During these uncertain times, it’s more crucial than ever for the business community to come together and provide mutual support in ways that identify impactful best practices, connect colleagues with the tools they need to get work done, and ensure we’re all adapting to this new climate in the best way possible.
At Launchways, we’re proud of the work our partner network is doing, both in the greater Chicago area and nationwide, when it comes to B2B COVID-19 support. That’s why we wanted to take this time to shine a light on the work some of our closest partners are doing.
In this post we’ll explore some great services, promotions, and opportunities Launchways partners are offering right now, including:
Free online COVID-19 training and e-learning modules
FFCRA and CARES Act-compliant payroll & HR software
Relief funding for businesses in need
Free software to streamline HR & IT operations
Virtual platforms for employee engagement & physical wellness
Paylocity
Who is Paylocity?
Paylocity is an HR and payroll technology company that’s earned a reputation for truly caring about their clients’ individualized business needs. They offer a full suite of HR software solutions, covering everything from benefits to employee engagement.
How is Paylocity supporting businesses during COVID-19?
Paylocity is unlocking the gate on their powerful Learning Management System (LMS), providing six months free for any business. Using the LMS, employers can connect their team members with education on COVID-19 safety and best practices while also providing free training on remote work management best-practices for supervisors.
They’re also providing six free months of their employee engagement and safety surveys to help businesses keep a finger on the pulse of their workforce, even as they work from home. Paylocity’s Community Portal (built into their mobile app) can also be used as an effective command center for employee communication, and it’s currently free for use.
How can businesses connect with Paylocity right now?
To connect with Paylocity’s library of coronavirus resources and learn more about the free services they are offering for businesses during this time, be sure to visit their COVID-19 Resource Page. If you are interested in learning more about Paylocity’s HR technology solutions, reach out to Launchways’ Paylocity partner, Aaron Liga, directly at aliga@paylocity.com.
Paycor
Who is Paycor?
Paycor specializes in bringing boutique HCM and HR services and technology to the small and medium-sized business community. They’ve been innovators in the B2B support space since 1990.
How is Paycor supporting businesses during COVID-19?
Paycor responded to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) swiftly and has completely updated their software to reflect all the new compliance requirements that went into effect on April 1. Their software also allows businesses to connect with the loans they need to provide paycheck protection for employees.
They’ve also built a COVID-19 Command Center, filled with resources and information for businesses hoping to maximize their understanding of what is going on right now and what is required in terms of response and compliance.
Most impressively of all, Paycor has created a $1 million relief fund to support small businesses, community organizations, and Paycor clients/partners during this time, providing direct funding to keep the small business space healthy.
How can businesses connect with Paycor right now?
To connect with Paycor and learn more about how they’re supporting businesses during this crucial time, be sure to check out their COVID-19 Command Center. If you’re interested in learning more about Paycor’s solutions, reach out to Launchways’ Paycor partner, Chloe Carter, directly at CCarter@paycor.com.
Rippling
Who is Rippling?
Rippling is an HR & IT work enablement platform that is designed to eliminate the logistical administrative work of running a company while also bringing together team members in powerful ways using the online space. Their platform makes life easier for employees and managers at every level of an organization.
How is Rippling supporting businesses during COVID-19?
Rippling is offering their entire platform completely free to new customers for the next six months. Their software has the potential to significantly lower the learning curve for businesses transitioning toward a remote work strategy and enable continuous productivity through ease of use.
Rippling believes it is important to offer their services for free in this moment, both to protect the short-term viability of businesses and to help stimulate a strong recovery, both from a work enablement and an innovation standpoint.
How can businesses connect with Rippling right now?
To learn more about Rippling’s powerful all-in-one platform, be sure to book a demo of how Rippling and Launchways partner to offer best-in-class technology with hands-on guidance from HR and Benefits experts.
LulaFit
Who is LulaFit?
LulaFit provides boutique wellness programs, fitness center management, and personal training for businesses, commercial real estate, and individuals in the greater Chicago area. Their work creates programs that are truly valuable and attract top talent and desirable renters.
How is LulaFit supporting businesses during COVID-19?
To keep people fit during social distancing and stay-at-home orders, LulaFit has launched LulaFit LIVE, a subscription-based service that provides their current subscribers complete wellness program continuity and offers a comprehensive online approach to physical and mental wellness for new members.
LulaFit LIVE contains both on-demand and live workout classes, allowing their customers to continue working with their current trainer and attend both personalized and group fitness experiences. In this way, LulaFit LIVE brings both the physical and social elements of working out or participating in a fitness program directly to people in their homes during social distancing.
How can businesses connect with LulaFit right now?
To connect with LulaFit and learn more about all the workout, lifestyle, and community resources available through LulaFit LIVE, For additional information, please reach out to info@lulafit.com!
Takeaways
It’s a challenging time for all businesses right now, but it’s truly inspirational to see the way organizations are coming together for the greater good. At Launchways, we couldn’t be more proud of the work our partners and clients are doing to support the health of the business space in Chicago and around the country and world.
Remember:
If you’re looking to strengthen your communication strategy and improve employee engagement during this time, be sure to contact Paylocity
If you’re looking for HR & payroll software you know is FFCRA and CARES Act compliant, be sure to contact Paycor
If you’re looking to simplify IT & HR to streamline operations during this time, be sure to contact Rippling
If you’re looking to engage your employees and embrace a physical and mental wellness program specifically built for today’s challenges, contact LulaFit
The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has dominated the headlines and business dialogue for the last month. It’s easy to get bogged down in the daily numbers and constant flood of guidance updates, but it’s also important to maintain hope in the power and innovation of our collective community.
Launchways is proud to announce that one of our clients, LulaFit, is taking an innovative approach to provide services in the age of stay-at-home orders and doing work that we’re truly proud to support them in. We’re so impressed by the work they’re doing that we wanted to share it forward with our extended network of partners, clients, and the community at large to spread the word and offer some inspiration.
This post we’ll explore:
Introduce LulaFit, an innovative and growing Launchways client
Explain how LulaFit is adapting to the challenges of COVID-19
Describe the value of LulaFit’s new LulaFit LIVE program for employers
Discuss how you can connect with LulaFit’s services & keep your team fit—even during social distancing!
Meet LulaFit
LulaFit provides luxury fitness and wellness concierge services to businesses, residential facilities, and individuals in the greater Chicago area. Their customized approach to fitness training and wellness program management builds significant value for their clients when it comes to attracting and retaining great talent or desirable tenants.
If you’re interested in learning more about LulaFit’s commercial, residential, corporate, or individual wellness services, be sure to visit their website!
How is LulaFit Adapting & Providing Support During Coronavirus
Social distancing and stay-at-home orders have closed gyms to the public and made it much tougher to take a fitness class, interact with a trainer, or recreate the positive experience of working out with a group of people keeping each other accountable.
During this challenging time, LulaFit knew they needed to find a way to offer services that allowed people stuck at home to continue their fitness routine to the best of their ability and continue to work with the trainers they knew and trusted.
LulaFit also recognized that much of their wellness program guidance, from healthy shopping and meal prep to structured lifestyle planning, was more relevant than ever for people looking to stay sane, productive, and healthy while under stay-at-home orders.
The result was LulaFit LIVE, a web-based subscription service that contains articles, activities, meditations, lifestyle guides, and a variety of live or on-demand workouts.
LulaFit LIVE: An Exciting Wellness Solution for the Age of Social Distancing
LulaFit LIVE addresses many of the needs individuals in our community have at this time. People can virtually assemble in a group to take a live class together, creating some authentic human interaction and creating that sense of teamwork that fosters physical and mental wellness returns.
To maximize those mental wellness benefits, LulaFit LIVE also contains live competitive trivia and opportunities for socialization after a video class. That means you can invite your friends, neighbors, or colleagues to a fitness class and then enjoy a virtual happy hour from the safety of your individual homes.
This new distancing-friendly approach to presenting their wealth of wellness knowledge means that LulaFit can provide total continuity of service to their existing clients, honoring all their obligations and keeping their team members productively employed during this crucial time.
LulaFit LIVE supports both on-demand and live workouts, lifestyle planning, recipes, and interactive team trivia.
Launchways Supports LulaFit
LulaFit LIVE is a great example of how innovative thinking and the willingness to adapt can help businesses continue to do their work, even in industries where we’ve historically relied on face-to-face conversations and physical interactions.
What’s really special about LulaFit’s approach is that they created something that is empowering thousands of people around Chicago to continue with some semblance of normalcy during this extremely challenging time of social isolation. That’s the kind of community-first thinking we respect and embody in the way we do business.
How to Learn More
If you’re an employer looking to maintain positive physical and mental wellness for your employees during this tough time, you should consider signing up for LulaFit LIVE!
For additional information, please reach out to info@lulafit.com!
We’re also proud to announce that thanks to our partnership with LulaFit, if you tell them Launchways sent you, you will get 25% of your first month (one week free) of LulaFit LIVE. We’re truly excited about these services, and we wanted to make sure we were able to make them accessible to the members of our extended network of clients, partners, and community members.
Takeaways
During these unprecedented times, it’s important to keep our eyes and ears open for stories about businesses who are finding new ways to thrive, serve their customers, and keep some sense of normalcy alive until we can all return to our normal ways of working and staying well.
LulaFit is a great example of an organization that adapted and innovated a new way of delivering services that preserves value and maintains that positive spirit of community that comes from collective wellness.
Remember:
LulaFit is a Chicago-area business that was able to adapt quickly to social distancing and the stay-at-home age thanks to outside-the-box thinking
LulaFit LIVE includes a variety of live and on-demand fitness classes as well as lifestyle guides, wellness articles, newsletters, and other downloadable resources
Contact info@lulafit.com and tell them Launchways sent you to claim your special discount!
Supporting workplace mental health is a growing area of
relevance and need for all businesses. Now, faced with the COVID-19 pandemic,
our workforce is under greater physical and mental assault than at any point in
recent memory.
That’s why Launchways and Chill Chicago are partnering to bring our clients’ employees daily guided meditation sessions every weekday at 12:30PM CT. All your employees need to do is sign up and they’ll receive a daily link to their midday guided meditation.
Why Meditation?
During this time of social distancing and self-quarantine, Chill’s guided meditations provide a unique live-streaming experience that varies from day-to-day and allows people to engage with each other in a way that is both empoweringly communal yet safely physically separate.
At Launchways, we’ve been diving deep on employee mental health recently, and we’ve consistently been impressed by both empirical and scientific study data about the power of meditation to strengthen each individual’s approach to work and life in general. Meditation has a variety of powerful wellness perks, including:
Anxiety control
Stress reduction
Improved self-awareness and self-management
Attention span & memory improvement
Builds interpersonal empathy
Those benefits really speak to this specific moment in time, as workers are bombarded with a combination of new stressors, anxiety-driving considerations, and the frustrations of trying to maintain some form of productivity throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.
By offering your employees daily time to be mindful and an opportunity to step away from their cares and frustrations, you help support their overall mental and physical health in a way that improves their work and life in general.
How to Extend the Power of Meditation to Your Employees
If you’re interested in extending valuable mental health support and relaxation time to your team members during this complex time, all you need to do is let them know about Chill’s Live-Streaming Meditation Series!
At Launchways, we’re excited to be extending the power and
potential of Chill meditations to you, and we hope you’ll do the same and share
this timely, free opportunity with the members of your team!
About Chill
Chill is proud to have brought modern meditation to Chicago, helping people free themselves from the weight and noise of daily life. Their mission is to make it just a little easier for people to live less stressed, more mindful lives, and meditation is one of the cornerstones to their approach. That’s why they’re excited to be partnering with Launchways to raise awareness of the power of meditation and mindfulness in this key moment.
This month, Launchways formally announced our partnership with Rippling, the software company unifying employee systems such as payroll, benefits, devices, and 3rd party apps. Launchways formed this partnership to give our clients unique access to Rippling’s industry-leading solutions and provide a centralized software layer to our already robust service offerings, improving the overall user experience for our clients.
As a leading provider of strategic HR and Employee Benefits solutions, Launchways is always looking for the newest solutions that will empower our clients’ sustainable growth. Launchways CEO, Jim Taylor, said, “The partnership with Rippling is a natural step for us, as their scalable, centralized, and customizable model dovetails perfectly with the Launchways philosophy of taking a boutique approach to developing HR and Benefits solutions.”
It’s important to note what makes Rippling unique among modern all-in-one HR platforms and what we hope to accomplish through our partnership. Let’s take a look at the details of how Rippling will empower our clients, including:
Rippling’s hybrid approach to HR and IT
Full-lifecycle employee management through Rippling
Rippling’s versatility and scalability
The mission of the Rippling + Launchways partnership
The Rippling Effect: A Unique Approach to HR Technology
Human Resources Meets Information Technology
Rippling is the first software platform to enable companies to handle their HR and IT in a single system. Management of payroll, benefits, physical devices, and software applications like Gsuite, Salesforce, and Slack is all just a click away in a centralized and streamlined interface. This creates one system of record across departments and functions, avoiding duplicated effort and inconsistent data storage.
Growing businesses often operate with a lean team and need to run as quickly and efficiently as possible. A centralized system like Rippling connects all employee data into a single system of record, enabling business leaders to automate time-consuming HR tasks. This centralization and automation allows teams to run faster and work more efficiently.
While there are other competitive systems with dedicated HR solutions and IT solutions, Rippling is the only software solution to manage both of these functions in a single platform. Rippling’s Payroll, Benefits Administration, and FSA/HSA/Commuter Debit Card tools operate seamlessly within the same platform as its Access Management and Computers & Security tools for IT. HR professionals can manage their people, their devices, and their accounts all within the same easy-to-use platform.
Employee Lifecycle Management
Rippling is dedicated to providing full-service solutions throughout the entirety of the employee lifecycle. From onboarding and offboarding to payroll, PTO, and benefits, Rippling streamlines every process through centralization and automation of data, resulting in the elimination of all of the unnecessary paperwork and manual entry that makes these processes so arduous.
The platform enables employers to onboard new employees in just 90 seconds, including adding them to payroll and benefits, ordering necessary hardware, creating user accounts in any of 500+ applications, installing the employee’s software and security, and assigning onboarding tasks. What’s more, companies can configure “smart rules” based on employee attributes. For example, if you hire a sales rep in California, their employee attributes (their computer, the apps they use, the payroll and benefits options their offered, etc.) will automatically be populated within the system. Rippling eliminates the need for paperwork and manual data entry during these processes, so your team can focus on the human and cultural side of onboarding.
Once employees are part of the team, Rippling’s platform provides time-off tracking, a team task manager, full-service payroll and benefits administration. Additionally, if Rippling doesn’t do it, their third-party integrations with hundreds of additional applications complement the entire employee experience.
And offboarding employees leaving the company is just as easy. Rippling will automatically remove the former employee from all systems, including benefits and payroll, administer the employee’s COBRA, and disable employee accounts and devices.
Versatility and Scalability
One of the pillars of the Launchways approach to benefits and HR is that our solutions are scalable, so they can accommodate our clients as they grow their businesses. We know that changing systems as a company grows can cause painful business disruption, inevitable system inefficiencies, and bureaucracy that stunts growth.
In partnering with Rippling, it was important to Launchways that their solution accommodate the growing businesses that we serve. Rippling’s platform works seamlessly whether your business has two employees or a thousand. Painless integrations allow users to evolve their business processes transform over time. For instance, Rippling works just as well with QuickBooks and Xero as it does with Intacct or NetSuite. So you won’t have to change your HR or IT software when you’ve outgrown your accounting solution. Additionally, unlike other all-in-one HR platforms that can take months or even a year to roll-out, Rippling can be deployed in a matter of days or weeks, and is fully-equipped to import your existing data.
In total, Rippling has over 500 third-party integrations, including Slack, Microsoft Office, Dropbox, and Salesforce. This highly collaborative approach meshes perfectly with Launchways’ fervent belief that no two clients’ needs are exactly alike. Every business is unique, and its processes, pain points, and solutions are too. Rippling’s module approach allows our clients to choose the solutions that work best for their business and budget, while Rippling’s robust network of integrations allow businesses to create the software suite that works best for their team.
The Mission of the Launchways + Rippling Partnership
This powerful partnership combines the hands-on, tailored service of Launchways’ benefits brokerage with best-in-class HR technology that eliminates the need for tedious administrative work.
It’s a true partnership, meaning that Rippling provides a dedicated service and support team for our clients. At Launchways, we pride ourselves on our dedication to personalized service and boutique benefits approach, no matter what size the client is. This partnership allows us to deliver the same level of service for our clients’ HR and IT software needs. Rippling Head of Channel Sales, Matt Donaldson, added “Partnering with benefits brokers, like Launchways, has enabled us to present a unique option in the market. There isn’t another solution that can pair best-in-breed technology with the knowledge of an industry expert. It truly is a game changer for our customers.”
At its core, our strategic partnership with Rippling affords our clients access to cutting-edge HR technology, while still allowing them to rely on our team of top-notch benefits consultants for a hands-on approach to employee benefits. An additional perk of the partnership is that Launchways clients will be able to purchase the software at a significant discount. Launchways CEO, Jim Taylor, said “All too often, business leaders are forced to choose between the costly, comprehensive solution that works best for their needs and the less expensive, less robust solution that works best for their budget. Launchways’ goal with this partnership is to make sure that our clients get the best of both worlds by taking advantage of our heavily negotiated rates and dedicated service team.”
Key Takeaways
Launchways’ partnership with Rippling represents an exciting opportunity for our clients. Rippling’s innovative approach to HR and IT won it the PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award and made it the top-ranking Payroll Software solution and HR Software solution on Capterra, G2 Crowd and GetApp. By working closely with the Rippling team, we can offer our clients significant discounts on Rippling software and personalized support from a dedicated service team. When considering whether to make Rippling part of your Launchways solution, keep in mind:
Rippling is the only software provider that lets you manage your HR and IT functions within the same platform to eliminate wasteful processes and create a single system of record
Onboard and offboard employees in just 90 seconds with Rippling’s streamlined processes
Rippling’s versatility and scalability match Launchways’ approach to benefits and HR
This partnership provides our clients with unique advantages compared to general consumers
CHICAGO, Oct. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Launchways, a leading provider of human resources, employee benefits, and business insurance solutions, today announced that it is partnering with Rippling to provide its clients with an integrated HR, payroll, and benefits platform.
Founded by Zenefits veteran Parker Conrad, Rippling offers a better alternative for growing businesses as one of the first all-in-one, modernized system for handling the entire employee experience from hiring to offboarding. Rippling’s competitive edge lies in a modern and streamlined interface, its relative affordability, and its scalability. The platform is as easy to use as it is comprehensive and serves a business of ten people just as well as after they grow into a team of a thousand. This unique approach has helped Rippling secure $60M in funding and resulted in widespread acclaim from experts and customers alike, including ranking first among Payroll Software and HR Software on Capterra.
Launchways believes that people fuel business success and help entrepreneurs achieve sustainable growth by empowering their people through intentional benefits and HR strategy. After implementing Rippling for a client, Launchways was impressed both by the support from the Rippling team and the business results for the client. Moving forward, Launchways has decided to create a formal partnership with Rippling to bring Rippling’s technology as a strategic solution to future clients.
The partnership will give Launchways’ clients significant discounts on the software as well as a dedicated service and support team. As James Taylor, Launchways CEO, says: “Rippling is doing something unique in the software industry. We look forward to implementing their solution to streamline our clients’ HR, benefits, and payroll operations. Having a scalable solution helps our clients take a more intentional approach to their benefits and HR.”
About Launchways
Launchways provides business leaders with the resources and guidance they need to build scalable people processes to support long-term growth. Founded in 2009, Launchways has helped thousands of businesses better approach the people side of their business through strategic solutions for human resources, employee benefits, and business insurance. For more information, please visit www.launchways.com.
About Rippling
Rippling is the first way for businesses to manage their HR & IT — from payroll and benefits, to employee computers and apps — all in one, modern system. It’s the only platform that truly unifies every employee system, and automates all of the administrative work. For more information, please visit https://www.rippling.com.
Launchways, a leading provider of human resources, employee benefits, and business insurance solutions today announced that it is taking on Paycor, a comprehensive HR software provider, as its latest strategic partner.
As a strategic partner, Paycor will work with Launchways to deliver meaningful content that helps guide CFOs in the world of HR. In many growing companies, financial leaders are finding themselves taking on responsibility for the human side of their organization. Through this partnership, Paycor and Launchways hope to help guide CFOs through people leadership best practices.
Paycor’s mission is to provide business leaders with the tools they need to empower their workforce. Their Human Capital Management platform streamlines key HR processes so that executives, HR professionals, and employees can focus on what really matters: building real human connections and fostering innovation.
“Paycor’s vision aligns perfectly with Launchways’ values, and we’ve collaborated frequently in the past. This commitment will help take our partnership to the next level” said Launchways CEO, Jim Taylor. Launchways helps businesses build strategic HR infrastructure and employee benefits programs that scale as the company grows in order to unlock the full potential of their workforce.
“At Paycor our top guiding principle is taking care of our clients. Through partnerships like Launchways we’re not only able to provide best-in-class human capital management technology, but share valuable thought leadership to help clients stay ahead of HR trends. We look forward to working with Launchways to continue providing unparalleled support to our joint clients” added Bob Balogh, Vice President of Channel Partnerships at Paycor.
Establishing effective, efficient HR systems that scale with the company as it grows can be a significant challenge to CFOs who find themselves taking on HR leadership roles. Through their partnership, Paycor and Launchways aim to make the process easier for finance leaders, especially in fast-growing technology companies.
About Launchways
Launchways provides business leaders with the resources and guidance they need to build scalable people processes to support long-term growth. Founded in 2009, Launchways has helped hundreds of growth stage businesses better approach the people side of their business through strategic solutions for human resources, employee benefits, and business insurance. For more information, please visit www.launchways.com.
About Paycor
More than 30,000 small and medium businesses nationwide trust Paycor to help them engage, manage and develop their people. Paycor is known for delivering the best unified HCM platform for the SMB market, but what makes us legendary is the total customer experience we provide, from responsive service and user-friendly design to expert partnership and thought leadership. Our unique combination of technology and expertise helps clients streamline every aspect of people management so they can focus on what they know best—their business and their mission. To learn how Paycor can help you make a difference, visit www.paycor.com.
