operations and offerings. PeoplePro allows them to stay engaged with staff, even though they may not be face to face,” Fink said. “The company is able to focus on what is best for their employees and can find the right person for the role.”  

Automation can save precious time and energy. All the data collected during the pre-employment process flows into other applications. It’s the start of an employee record and kicks off the onboarding process.

Employee satisfaction is enhanced when workers don’t have to wait for HR to “get back to them” with answers to their questions about insurance, vacation, 401(k) and more. This self-service model allows them to access information anytime from anywhere on any device. It also enables a reliable, less subjective performance review process. The employer and employee have a transparent method, with supporting documents, for setting goals, tracking accomplishments and making compensation adjustments.

Communication Is Key
With an HCM solution, communication becomes a two-way street. An organization can send automated messages internally and externally, engage in surveys, illuminate important company procedures or connect with employees to improve culture. Staff members can track their schedules, engage in on-demand training sessions and skill development, or interact with co-workers and managers in-house or remotely.

Using an HCM platform, employees are more likely to participate and offer input and opinions that can help develop and grow the operation. Additionally, as technology changes rapidly and often, the suite can keep workforce skills current.

Customer service is GNSA’s hallmark. GNSA flattens the learning curve and works with companies to configure and deploy the system, ensuring 100% proficiency, while providing ongoing support.

As part of joining GNSA, electronic updates are sent out allowing companies to take a proactive approach and keep abreast of changing federal, state or local laws and regulations. The online suite also provides strong, dependable cybersecurity, a top-of-mind necessity today.

With nonprofits, in particular, financial management is crucial and PeoplePro can help minimize costs while helping manage the grant funding that many of these organizations rely on for support. The platform also can sort and analyze data to produce reports required for continued funding.

Critical Asset
With more organizations recognizing the need for better tools to support their mission, GNSA has expanded its operations and staff by nearly 40% this year and continues to grow, according to Fink.

“Whenever there is talk of a recession, companies are looking to do two things — reduce costs and increase productivity,” she said. “With all the employee management solutions GNSA provides, ultimately, they’re able to accomplish both these goals.”

Human capital management unites people and processes for maximum productivity while creating an environment where employer and employee potential can be fully realized. GNSA takes the reins from beginning to end and creates a partnership for mutual success.

 


Brand stories are paid content articles that allow Oregon Business advertisers to share news about their organizations and engage with readers on business and public policy issues.  The stories are produced in house by the Oregon Business marketing department. For more information, contact associate publisher Courtney Kutzman.