Blog

For any successful business, bringing in the right talent is a major focus. Keeping tabs on metrics is just as important.

2014 was monumental for Paycom and I want to take a moment to reflect on the year that has passed since our initial public offering on the NYSE. In those 52 weeks, we’ve developed and released nine new major products or enhancements, added many new clients and witnessed the value of our stock more than double. The reason for our success is due to our unique value proposition: Paycom’s innovative technology, motivated people and astounding growth.

Everything you used to know about work? Throw it out. Human resources (HR) departments today must operate in a whole new working world – a world that requires dramatic change and innovative thinking. It challenges existing practices – how leaders are developed, how teams are engaged and how work is designed. It’s all different.

I find myself having a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. Was I not good enough in 2014? Then I remember, each year is a blank, 365-page book, and we have the opportunity to rewrite our own story. It is a chance to restart and redefine who we are as people, as leaders and as businesses. A wise man once said, “I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on earth, then I ask myself the same question.”

Last year, one major home-improvement chain made national news when it announced it would introduce a new sales associate, OSHbot, a customer-service robot that assists shoppers in finding the products they’re looking for in stores. The announcement prompted HBO’s Last Week Tonight show, hosted by John Oliver, to produce a segment on the importance of real, human sales assistants in home-improvement stores. Oliver’s argument was that sales assistants are not there to help people buy things; they’re there to “stop couples from tearing each other apart.”

Even though it’s our busiest time of the year, we’re never too busy to pass on some exciting news and thank our employees, yet again, for helping shine the spotlight on Paycom. Paycom’s employees shared their experiences and opinions helping Paycom earn two very prestigious workplace honors. This year Paycom took the number two spot on The Oklahoman’s Top Workplaces and landed on Glassdoor’s Top 50 Best Places to Work in 2014.

Dear Payroll Manager, Thank you for making it rain every payday. No employee understands everything you do to make sure their paystub is accurate and on time. Pay rates, taxes, insurance, bonuses, garnishments, PTO, expenses and a whole lot more have to come together seamlessly every payday (or people come unglued). And more often than not you don't even get thanked when it all goes right. That's just not fair. We were going to write you a card for National Payroll Week, but we thought you could use a better payroll system instead.

What does it mean to be a leader? And can anyone be a leader? These are questions I’ve been asked a lot in school, interviews and workshops but until now I didn’t really have a definite answer. Leadership is a complex trait and it’s far more than “guiding a group of people.”