Barlean's Nourishes Better HR Processes with Premium Tools

Barlean’s, a family-owned health supplement manufacturer, has built a reputation on delivering high-quality, natural products that support wellness from the inside out. At the heart of Barlean’s success is a commitment to both its customers and employees.

“It’s a company that really values the customer experience,” says Kelly Franzen, Director of Human Resources. “We value our workforce, our respect for one another, and our transparency. It’s an easy group to work with.”

With a team working across multiple shifts and roles, Barlean’s fosters a workplace culture that values initiative, growth, and partnership. However, creating a sense of connection and engagement comes with challenges, especially as the company expands. Barlean’s needed a reliable partner to simplify complex HR processes while enhancing employee experience, reducing administrative tasks, and providing industry leading technology.

The Challenge: Legacy Methods Don’t Align with Modern Demands

Manual processes struggled to keep up with an evolving workforce.

Growing Needs, Outdated HR Practices

Before implementing Paylocity, Barlean’s HR team managed operations with a patchwork of systems and manual processes that couldn’t keep pace with the company’s expanding needs. Despite their dedication to creating a supportive environment, outdated methods slowed progress.

“We had to upload our payroll clock data into our previous system and then manually print checks,” Kelly remembers. “There was so much paperwork for onboarding, employee trainings, and, of course, payroll — folding papers and stuffing envelopes for everybody.”

As Barlean’s grew, the limitations of their legacy practices became more apparent, making the need for a modern HR solution critical.

Difficulty Reaching Deskless Workers with Crucial Updates

With a workforce primarily composed of deskless employees, Barlean’s faced a significant challenge in ensuring key communications reached everyone effectively. Relying heavily on email, the team had no way to confirm if employees had seen important messages or updates, which led to gaps in communication. 

This lack of visibility made it difficult for Kelly and her team to keep employees informed and engaged, especially with the company’s growth and evolving processes. 

Payroll and Compliance Strain in a Multi-State Workforce

Handling payroll and ensuring compliance posed additional challenges. Accuracy and reliability in payroll are key in any business, but manual processes took a toll on HR’s bandwidth.

“Payroll accuracy is crucial in a company that values trust,” Kelly explains. “With our previous setup, staying compliant and ensuring timely, accurate payroll was incredibly time-consuming.”

Barlean's realized it needed a scalable, integrated solution that would grow alongside them — a platform that could transform administrative tasks, reinforce their culture, and streamline payroll with precision.

The Solution: Empowering Growth and Engagement

Barlean’s found a comprehensive, people-centered solution in Paylocity.

Striking the Balance Between Modernization and Personal Connection

As Barlean’s grew, it became clear they needed a payroll solution that could keep up with their organization’s needs while maintaining the personalized, hands-on approach that’s core to their operations. 

“We needed something that would bring together time and labor, payroll, and reporting,” Kelly explains. “We explored several providers, but Paylocity offered exactly what we needed. It streamlined our processes and made everything simple on the HR side and for our employees.”

Elevating Recruiting Efficiency with Streamlined Access

Barlean’s had a range of recruiting needs. Much of the workload previously fell on Kelly's shoulders, and without a centralized system, managing candidates was cumbersome and time-consuming. Paylocity’s Recruiting module proved to be a game-changer, helping streamline the hiring process by empowering managers with direct access to candidate resumes and statuses.

“I like how managers can just hop right into Recruiting and look at all the resumes — they’re all in one place,” Kelly says. “I can move candidates along in the process, or the hiring manager can do it themselves. It helps delegate the responsibility so I’m not the only one viewing all these resumes.”

Simplifying and Enriching the Onboarding Experience

With Paylocity’s automated workflows and customizable Onboarding modules, Barlean’s can now create a welcoming experience for new hires that reflects the company’s values. The streamlined process allows Kelly’s team to focus on people rather than paperwork.

“Now employees can do all their paperwork and day-one tasks right in the onboarding system, and it automatically uploads into the backend of Paylocity,” Kelly says. “It’s such an easy, user-friendly platform, and we’re happy with it.”

AI Assistant Helps Increase Efficiency, Effectiveness

The new innovations in Paylocity are easy to use as well. The AI Assistant has been a huge asset to the Barlean’s team, and Kelly has used it to streamline manual processes and ask questions about the Paylocity platform to save time.

The Results: Efficiency, Collaboration, and Growth

With streamlined processes and enhanced HR tools, Barlean’s is better equipped to grow, connect, and support its workforce.

Payroll Process Cut from Half a Day to One Hour

With Paylocity, Barlean’s now has a payroll system that doesn’t just handle core functions efficiently but also simplifies compliance, tax calculations, and year-end reporting. The intuitive, automated workflows allow Kelly and her team to stay on top of payroll with ease, reducing manual errors and freeing up time for higher-impact tasks. 

“I can get payroll done in less than an hour easily, and that includes going through the timecards now, whereas before, it was pretty much a half a day process,” she says.

Enhanced Communication and Engagement with Community

Barlean’s has significantly improved communication and employee engagement through Paylocity’s online collaboration tool, Community. “With Community, employees just get notifications on their phones. They can see all the events that are happening, any due dates for trainings, and even our handbook,” Kelly shares. 

This instant access to information means employees are always in the loop, leading to better participation and a more connected workforce. “There are multiple ways now they can receive and keep up on announcements, and Community is definitely one of the main ones that gets our information to our people,” Kelly says.

A Foundation for Future Growth

With Paylocity’s support, Barlean’s is now positioned to continue its growth without being weighed down by manual HR and payroll processes. All those processes are streamlined with Paylocity, while the new innovations like AI Assistant improve Kelly’s overall productivity and ensure the entire organization has the support they need in a timely matter.

“When employees need W-2s or other forms, they know it’s in Paylocity, and they can download it themselves,” Kelly says about Paylocity’s employee self-service portal. “They have everything right at their fingertips.”