Architecture and Engineering Firm Designs a Modernized Employee Experience

From its humble beginnings dating back to the early 1970s, ISG, a multi-disciplinary design firm, has grown to more than 450 employee owners in 11 offices spanning four states. Considering its growth (100 new hires per year), ISG needed a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) that could scale alongside the company. ISG was searching for an HRIS with an open and flexible architecture to reduce multiple points of data entry across internal and 3rd-party systems and streamline recruiting, onboarding, and benefit administration processes. Paylocity checked all the boxes for ISG and provided so much more.

• 150 new hires onboarded in 2021
• 1,000 hours saved through automation
• 1 full time employee focused on employee engagement
• Significantly reduced human errors

The Challenge: In Need of Automation

Outdated HR practices needed an overhaul to create a modern and efficient employee experience

Paper-based Process Slows ISG’s Progress

ISG was running separate recruiting, onboarding, and payroll systems, which meant time-consuming, repetitive entry of candidate data across different software platforms. Employee identification and tax forms were still being collected in paper format, and compliance was proving to be more difficult as the firm grew. A digital process and centralized location to house all candidate data were high on the priority list for ISG. “Our process needed an overhaul to improve the user experience,” noted Sarah Duwenhoegger, Employee Experience Manager at ISG.

Benefits Needed A Digital Upgrade

In addition to the recruiting and onboarding enhancements, ISG was also looking for an HRIS that would connect to their internal Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software and 3rd-party benefit administrators. These systems all required similar employee demographic information, which ISG staff was adding manually.

“We knew applicants had to add their demographic information to apply at ISG,” added Alec Pfeffer, Director of Finance & Accounting at ISG. “Why couldn’t this information be sent automatically to our other internal platforms and 3rd-party carriers when an applicant becomes an employee?”

Alec continued, “Leveraging APIs eliminated data entry duplicity but also yields higher data accuracy, as human error would be eliminated from the process.”

The Solution: Advancing with Recruiting and Onboarding

ISG chose Paylocity to integrate into its existing ERP infrastructure and eliminating multiple manual data entry points.

ISG Scales Talent Management

Once ISG streamlined recruiting and uploaded job postings to 3rd-party sites, ISG was able to onboard new employees at a record pace. “In our first year with Paylocity, we onboarded more than 150 team members,” noted Duwenhoegger. “We would not have been able to accomplish this using our old system without adding more HR team members.”

The onboarding process for ISG has been completely revamped as well. New employees can complete most of their onboarding on their own from the comfort of their homes so that their first days at ISG are spent interacting with teams rather than filling out paperwork. As Sarah explains, “We send onboarding paperwork a week in advance, and it’s usually completed before their first day of work. This was  not the case before making the move over to Paylocity.”

ISG Recaptures Top Talent

In addition to onboarding successes, ISG is also better managing its pool of candidates. If a talented individual isn’t a fit now, their information will remain inside Paylocity’s recruiting platform so ISG can follow up with them later when the time is right. This is not something ISG could do with their previous systems.

Communication between staff and candidates has also improved. Automated email templates help ISG’s staff follow up with candidates quickly, and qualified candidates can be forwarded to internal managers for review.

• Recruiting offers a people-first, tech forward experience for applicants.
• Onboarding minimizes paperwork so new hires can meet the team instead.
• Benefits eliminates manual labor and improves data flow.

The Results: Saving 1,000s of Hours

ISG streamlined HR processes, automating recruiting, onboarding, payroll, and benefit administration

Since joining Paylocity at the start of 2021, ISG has saved hundreds of hours by removing manual data entry processes which have kept their HR team running lean. ISG's data is also cleaner as human errors have declined significantly.

“From recruiting through termination, Paylocity’s HRIS is a scalable solution,” stated Pfeffer. “It has allowed ISG to focus our time and effort back on the direct needs of our employees, while continuing to keep back of house headcount low. What more could you ask out of your HRIS?”