Cultivating Culture from the Inside Out
ADP is constantly evolving and getting better at creating systems that work in the real world. – Adam Bocken, Margaritaville Resorts, Director of Human Resources and Training and Development
It's always "five o'clock somewhere" at Margaritaville Resort, but that doesn't mean its closing time for most of its employees. Open 24/7 and 365 days a year, its staff of primarily seasonal and part-time team members is on a mission to provide fun and escapism to their guests around the clock. The leadership team at Margaritaville knows that a great guest experience begins with a great team member experience, and needed a human capital management (HCM) system that would allow time to focus on creating and fostering the culture they desired.
Quick Facts:
- Company: Margaritaville Hospitality
- Headquarters: Orlando, FL
- Industry: Hospitality
- Employees: 5000+ amongst all partners
We spoke with Adam Bocken, director of human resources and training and development, and Hannah Hill, finance manager of the Tulsa location, about how they're able to spend their time and resources focused on team members and guests, instead of administrative tasks with the help of ADP®:
On Challenges
Adam: The hospitality industry is a 24/7 business – we're open 365 days a year. It's far from a Monday through Friday, nine-to-five gig with all salaried team members. We have a lot of folks that work part-time or on a seasonal basis. We needed a flexible solution that would fit our needs and help us manage and support our complex workforce, since our competitive advantage is our people. We prioritize taking care of our team members, because how we treat our staff tells them how to treat our guests.
Hannah: We have team members that are in and out of all our different venues throughout the day. Trying to keep that team culture and engagement is sometimes a challenge because we have such a broad variety of people and places to service. We really try to bring our team together.
On Partnering with ADP
Adam: Prior to ADP, we had Paycor, which wasn't an all-encompassing HCM solution. it didn't have the functionality to do talent management or recruitment. We had to piecemeal a bunch of different software solutions together to get the robust solution that we needed.
We switched to ADP because, as a full HCM solution, ADP is much more attractive. It's flexible – we have a base system, and can add on each of the modules as needed. There are a lot of things that ADP offers in an HCM system versus other providers that really keeps it seamless and organized. ADP is that one-stop-shop we were looking for.
On Saving Time and Resources
Adam: The fact that ADP has the functionality to automate a lot of the processes that we use has been really helpful. It significantly reduced the administrative burden and allows me to focus on our locations, our guests and our team members. I no longer have to spend time worrying about things like whether or not someone got enrolled in the correct medical plan. It's been a huge time saver for me and for our company.
Hannah: When I first started processing payrolls for Margaritaville, it was about a three-day process because of the number of timesheets that we run and the complexities of our departments. We had paper timesheets on clipboards throughout the venue – it was not efficient or conducive to our needs. Once we implemented ADP, my payroll processing time decreased from those three days to about half a day. With all the different responsibilities that I have, that translates to a big time savings.
On Recruiting and Onboarding
Adam: ADP's Screening and Selection Services has been great. Before ADP, securing a candidate's background check and screening report would take anywhere from 10 to 12 days. Now, that time has been cut to about three or four days, which has been really helpful in getting new hires started quicker.
Hannah: I used to have a roll-along cart that had everyone's physical files in it. Once we began using the ADP New Hire Wizard, we were able to enter our new staff members' information right into the system, get their tax withholdings set up, IDs entered and all of their onboarding done in one sitting. It's really helpful to have all of that data pulled right into the system within just a few minutes, instead of having to carry around a cart full of clipboards that are 20 pages deep.
On Employee Self-Service
Adam: ADP self-service has really helped to relieve the administrative burden from the HR side and has made things easier for our team members. When someone needs to change a W-4 election, an address, a phone number … they just update it in the system themselves instead of having to fill out a form, send it in and wait for someone else to change it. It has helped us eliminate mistakes. It's truly been a Godsend.
Hannah: Being able to access and manage all of that data at my fingertips is so valuable to me. Working with ADP gives me the opportunity to put my focus in other places because I know that the data and the information is correct and I don't have to process it, manipulate it or calculate it – it's right there.
How ADP Helps Support Margaritaville's Mission
Adam: Worrying about the details of payroll and HR is kind of the antithesis of what Margaritaville really is. Our core purpose is to create and deliver fun and escapism. ADP helps us focus on our guests and on our team instead of worrying about the minutia and the details of administering all these processes.
Hannah: ADP really frees up our time to be able to recognize and engage with our staff members and guests in real time around the venue, versus being upstairs behind closed doors sitting at a desk for hours on end. We can focus on bringing fun to work and rewarding the work ethic that our team brings our venue. When we're not burdened administratively, we're able to develop and tighten our relationships with our team members and our leadership and provide the best guest experience that we can for our patrons.
On Scalability
Adam: The Margaritaville brand is growing, and one of the biggest advantages of partnering with ADP is that it's able to scale with us. We can add different modules that support our growth as we go forward. For instance, we started with ADP Workforce Now® and the time and attendance module, and from there we've added modules every year or so based on our overall needs and as new products and enhancements became available.
On ADP Enhancements
Adam: ADP is constantly evolving and getting better at creating systems that work in the real world. The difference between ADP when we first implemented it five years ago to where it is now has been huge for us, and has kept us a client. It's kept us from looking elsewhere for a different system because ADP is recognizing where the deficiencies are, and there are enhancements every year. ADP talks to the folks that use it every day to understand what the challenges are, and then focuses on creating solutions to fix them. ADP is my favorite HCM system that I have ever used.
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