Client Success

POC Medical Systems is a young company helping to shift the focus in healthcare from specialized treatment of late-stage diseases to an emphasis on early detection. Founded by experienced technology and biomedical professionals, POC develops inexpensive and easy-to-use medical devices for diagnostics and information sharing.

To support its transition from a product development group of independent contractors to a viable company with full-time employees, POC needed to quickly and cost-effectively establish employee benefits and HR infrastructure to attract, hire and retain quality people.

Within 4 weeks of our initial meeting, we were able implement a combination of benefits and HR infrastructure to get the company off the ground, including: a comprehensive health benefits package, 401k retirement plan in time for late year deferrals, assistance with payroll setup, and setup of an HR & benefits administration system for onboarding new hires and managing benefits.

• Able to quickly establish benefits for incoming employees.
• Able to quickly leverage technology systems for management & administration of payroll and benefits.
• Able to stay focused on critical work of product and business development  

Spectra7 is a fast growing semiconductor company sitting in the heart of the Silicon Valley.  The company’s analog chip technology makes the electronic products we use every day dramatically thinner, lighter and higher performance.  This enables sleeker and improved design within and across many devices, such as laptops, high-end displays, handheld VR, and other consumer electronics.

With a long product development cycle and delayed market adoption, Spectra7 was nearing the end of its runway to produce a sustainable profit and viable business model.  With new leadership on board, the company was facing pressures to reduce costs in all areas, including benefits and HR.

We worked closely with HR and a new management team to evaluate and reconfigure health benefits and their 401k retirement plan to reduce some costs; but more importantly, to enhance education and communications to employees so that the value of their benefits was more attainable.   We used extensive benchmarking of plans, premiums and contributions with peers in Silicon Valley, as well as employee surveys to understand satisfaction levels and guide changes.

• Able to immediately adjust some costs in employee benefits
• Allowed management to see and experience true value of benefits package for employees
• Realized greater value of benefits as part of retention and hiring

ZETA Instruments designs and manufactures advanced optical profilers and defect inspection systems for multiple high-technology industries, with more than 250 systems installed across 23 different countries. The company is fast growing, driven by rapid technology progress combined with a strong focus on customer requirements.  The rapid adoption of ZETA’s products is a testament to the company’s differentiated technology, with 10 issued patents and 13 additional patents in process.  Its locations include headquarters in San Jose, CA, a regional office in Shanghai, China, and sales and service representatives worldwide.

As a company moving from early stage pre-revenue to high growth, ZETA was challenged to build a quality benefits package that was highly valued and equitable across the organization.  Additionally, they needed someone to manage the evolution of their benefits as the company expanded, and to handle the administration of benefits, due to limited resources.

Through various management and HR discussions, we helped to design a cafeteria style benefits package with a unique employer contribution structure.  The structure enables employees to pick and choose the most valuable benefits to them, or opt for increased compensation if not enrolling. In addition, we established a system for paperless onboarding of new employees, as well as back-end benefits administration, requiring little to no internal resource to manage the workflows.

By integrating the benefits funding so tightly with overall compensation, the return on investment for the company is at maximum levels, and employees appreciate the flexibility to take their benefits compensation in a combination of different ways. Ultimately this creates high satisfaction levels and strong value for the company, and employees.

Founded in 1996, Beezwax is an IT Development company specialized in building and enhancing web and database solutions for virtually any use. They manage complex knowledge, capture business logic, streamline processes, and visualize unique information and assets.  They are a talented team that truly enjoys working collaboratively, in an environment where work lives are fully engaging and satisfying.

The company was frustrated with their health benefits package for employees.  It was misunderstood,  confusing, and too expensive. Altogether messy – for both the company and employees.  No one felt they were getting good value from the benefits package.

We came on the scene and fixed all of that.  We re-structured and enhanced their offerings; significantly changed the company and employee contribution model; implemented new technology to clean up administration; and educated employees in whole new ways about their benefits.

The results were much happier, more well-informed employees and healthcare consumers, and a company feeling great about their ROI on benefits…even though they are now spending a little more money.  A true win-win.

Founded in 1983, Structural Integrity is an established global leader in providing engineering solutions for structural evaluation, failure analysis and repair across multiple industries. Blending state-of-the-art science, deep vertical experience, and old-fashioned customer service, they deliver solutions in prevention and control of structural and mechanical failures across various industries.

While the company maintained a very strong benefits package, highly competitive within the Silicon Valley, there was a fundamental disconnect with its culture. The design and communication of employee benefits did not properly reflect the company’s supportive, employee first mantra.  The result was below-average satisfaction and lower perceived value from employees, causing occasional problems with recruitment and retention.  In addition, the HR team was overburdened by the management and increasing administration of employee benefits.

After surveying employees about what was important to them, we worked closely with management to re-develop and essentially re-brand their employee benefits.  In addition, we implemented new and ongoing communication strategies to educate employees and highlight value, including a new Benefits Center, helpdesk, seminars, and Total Compensation Statements.  And along the way, we managed to reduce the costs of their health insurance, thanks to very positive (low) claims trends, and replace older systems to streamline administration.  

The results are much happier, more well-informed employees and healthcare consumers; a management team feeling great about the Return on Investment for health benefits; and an HR team with more time on their hands to focus on other strategic HR issues.

Based in Livermore, All Systems Broadband produces connectivity products for the evolving voice, video and data industries. ASB solutions enable America’s largest networks to run faster, smarter and more profitably.

As the company experienced strong growth, they came to understand that they needed more hands-on HR and customized benefits – something they couldn’t get from their PEO.  They needed in-house HR management to lead resource planning, recruiting and hiring, performance management, culture development, and HR administration.  Additionally, satisfaction levels from employees regarding their health benefits was low.

Working closely with their management team, we helped to evaluate the advantages of exiting their PEO structure, and then managed the transition from soup to nuts. We identified significant savings in administration and worker’s compensation costs, and then brought in a recruiter to find and hire a permanent HR manager.  We implemented new, customized health benefits for employees in CA and NC to drive higher satisfaction levels.  And we assisted in the setup of new Worker’s Comp and EPLI insurance.    

With a permanent HR manager now on board, the company was able to accelerate their growth even further and improve company culture. And while health benefits costs remained essentially the same, we were able to greatly enhance the value for each employee.

CEL is a home for social entrepreneurs and a launch pad for new ideas and people projects that seek to change the world by leveraging the power of the internet. CEL has provided the expertise and infrastructure for dozens of startups, entrepreneurs, and philanthropic partners to expand the impact and reach of people powered change.

As a fiscal sponsor with dozens of small organizations under their umbrella, CEL was challenged to meet the needs of each group with competitive yet affordable benefits.  Frequent changes within the core HR and operations teams also led to inconsistent processes, and strained their ability to effectively manage HR and benefits administration across a wide geography. Additionally, the process of passing the cost for benefits through to their partners was overly complex and difficult for the finance team to administer.

As a partner who could understand and embrace their culture and objectives, we helped them to build a meaningful and cost-effective benefits package with universal appeal across their diverse groups.  Leveraging Maxwell Health, we also built custom workflows to streamline their onboarding, benefits administration, and billing processes.  Simultaneously, we were also able to  deliver a greatly enhanced employee experience.  

• Continuity of benefits, resulting in higher value for employees and company
• Less time spent on HR tasks and benefits administration
• Predictability of benefits costs for future resource planning