Digital Marketing Experts Fuel Rapid Growth with More Scalable HR

In the business world, there is fast growth and then there is OuterBox growth. The award-winning digital marketing agency recently doubled in size following the acquisition of TopSpot, an agency specializing in SEO, paid search, and web design, and now plans to keep on expanding. In fact, OuterBox was listed on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the United States.

Desiree Papadimitriou, Director of Human Resources, explains: “We help clients from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises improve the performance of their online marketing, turn prospects into loyal customers, and drive billions of dollars in revenues. We’re now one of the largest independent marketing agencies in the country, with around 225 employees.”

Although headquartered in Copley, Ohio, OuterBox has employees working remotely across 30 states, delivering services ranging from digital campaign management and advertising data analytics to email marketing, Google Ads, and conversion rate optimization.

Of course, growing so quickly places pressure on existing processes and systems. On the HR side, OuterBox was using the BambooHR solution, but realized it was time for a more robust platform. After connecting with HR software broker Outsail, the company switched to Paylocity. 

“We had a hard deadline for the go-live, and there was so much on the line if things didn’t go to plan,” adds Desiree. “I have had nightmare experiences in the past implementing other HR and payroll solutions—but Paylocity offered great support. Their team communicated really well throughout the process and ensured we stayed on track and went live on schedule.”

The Challenge: Planning a Fresh Start

OuterBox looked to replace its limited BambooHR platform with a more scalable HR and payroll solution that would drive efficiency and support its ambitious growth strategy.

Expanding Operations Stretch Existing Systems

Soon after Desiree joined OuterBox in December 2023, she identified that the company’s growth strategy would place an unsustainable burden on BambooHR. “The system was designed for a relatively small-scale operation and would not support a workforce growing as quickly and dynamically as we were planning to over the next 12 months,” explains Desiree. “We started to search for a platform to meet our needs today, and to grow with us in the coming years.”

Missing Functionality Hampers Efficiency

For some time, OuterBox had faced specific problems with the BambooHR system. For example, running benefits enrollment was a time-consuming, largely manual process, while the system offered no way for employees to select beneficiaries for life insurance plans. Plus, creating benefits reports involved spending hours merging and manipulating large datasets.

The recruitment component was also difficult to use, with limited capabilities for managing and tracking applications. To add notes on specific candidates, for instance, the HR team had to invest in additional third-party solutions, such as Google Docs scorecards.

“It was insanity,” adds Desiree. “We were paying for a platform that didn’t deliver basic tools for core work. When we onboarded the HR team from TopSpot, they asked how to store information on employee performance. We had to tell them that we didn’t have those capabilities.”

Endless Queries Drain HR Productivity

There were challenges, too, for employees navigating the system. As a result, the HR team spent hours every week fielding questions on relatively simple topics, such as time off. “Our employees are smart, digitally savvy innovators,” adds Desiree. “They want to be able to log in and find what they want, without having to reach out to us for guidance all the time.”

With so much riding on the decision, OuterBox chose to work with an expert broker, Outsail. Using a proven vendor-agnostic methodology, Outsail evaluated a broad range of HR technology solutions and provided a shortlist of five vendors to OuterBox, based on their specific business needs.

The Solution: Weighing Up the Options

OuterBox further analyzed the pros and cons of each vendor before deciding to implement the standout option: Paylocity.

“The starting point was that OuterBox felt like they were outgrowing BambooHR a bit,” said OutSail CEO Brett Ungashick. “They were used to a system that was user-friendly but wanted to feel like they had the horsepower to grow through acquisitions and scale. With Paylocity they found that you can have a modern shiny, user-friendly front end and have a robust, scalable back-end with those critical integrations.”

Ultimately, the selection of Paylocity came down to capabilities and cost-effectiveness. “Our main considerations were the benefits and recruitment functionality and pricing,” notes Desiree. “While some vendors promised all sorts of features, we felt that Paylocity offered the best value.”

Reshaping and Optimizing Core HR Operations

OuterBox now uses Paylocity’s Payroll module to manage employee pay, ensuring compliance with local tax regulations in 30 states. The company also uses the Workflows & Documents module to manage and streamline HR approval processes, while the Recruiting module has helped to optimize talent acquisition. “We now send text messages to candidates along with calendar invites when we schedule interviews,” adds Desiree. “It makes the process much simpler for HR and applicants.”

Streamlining Benefits and Performance Management

With the Benefits Administration module, OuterBox has simplified benefits enrollment, creating a more seamless process for employees and HR. “It’s much quicker and easier for us to set up data feeds with our benefits providers,” adds Desiree. “Plus, employees now have full visibility over the potential costs when they are selecting benefits plans, which is really useful for them.”

Likewise, the Performance module provides more comprehensive capabilities for tracking an employee’s promotions, salary history, and previous performance reviews. “The Compensation module has been a big improvement, enabling us to populate performance reviews with salary information and plan appropriate increases,” adds Desiree.

 Offering Employees an Added Level of Flexibility

In addition, OuterBox has reshaped the employee experience with Paylocity. The Employee Self-Service module and Paylocity Mobile App give employees greater flexibility than ever, allowing them to access HR documents and time off systems, and manage benefits when it’s most convenient for them. Plus, the company uses Employee Voice to run quarterly surveys and exit interviews. “Employee Voice is very simple to use, enabling us to build customized surveys and harvest valuable feedback,” says Desiree. 

The Results: Continuing the Growth Journey

Switching to Paylocity has enabled OuterBox to build smarter, more efficient processes, reduce the administrative burden on HR, boost productivity, accelerate reporting, and much more.

Scalable HR Supports a Growing Workforce

With Paylocity, OuterBox has the found the powerful, scalable HR platform needed to support its long-term growth plans. Desiree explains: “Ultimately, we’re a service team: we’re here to support our employees and leadership, and if we don’t have the system to help us do that, then we’re failing short. Using Paylocity gives us all the capabilities we need to manage and optimize the entire employee lifecycle—from hiring to exits—for a growing workforce, all in one platform.”

Nimble Workflows Increase HR Agility

The move to Paylocity has also enabled OuterBox to develop more efficient HR processes. As well as streamlining recruitment and automating steps in benefits administration, the company has replaced spreadsheet-based compensation management with more nimble workflows. 

Furthermore, the company can now pull reports much faster using the Insights & Recommendations module, as Desiree explains: “In the case of our benefits census report, we used to spend hours merging files and pulling data. 

With Paylocity, we simply access the exact information we need with just a few clicks, and there are plenty of other valuable reports in there, too.”

Employee Self-Service Saves HR Time and Efforts

By implementing the self-service model, OuterBox has unlocked major time savings and productivity gains for the HR team. Employees can now manage time off and benefits plans, check policy documents, and much more through the portal via mobile or desktop, without having to contact the HR team. 

“It’s always great to help people out, but we’re a small HR team, and we spent so much time answering rudimentary queries,” concludes Desiree. “On average, the self-service model saves me up to seven hours every week that I can now focus on more strategic work.”