Spectrum Employee Services: Multiple reinventions keep Spectrum ahead of the curve

Spectrum Employee Services is in a league of its own, combining an integrated approach to human resource management with a strong technological foundation. Owner John Davis originally founded the company in 1999 as an employee leasing service in the health care industry, but changes in state law two years later forced the company to find a new paradigm.

AT A GLANCE

PRIMARY PRODUCT/SERVICE: Workforce management services

TOP EXECUTIVES:
D. John Davis Jr., President; Chadwick Leo Cole, VP/Director of Business Development; Dennis Rodgers, VP/Director of Employee Benefits

Year founded: 1999
Phone:  225.755.8822
Website:  spectrumemployeeservices.com

Over the years, the company has expanded in both size and scope to meet a growing demand for Administrative Service Organizations (ASOs). Today, the Baton Rouge-based Spectrum provides comprehensive solutions that streamline existing human resource processes and allow owners to concentrate on what they do best. “Our clients need someone to help them onboard their employees, understand HR rules, and everything else that goes along with managing a workforce,” Davis says.

Spectrum is in a continuous state of evolution as it keeps pace with technological advances in the HR industry. Most recently, they partnered with Kronos, a 37-year-old multibillion-dollar workforce management software company that services clients in more than 100 countries. Kronos’ web-based technology delivers an unmatched combination of complexity, while maintaining a familiar and inviting user interface.

“Companies today, big or small, need a digital component to manage their human resource needs,” Davis says. “That includes everything from reports to data access to data integration and beyond.”

It has become a true differentiator, as Spectrum now offers nationally recognized HCM software along with the benefits of a locally based firm. “We have local competitors that are doing what we’re doing but don’t have our technology, and national competitors who don’t have that local connection,” he says.

The company offers an à la carte menu of services that gives companies the flexibility to pick and choose based upon their needs. “If someone wants us to help with their benefits, we can do their benefits,” Davis says. “If they just want payroll, we can do payroll or we could do the whole package.”

Spectrum has diversified its portfolio across a broad spectrum of Gulf Coast industries and grown its average client size from about 17 employees in 2014 to nearly 60 in 2019. That’s in response to a growing demand for their services.

“Employers now understand that even though employees are the greatest cost for their businesses, they’re the biggest assets as well,” Davis says. “We have the best technology and expertise to help customize a solution that works best for their employees so they can better manage those assets.”

Read more in our 2020 Annual Report.