Arcoro Helps Kansas City Contractor Provide an Enhanced Employee Experience
A blank slate – that’s what Jenna Henderson, Vice President of Human Resources and EEO Officer, was walking into when she joined Superior Bowen and their family of companies in April of 2018. The Kansas City-based companies had never had an internal HR department before, and Henderson was excited to build her department from the ground up – but she knew she needed help.
“HR departments are tasked with so many things. Growing the workforce, the Millennial and Gen Z shift, training, benefits and more. Arcoro helps shave off invaluable time from our processes.”
The small staff of three HR professionals provide support for over 650 employees across six companies. They work on a variety of projects, including federal contracts, ranging from cold milling, asphalt production and site preparation to development and planning, and earthwork. Their staffing needs vary from construction laborers, machine operators and drivers to project managers and other skilled employees.
Superior Bowen and companies needed a solution for many areas of their HR processes. Since Henderson joined in 2018, she’s moved six of the companies to the Arcoro platform. Before Arcoro, they used third-party recruiters for each open position. They hadn’t conducted an official company-wide performance review in years. They didn’t have a company handbook. With Arcoro, the HR team has been able to implement many positive changes for Superior Bowen and its allied companies’ workforces.
With recommendations from their construction association and references from current customers, Arcoro made its way on to Henderson’s short list. Their “must-haves” included:
- One-stop shop for all talent management processes
- A central system to store all employee-related documentation
- Easy to adopt and use company-wide
- A system that supported full compliance due to their work on federal contracts
Challenges
- Inefficient and expensive recruiting through a fee-based staffing firm
- No clear company-wide filing system or protocols
- Compliance wasn’t a focus
- Too little time to manage all of the HR responsibilities for a small team
Results
- Streamlined job distribution and applicant tracking that supports compliance
- Conducted their first standardized company-wide performance review
- Created a company-wide employee handbook
- Expanded HR team to focus on strategic initiatives
Modules Used
Applicant Tracking System
Onboarding
Core HR
Benefits
ACA Compliance
Performance Management System
Learning Management System
Succession Planning
A Central System of Record
Henderson’s philosophy is to treat the employees she supports as if they were customers and ensure that they are receiving the time and attention they deserve. The Core HR system has allowed the HR team to focus more on people and less on paperwork. “Our job first and foremost is to take care of the employees. That means getting out on jobsites and experiencing what our employees experience. We can tend to employee needs faster and better than we ever have before because we can access their information at our fingertips out in the field,” said Henderson.
Implementing the Arcoro Core HR module has allowed the companies to centralize all of their HR processes for a better employee experience. “It’s our one-stop shop for employee information. I can access everything about our employees directly from the system,” said Henderson. When employees apply and complete their new hire documentation through the Applicant Tracking System and Onboarding modules, their information flows throughout the entire Arcoro system with the Core HR module. The HR team uses Core HR to access hire date, position, manager information, crew location, union information and more.
Through integrations between the Arcoro Core HR and Benefits modules, employees can log in, compare plans and make their benefits selections from anywhere. This also allows their small but nimble HR team to conduct open enrollment with ease. “Open enrollment is always a stressful time and can be an administrative nightmare. Now I can pop into the system and things aren’t getting lost in the shuffle,” said Henderson.
Passed Audits with Flying Colors
As a federal contractor, Superior Bowen must remain compliant with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Before implementing Arcoro, audits were difficult for the company, as they had no standard documentation protocol. After implementing the Arcoro solution, they had access to all the documentation they needed to pass OFCCP, DOT, and EEOC audits.
Auditors asked for Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) information like:
- How many women and minorities applied and interviewed for each position
- Form I-9 documentation for all current employees
- Certifications and training programs that were available to employees
Using standard and custom reports, Superior Bowen was able to access all of this required information with a few clicks. With access to the documentation in Arcoro’s HR modules, they have passed DOT audits and worked on many federal projects, including construction on major Missouri and Kansas highways.
In addition to easier audit compliance, Henderson enjoys the security she has using Arcoro. “As an HR professional, one concern is always keeping employee files secure. By having everything digitalized in the system, all I have to do is log out to know my files are safe.”
Creating Company-Wide Performance Reviews
One of Henderson’s goals as the inaugural HR leader, was to implement a standardized performance review process for all the companies she supports. After implementing the Arcoro Performance Management system, the HR team received many positive comments from employees regarding the easy-to-use features and simplicity of the module. “We deployed our first-ever official performance reviews. Everyone did self-reviews first, and met with their managers to agree on their goals and complete the performance review,” Henderson said. “Employees like the fact that they have an opportunity to receive feedback from their manager and are able to better understand their areas of focus moving forward.”
Performance reviews have helped Henderson focus on her favorite part of the job. “I love watching people expand their knowledge, expand in their role and develop their own next steps. It’s very important for the future of our company and it’s how we grow.”
“If I have the golden ticket, I want to share it. I want others to be successful, too. Arcoro has been our golden ticket.”
Responding to COVID-19
As an essential business, Superior Bowen and companies have been able to conduct business as usual during the COVID-19 shut down. Using digital files, each member of the team can access what they need from home, which would not have been possible with their previous paper-based system.
“Arcoro allowed us to still function as a team,” said Henderson. “If we did not have our digital files available, there’s no way we could have done our jobs. Right before the shut down, we brought back all of our union employees, approximately 300 employees, and we could still process their documentation from our homes.”
Looking Forward to the Future
Henderson looks forward to expanding the team and continuing to provide an excellent employee experience in the future. Using Arcoro, she and her team can focus more on people and less on processes. The ability to access employee files with a few simple clicks allows her team to reference everything they need to about their workforce. “Being able to reference employee files while we’re on the job site shows employees that we care about them as a person and know what’s going on in their lives,” she said.
Saving time and boosting productivity allows Jenna and her team to get back to their core mission of treating employees with the high level of service they aim to provide.
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