#HumanTouch Spotlight: Ivette Bosque

At VertiSource HR®, our job is to enable companies to cost effectively outsource the management of payroll, payroll administration, human resources, employee benefits, workers’ compensation, and claims management, which allows our client partners to focus on their core competencies to maintain and grow their bottom line. We at choose to offer these services to our clients with personal attention and a respectful touch. This decision we have made is largely why we consider ourselves to be the "Human Touch" of VertiSource HR®.

Over the next few weeks, we are featuring VertiSource HR® employees who volunteer for causes they are passionate about. We find our employees to be exceptional in their selflessness in the workplace and out in the community.

Ivette Bosque has 20 years of experience in accounting with 12 years as a General Manager for a Xerox agency. Her major was in architecture and she minored in accounting. She has worked for VertiSource HR® for about a year and a half.

We asked Ivette what inspired her to get involved in philanthropic work and she explained that when she was little, her mom used to do a lot of volunteer work. Ivette would go with her mother and together, they would take care of older people (i.e. cleaning homes, paying bills, etc…). When Ivette was married, she wanted to do the same. She wanted to pass that example to her children.

Ivette went on to tell us how through volunteering in her community, she changed her perception of the community and its needs. It changed in that she became less critical of people she interacts with. Recently, for example, she stopped in Bakersfield and saw a couple of people outside of a local gas station in the heavy rain with not a lot to cover themselves from the weather. She provided them some coffee to help them keep warm.

We asked Ivette if the philanthropic work she did had improved other aspects of her personal and professional life and it has. Ivette stated, “it makes one more patient with his/her coworkers (you don’t know everything that is going on in the life of your coworkers). You can also be more patient with your family.”

Some of the most memorable moments Ivette has experienced volunteering have been centered on the human interaction.

Ivette would visit older people and talk with them. Ivette would provide community service in health-related endeavors. Anyone could come and get various little exams and Ivette would participate in it. On Father’s Day, Ivette went to Compton and made breakfast for her community. She loves giving cooking classes for the community as well- cooking with health (focusing on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle)! She would invite the community to take free classes and then eat!

In addition to volunteering her time, Ivette has Christmas gifts, personal care items, and other goods to those in need.

She participated in a “shoe box” Christmas tradition to prepare boxes (like shoe boxes) where she would buy different items that people would need (combs, toothbrushes, etc…) and then create them for either a girl, boy, or baby. She would then put them together and take them to a center where they would provide these boxes to other people all around the world.

Ivette also participates in providing canned goods and registering with the city to donate money
where the donations would be used to help those who were and are in need.

We asked Ivette what advice would you give to someone considering philanthropic work and she responded,

“Service is two ways. For you and the other person. It gives you a perspective on how life is and it helps you see the blessings that you have and you tend to complain less. It’s good for the other person because they are in need. 

First, do it on a regular basis. It can strengthen the one who is giving and help the one who receives. 

Also, pass it on to the younger generation. It gives them an opportunity to see the good that can come out of serving others. It will also allow for an opportunity to establish a tradition that will continue forward with them and onward to future generations. “

Lots of businesses have group philanthropic projects, or at least want to start one. We asked for Ivette's take on company-sponsored group philanthropy. She stated, “When you give to someone else, it makes you tied together in unity. You all grow together. It allows you the opportunity to know the people you work with and help fill in gaps that they have in their lives. It makes you draw closer to those people.”

Ivette Bosque, Accountant, VertiSource HR®

#HumanTouch Spotlight: LeiLani Quiray

At VertiSource HR®, one of our core values is ensuring our client partners can always reach us, not get trapped in an automated phone system.

The personal attention we give our client partners is paramount to our joint success. Combined with our Human Resource Information System (HRIS), which allows companies to manage all their employee critical data at the touch of a mouse, we are the #HumanTouch of HR Automation, a moniker we are proud of.

Over the next few weeks, we are featuring VertiSource HR® employees who volunteer for causes they are passionate about. What is truly exceptional about our employees is their commitment to lending a helping hand, not only to our client partners, but also in their local communities.

We recently sat down with VertiSource HR®'s LeiLani Quiray, Director of HR, to discuss her background in philanthropy and to get some ideas on how small and large business can get involved in their communities. Get inspired by her story...you never know, this may be your new calling ;)

VertiSource HR® Blogger (VB): Can you tell us a little about your professional background?
LeiLani Quiray (LQ): I’ve done HR my entire adult (and some of my teens)!  Our neighbors asked me if I wanted to do payroll for their construction company. I got paid $3.75 per hour, btw….pennies! Here I am nearly 20 years later still in the same field and I love it!

VB:What inspired you to get involved in philanthropic work?
LQ: As a child, my parents encouraged volunteer work.  I remember food drives, soup kitchens, animal shelters, clothing the homeless and as I grew into a young adult I started volunteering at the senior centers (I’m terrible at chess and checkers so I bet those seniors loved playing against me) as well as at a children’s home for abused and neglected children.  This carried into my adult life and now I volunteer for Working Wardrobes, a nonprofit that  assists survivors of domestic violence and other adults in crisis by preparing them to reenter the workforce.  I’m one of their Success Coaches (fancy title for someone who teaches a class on self-esteem building and job applicants skills) and pretty soon I will be teaching a class on social media presence as it relates to finding a job.  You should come to my class if you’re in So Cal! Along with my years of volunteer work there, I’ve also done resume workshops at WHW as well as clothing the homeless on skid row via The Row Church.

VB: Has volunteering in your community changed your perception of the community and its needs?
LQ: Totally but then again how can helping someone in need not change your perception of the world around you?  We all needed a helping hand at one point in our lives…it’s important to return the favor and help someone else out.  Pay it forward.  Our communities need it.

VB: Has your philanthropic work improved other aspects of your personal and professional life? i.e. better listener, more initiative, etc.
LQ: I think it’s provided me with a humbler approach to all aspects of life, a more positive outlook when times are tough and a great appreciation for the life I’ve been blessed with.  It’s all about perspective.

VB: What are some of the most memorable moments you've experienced volunteering?
LQ: I had my son gather together clothing he didn’t want any more to personally hand out to the homeless.  I watched him go through the clothing to offer his pants and shirts to homeless men with a giving smile on his face and when he finished he said, “That was humbling.”  His heart was touched as was mine.  What you remember most is the look in someone’s eye when you know you truly helped them. Those are my favorite moments.
             
VB: What advice would you give to someone considering philanthropic work?
LQ: Do it!  Find something your passionate about that touches your heart and go volunteer your time and/or money to it.

VB: In what ways would you say group philanthropy elevates a company and its culture?
LQ: I believe corporations, like people, are responsible to help the community through philanthropic work.  I’ve seen companies promote ride-share programs, organize a beach cleanup, or chose a specific cause and lend its workforce to help that cause.  Another great idea is an allotment for paid time off specifically for volunteering.  However a company decides to exercise its corporate responsibility to the community, it shows its employees not only does it care for them, it cares for the community at hand.

A big THANKS to LeiLani for lending us her time! Please share this article and get others inspired to give-back!

The Benefits of ASO

You’re a business owner.  You’re busy.  Your staff is busy.  You look for ways to save costs, save time, be as efficient as possible, and ensure you’re following the plethora of laws that running a business requires.  How do you handle all this?  Hire someone full-time to handle all that paperwork and humdrum work you are too busy to complete? Contract it out?  If you contract out, where do you look?

That’s where ASO-model businesses are the perfect fit for your business.  ASO (Administrative Services Organization) is a business that provides administrative and payroll services for your organization.  They can handle the gamut of back office tasks that you don’t want to pay a full-time employee to handle and at a fraction of the cost.  Here’s a breakdown of what ASO’s can do for you:

Payroll Services

An ASO can handle everything (and I mean everything) that has to do with payroll just shy of the funds it requires to pay employees.   The biggest unknown in this “everything” is taxes; the taxes to take out not only for the employee but what the employer pays.  The knowledge, salary, and time it would take for an in-house employee to handle the task is absurd compared to letting an ASO handle it.  An ASO will not only handle the payroll tax portion but also payroll basics like filing W-2s for the year, setting up direct deposit (a great employee benefit every company should have), check printing, and new hire reporting to the state.  In addition to this, ASO’s have an HRIS system to help you track information on your employees. They can assist you with pesky wage garnishments, meet law requirements by providing a timekeeping system to record hours worked, set-up pay-as-you-go workers compensation, and assist you with unemployment claims to keep your unemployment insurance costs down. 

Benefits Administration

With PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), IRS (you know what this one stands for) and ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) regulations, benefits administration can be tricky for a business to handle.  This is where an ASO can step in.  401ks, FSAs, HSAs, HRAs all require specialized reporting and administration.  Then there is health care benefits administration which require a whole other set of special handling from Open Enrollments, new hire enrollments, bill payment and reconciliation to ACA regulations and pre and post-tax requirements. 

HR Support Services

HR can be a HUGE headache and every business owner knows this.  You need, need, need someone who knows HR not only on a federal level, but also on a state level in order to protect you from the labyrinth of employment law out there.  Questions come up, answers are hard to find, and all the while you’re trying to protect your business and do the right thing.  ASO’s can provide you with HR support services that you can call upon at any time to assist you.  In addition to this, HR can draft policies, handbooks, handle harassment and discrimination claims, provide you with analytics on your workforce (retention, cost of hire, equal pay, etc.), strategies and tools on how to improve your culture and workplace, and coach you on complex situations in the office.  In a nutshell, if it has to do with your employees, HR can help you with it.

Payroll and benefits are a Pandora’s Box of administrative burdens and legal requirements.  It ALL requires an extensive amount of work and knowledge that you, the business owner, would rather not have to deal with.  You want to generate incremental revenue for your company without becoming burdened down by laws that can be highly demanding on your business!  An ASO can be a great solution to fill that gap and need. And it just so happens that we at VertiSource HR do all of the above and more!

By: LeiLani Quiray, SPHR

HR Director of VertiSource HR