HighGround Advisors is a nonprofit investment company that manages approximately $3 billion in assets and employs a dedicated team of 55 individuals. The organization plays a vital role in supporting the nonprofit sector. Following the retirement of the previous HR Director, HighGround Advisors appointed Carol Nichols to fill the vacancy and lead the company into a new era of financial expertise and a commitment to enhancing HR operations. To achieve these goals, Carol turned to ADP Professional Services.
As a small business, ADP Professional Services’ support and guidance gives us confidence in our current efforts and a clear direction for how we’ll approach future HR challenges.
Carol Nichols,
Director of Human Resources
HighGround Advisors
Challenges
- HighGround Advisors was not fully utilizing their ADP system, missing several modules that could improve HR efficiency and effectiveness
- The retirement of a long-serving HR Director created uncertainty, necessitated a smooth transition and uncovered an opportunity to explore, enhance and better-structure HR responsibilities
- With a quickly growing number of employees and the need for accurate documentation (such as I-9s and performance reviews) HighGround Advisors faced the challenge of managing these processes efficiently and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements
How ADP Helped
- ADP Professional Services provided HighGround Advisors with essential support in optimizing their HR system by implementing new tools and processes, including digital I-9 processing and a centralized performance review system. This guidance allowed the organization to enhance operational efficiency, improve compliance and focus more effectively on its mission to serve the nonprofit sector.
ADP Solutions
- ADP Workforce Now®
- ADP Professional Services
Assessing the need for optimization
When the previous HR director retired, Carol and the COO of HighGround Advisors realized there was an opportunity to improve the utilization of their existing ADP HR system. Carol shares, “We knew that ADP could do more beyond what we were using it for. We hadn’t really branched out to leveraging all of its modules.” Motivated to enhance operational efficiency, Carol took the next steps to unlock the full potential of their ADP system.
The implementation journey
After signing the contract with ADP Professional Services, Carol and her team collaborated with ADP to outline their goals. The initial phase involved a “security overview” to assess appropriate access levels and address how roles had evolved over time. Carol explained, “As people’s roles changed over time, it was good to be able to see if their level of access still matched.” This security assessment laid a strong foundation for the organization to identify areas for improvement and help make a prioritization roadmap for their new module’s implementation.
Modules and features that enhance efficiency
The Professional Services team recommended implementing several unused modules and features in Workforce Now, starting with digital I-9 processing. This transition to an electronic platform simplified the documentation process significantly. Carol mentioned, “We knew we wanted to start by digitizing our I-9s, and it’s been a huge win.”
Additionally, Carol’s team centralized performance reviews and goal-setting within the ADP system, which further streamlined HR’s functionality. She noted, “Being able to centralize that in ADP allowed everyone to easily access their data, and having the ability to automatically store it was great.”
Another significant enhancement came with the implementation of the benefits module, especially as their workforce surpassed 50 employees. Carol says, “The benefits reporting has been instrumental in seeing and understanding how all the deductions work in the payroll process.”
Trust and partnership
Throughout this experience, Carol highlighted the strong partnership formed with the ADP Professional Services team, stating, “As a small business, ADP Professional Services’ support and guidance gives us confidence in our current efforts and a clear direction for how we’ll approach future HR challenges.” With their HR operations now modernized and streamlined, HighGround Advisors are focusing more on their mission of supporting nonprofits in Texas and beyond
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