Tom Aldrich is Human Resources Director for Teche Federal Bank, a 76 year-old organization that has grown into the fourth largest publicly traded bank headquartered in Louisiana.  Tom was kind enough to answer a few questions about his experience, and how ADP has played a role in helping him succeed.

How long have you been in the field?
I have been in HR and Payroll for 12 years.  I started at a bank that was subsequently purchased by Capital One in 2005.  After another three years at Capital One, I joined Teche Federal Bank, where I have been for the past three years.

How long have you been a client of ADP?
I have been with ADP since 2005, when I first joined Capital One.

Thinking back to your days before ADP, what were some of the issues that you faced?
For payroll, our systems and procedures were pretty limited, in that we did not allow employees access to view paychecks, W-2s, etc.   From an employee experience perspective, sending out paper receipts and advice was not what we would today consider “user friendly”.  It was not efficient for employees or for the business in general.  The user experience was hindered. 

I remember the days when we had to call in our payroll taxes, which just provided way too much opportunity for error. 

How did partnering with ADP address those issues?
The PayeXpert interface eliminated manual entry and severely limited the opportunity for human error.  The automation and seamlessness has just streamlined the entire process and allowed things to be calculated automatically.  I do not have to be the expert, particularly with regard to issues that I do not see during my day-to-day responsibilities.  For example, when compliance laws change, ADP handles the regulatory updates.  It is not necessary to change information in various locations, I just enter it once and everything flows.  It helps me to sleep better at night.

What are some recent issues that you have faced?
The most prevalent things always seem to be around compliance and legislation.  Two that immediately come to mind are the HIRE Act and Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

How did you handle those issues?
We basically just turned to ADP for guidance.  ADP is so well-versed in these compliance matters that they seem to be able to handle everything.  For the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, ADP has been able to search through a variety of programs and determine our credit eligibility for each.

What do you see as the biggest problems facing today’s payroll and HR professionals and how do you handle them?
The two biggest issues continue to be compliance and regulatory environment.  I consider ADP as an extension or addition to my staff, so when I came to Teche, I made sure that we had all ADP products.  My primary motivator was ADPs expertise with regard to payroll, because if you are one penny off on a payroll, the employee will let you know about it.  Each of the related products and services has just been an added bonus.  It has become a very user friendly environment using Workforce NowTM and the additional products.

Our products have the same bells and whistles as the larger companies in our industry.  They paid so much more because they built out their HRIS systems.  We made the decision that we do not necessarily want to be on the leading edge, we want to be on the bleeding edge.

Is there particular ADP functionality that you think some of your colleagues might not be aware of?
One of the best investments I have ever made was selecting Total Tax PlusSM.  ADP almost acts like an attorney for any unemployment claims, dealing with the government or courts.  ADP knows the process better than anyone and has the resources and expertise to identify when claims are made and handle better than I ever could.  It is such a valuable service, for such a small price, it pays for itself pretty quickly.

What are your expectations of ADP for the future?
I appreciate the efforts ADP is making in going to an integrated database and I’m really looking forward to when that happens.  I can imagine what a monumental task this is for ADP, but making it one true system – including the ancillary modules – will be great.

What advice would you give to people when it comes to being a payroll or HR professional?
It is a detail-oriented position and unless you are a CPA with a very specific focus, you really need a 3rd party to assist with compliance updates.  Nobody wants to be the target of a wage and hour audit, where the Department of Labor examines payroll records.  Mistakes are costly, so it is essential to leverage expertise as much as possible.