 and welcome to Restaurants of Hawaii on Think Tech Hawaii. I'm your host, Siobhan Garcia, Executive Assistant for the Hawaii Restaurant Association. And today I will be filling in for Executive Director Cheryl Matsuoka. Today we'll be speaking with Makai HR and we'll be talking a little bit about the newest technology in the HR world. As we will be talking about hiring made easy. I wanted to introduce our guest today, David Yarbrough, who is the Director of Business Development at Makai HR. David, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Makai HR. Thank you, Siobhan. Great to be here. Hey everybody out in internet land. My name is David Yarbrough. I'm the Director of Sales here at Makai HR. I've been in the PEO industry for roughly 19 years now. Started my career over at Pro Service and the transitions over here at Makai. Makai HR was founded in 2018. And the purpose of our PEO specifically was we saw a niche in the market where we wanted that kind of high touch, small antique feel at an affordable price for those folks that are seeking out PEO services. So what PEOs do is we have the ability to kind of consolidate everything employee related under one roof. So you can think of it as payroll, payroll taxes, all of your insurance, essentially everything that the state and federal government require that you have in place as a business owner along with the technologies that we bring to the table and the HR and safety and risk management support that we provide as well. Super happy to be here and can't wait to start talking about hiring. Thank you, thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you, David. And so as we mentioned, we're just discussing the latest in HR technology. Can you please let some of the viewers know what exactly is paperless HR? Of course, yeah. So what we mean by paperless HR is that everything that we do here at Makai is paperless from, we call it from hire to retire. So that would be everything from your job postings to hiring, disciplinary actions, certifications, payroll, your payroll taxes, all the way through to your time in labor. So everything that we do is done in a paperless fashion. So anything that you can kind of think of from a transactional standpoint that you would do for your employees, we do for you. But again, everything is done electronically. So it allows for a much more effective solution for the business owner, right? So there's no paper involved. There's no storing of the paper. There is electronic paper trails for every we're calling transactions or interactions that you either have through the government agencies or with your employees. So it definitely makes for a very compliant, easy to use, simple solution for all the business owners out there. Yeah, it sounds like, and as we're saying, it's hiring made easy, right? So it kind of sounds like it's easy for somebody to track. It's easy for somebody to search if they have any questions or want to know where they're at in the process. So I'm assuming, right, that if we're talking about it being made easy, it's also going to be able to save them money. Can you maybe talk about how this would be able to help a company save some money? Of course. So let me, let's start with the hiring process first. So when we're talking about hiring, the ROI on that or the savings is going to be coming from hiring the right candidates so that you are in essence, kind of lowering your turnover. So the SHIRM has a stat out there that says that every time that you have to terminate and rehire someone, that's costing you two thirds of that person's annual salary. So just get that in mind, right? So if we start from the start, which is our applicant tracking system or an applicant tracking system that integrates with your payroll system, then this system allows you to create custom postings that allows you to filter your candidates properly so that when you do interview a candidate, you're getting that cream of the crop, if you will, right? So that's where the made easy comes from through the technology. So you can put questions inside of your job posting that will filter those candidates for you effectively. You can have your managers actually rate the candidates inside the technology as well. So when it does get to the hiring manager, that those people are only seeing those top tier candidates. Now, when you employ someone like a Makai HR, the other thing that we're going to help you with is how to build out that posting. So it is as effective as it can possibly be based on what your offerings are going to be, right? Along with us being able to advise you on comp structure, what that looks like in our market today, because what I tell everybody right now is that it's not 2019 anymore, right? The market has completely changed. It's taken a complete left turn. We've never seen a market like this before, where it's the employee essentially can almost dictate what their wage is going to be, right? So you do have to be competitive, you have to be competitive across the board. And so along with what I just mentioned, it's also understanding what's out there in the market, what people are paying is a bonus required, right? How much do I want to invest to get the right candidate? Because again, you got to keep in mind that if you start churning through employees, that is going to be considerably more expensive than say, okay, paying two bucks more per hour and maybe throwing a bonus in there. And then now you're attracting the type of candidate that you want, right? Now, so for our specific membership, what's happened is that there's been a huge void that's being filled by the food and beverage folks kind of moving over to the hotel industry because a lot of the hotel folks left during the pandemic, right? So there's been this huge gap where a lot of our members are having a very difficult time finding people, right? So for right now, there's no silver bullet other than you're probably gonna have to pay a little bit more. You may have to throw a bonus in there. And my best piece of advice is when you get someone that you feel like is really good and fits you, not just from a work ethic standpoint, but culturally fits where your company is at, then you've really gotta do everything that you can to retain them, right? So that would be, in addition to compensation, there are other parts of the benefit package that can be added along with obviously just healthcare. So there's long-term disability, life insurance, accident plans, retirement. Those are all things that people are looking at now because if I'm employee A, I'm looking for a job and you're paying me $18 now and you're paying me $18 an hour, but you've got a better benefit package than a lot of times they're going to gravitate towards that. And a lot of those benefits don't necessarily have to cost the company any additional money. It's just having it available, right? Like even flexible spending accounts where you can put money aside for daycare or medical expenses. So a lot of those things are things that I think the average, called the average employer out there, doesn't necessarily think about because at this point, kind of going back to what we were talking about originally, they're trying to keep their head above water, right? Like it's a situation where like, okay, I'm just trying to make sure that we can keep the doors open at this point, right? So when you bring in a company like ours, a lot of the things that I've just spoken about are already in place for you. So the ancillary benefits part of it, you can opt into a retirement plan and have those things kind of built into your package so that again, when you're hiring, you're getting the right candidate, you're able to retain that candidate. Your service, your service levels and your ability to really grow as a company all exponentially go up at that point. Okay. Yeah, so it sounds like there's a lot built into this. Is there like all the cart items basically that so if you're a larger employer versus a smaller that can kind of be catered to the business itself? So most CEOs do have two different solutions. So we effectively call it kind of an ALE or non-ALE. So most folks that are under 50 employees, they would partner with a group like ours in a what we would call a PEO relationship, right? So that typically looks like is that that's shared liability and you're partnering with the PEO and they run under our EIN, right? Now, once they're about 50 because of ACA, now we do have another solution called ASO where they can effectively kind of pick and choose what they want. Now there are non-starters for all PEOs. So all PEOs have to be your payroll provider. There's no getting around or away from that, right? So and then effectively the only difference in an ASO versus a PEO relationship is that in an ASO model, they're running under their own EIN, PEO model, they run under ours, but from a service standpoint, from a liability standpoint, they're very similar and also from what we provide, they're very, very close. So it's just more preference a lot of times with the larger groups, if they do want to carve certain things out because of prior relationships with the brokers, et cetera, they have the ability to do that. Our recommendation is to always go PEO because it does give you what we call kind of the maximum liability shift, right? So a lot of the pieces that we have been talking about when we partner in a PEO relationship, those pieces become the financial and legal responsibility of the PEO. So there is a liability piece when we're talking about PEO that doesn't get spoken about a lot, but if I'm a business owner, even especially small business owner, that's something I would certainly be focused on because now I know, okay, but the part of it that the Mackay's are taking care of for me, not only are they taking care of, but I don't essentially have to worry about it because I know that they've got skin in the game too, right? So these are things that we are invested and now we would be invested in them anyway, but it gives the employer the assurance to know that, like, okay, even if something does go wrong, that's never going to reflect back on me, right? In those transactional areas. So we've talked a lot about the employer, but is this process made easy for the employee as well? So when they're hired, they just kind of go through a set process and it's, because we're talking about paperless, right? So not everybody's so tech savvy, but is it still pretty easy to really help with that process? Oh, it's very simple. So that was kind of, that's like the next step in the process. So, I'll kind of take you through what typically would happen with a hire, we'll call it. So you would post, they would, you would interview them. Now, obviously we can't do their interviewing for you. We would trust that you would know how to interview folks and what we can even help with that, you're going to be the one picking the candidates. At that point, if that is something, or someone that you do want to hire, then you would essentially create an electronic offer letter that would go to the individual they would accept. That information that comes back has a lot of their pertinent information on. So data birth, security, all those things. That feeds directly back into the payroll system, right? So then when you go in as an employer, you're filling out four, basically four boxes. So filling out their data hire, rate of pay, possibly a department and maybe a beneficiary that they belong to at that point. And then you hit submit in our system. At that point, our system will auto generate an email. It goes directly to the individual. There's a link that they click on. And it's as easy as basically clicking on the link you register, you can register on your phone, tablet, or a PC, and all they need to know is their last name and their social. And then it essentially takes it from there. And the really cool thing about our system, which is prison by the way, it's the largest multi-employer platform in the country, is that it's essentially like a wizard. So it shows them how to get from step to step to step. So it's that simple, right? Because when it's got rolled out, it wasn't like this is everywhere. And I think the folks at Prism understood that, we've got to make this easy to use so that actually people will use it, right? And from where I sit, the point of technology is really to make things more intuitive and easier to use. So Prism's done a great job with that. And then from there, once they're registered, at that point, they're in the system. And then really the only thing left for the employer to do is to check their I-9s, which is basically just their ID and their social. They plug it in electronically, mind you, they sign electronically, it's in the system, and you've got an electronic file there sitting there for them. Now, the great thing about the experience for the employee is that they've got their own portal in the system, that they can access all their paystubs, their 10.95s at the end of the year that can change their address. There's also what we have is a little kind of widget on the side that says member deals. So they've got discounted movie tickets, trips, rent to cars, all that's available for them as well. They can also check their benefits. And then when open enrollment comes around, open enrollment is done through the portal as well, right, for healthcare, right? So they'll have essentially like a three to four week window that they can go in and they can pick their benefits. Now, one of the really nice features with the prison system and the benefits enrollment is that we give our clients several options from a healthcare perspective. Now, the client picks what we call the base plans going to be, but the employees have the ability to purchase a higher level of insurance if that's available to them. Some employers will pick kind of the highest with, and they'll cover everything, right? And then some won't. So anything that the employee picks that's above and beyond, we'll call the base plan, they'll have a running total in the right hand of their enrollment form that will show exactly how much per month that they would be charged based on the benefit packages they've picked for them and their family. So there's no surprises. It's again, very simple to use. And there's no surprises for the employee more importantly, right? So to me, that's the most important part is that it's super easy for the employee to use because most of the time, the employer has a real vested interest in making sure that this works. The employees, if it's too difficult, you're gonna have a very low take rate. So again, Prism's done a fantastic job and our folks internally of creating a situation where this is a very easy, simple system to use. And again, the thing I always wanna make sure that people understand is that it can be done on a phone, it can be done on a tablet or a PC, right? So whatever device you have, it can be done there. Now, if you don't have those devices, you can also go into your employer's office and you can sign in on their PC if you wanna do that too. So we do have some folks that have a kind of a dedicated kiosk for that where folks will go in and sign in online and then they kind of help them through it, right? And then we can help them through it too. So a lot of times what will happen is they'll have one of our, you know, one of our internal support folks kind of help walk them through it while they're doing it as well. But again, going back to the kind of the made easy part, very simple, very easy to use. It's one of those things that will, it'll save the employer so much time and expense and headache really because they're not dealing with paper, they're not having to basically double check everything is the way the system is set up is that if it's not complete, you can't go to the next page, right? So once it's done, it is 100% complete and that goes with the benefits too. And then it allows them to roll out benefits much easier every year. Open enrollment's very simple. So, and then it gives the employer and the employee several options that they typically wouldn't have if they're a smaller group. Okay. And so for the employee who is going to be using the system in the case that they have questions or are not sure how to move forward, is there somebody that they're able to call, and is it listed on there somewhere where it's easy for them to access? Yep. So we have an employee support line that they can either call or text depending on what they're more comfortable with. Okay. And there's, yeah, and we have dedicated account managers for our employers as well. So yeah, rest assured, if there's any questions that they have, that we would be able to help out and answer at any point. Yeah, so that sounds perfect. Cause in it, like you're saying, it's saving that employer time, right? Which we all need to pay his money these days and if they're having answer calls for questions, if it's kind of putting that on the payroll service, it's just that much more time that they can devote to other things, so. Right, and yeah, we're obviously, we're talking about the technology, but yeah, they can call us for anything. So whether it's, hey, I don't understand why it was deducted X, Y, or Z on my check, if they have any questions about their benefits, all of those questions are routed to us. So effectively we become the, especially for smaller businesses, kind of their HR office, if you will. Right. But you know, it's, yeah, their employees will have access to us for any of those questions, HR related, payroll related, anything that we handle for them, benefits related. So they basically call us for just about anything and then we can kind of walk them through that. I always give the example of, you know, if one of your employees is stuck at the emergency room and they don't have their medical card, they can call us and they can get there now. Perfect, yeah. Yeah, so it's little things like that, that take, you know, because what happens with employers, especially employers that are working in the business, right? Where especially most of the folks that are probably listening to this are, is that taking that 20 minutes and kind of dealing with whatever that situation may be is really costing them a solid two hours of focus, right? Because it's taking them away from what they were doing. So it's not just the actual amount of time, but it's the amount of time that's costing you long run when you're having to kind of jump from one thing to the other to the other. And then most importantly, and really a lot of the reason that companies like ours exist and also HRA, et cetera, is that, you know, our organizations were created so that, you know, you can focus on your core business function and allow us to do this for you, right? We're the experts, let us do it for you. You know, give it to us. We love doing this, as weird as that sounds. We have people that love doing payroll, taxes, benefits, everything. So it just allows them to not have to focus on it and really be able to focus on their business, right? So it's never been more important to be able to really focus than right now. And because of the, you know, essentially the employee shortage and a lot of the restaurants out there that are closing one or two days a week because they don't have enough people, those days that you're open, you've got to maximize that time that you're there, right? And for a lot of our restaurant owners, you know, it's turning into a situation where they're just, you know, by the end of those five or six days that they worked in a row, you know, they're exhausted. And so it's, a lot of it is also your effectiveness, right? So a lot of the situations that come off, they may even not get dealt with. And then that turns into a much bigger problem down the road where there can be penalties and things assessed because you're not compliant because you just don't have the time. And, you know, we always used to say this too is like, you don't know what you don't know, right? That's why you have experts do it for you. So that's why we all have CPAs. It's, you know, so we're essentially kind of your HR CPA, if you will, right? So let us handle that part of it for you. It'll allow you to really maximize your time. And it'll also allow you, if you are looking to grow, you're not gonna get a better system or way to do it than through somebody like Makai. Because easy to scale, again, it's paperless, it's electronic. It's simple to use, it tracks everything for you. But it also gives you the time. So if you're looking for another location, we're kind of pulling a lot of that administrative work off of you so you do have the time to do those things. Yeah, and it sounds like it's letting them be able to access at their convenience as well. Correct, exactly. They can do it from the comfort of their own home if they choose to do that, as opposed to always being in the office. So, you know, it makes them like you're saying that much more effective. I mean, it also allows them now, I don't know how many restaurateurs are taking vacations right now, but if you were to take a vacation, because everything is cloud-based, it does allow you to essentially work from anywhere, right? So, you know, and to kind of put a final bow on the system itself, you know, our system has an applicant tracking apparel system and a time and labor system that are integrated and they all share information. So, if you're employing our app, you know, our applicant tracking system and our time and labor, I mean, in essence, the way the world works now, you can be anywhere, right? So, you don't have to worry about being at the restaurant or in the office if you're someone that's running it for a week, right? Because you probably have backup staff and, you know, if you have us in place too, then it just allows for a situation where you can do those things and really be still be effective, I guess. And then also, you know, hopefully get a recharge. Well, this is a lot of great information. I'm sure it can help a lot of our restaurants, a lot of the local businesses. If they would like to learn more and wanted to contact you, how would they go about doing that? Sure. So, our website is www.mackaihr.com and they can schedule a call on HR consultation with myself or one of my team members. There's a tab right on the website that says book an intro call and it's basically an HR consultation. So, if anyone out there is interested, we would love to talk to you. And it's really more for us when we're doing these calls is really more about making sure that we're the right fit for you too during that call. Well, perfect. Thank you so much, David, for all this information. As we always say, we're the voice of Huy's restaurants and food service industry. If you would like to reach out to learn more, please email us at infoathuyrestaurant.org. Thank you again, David, for your time. Thank you, Siobhan, appreciate it. That was great. Thank you. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.