How Regroup Kept its Balance During its Rapid Growth
Outsourcing HR allowed Regroup’s back office functions to run smoothly as it secured two funding rounds, more than tripled its employee headcount, and grew revenue many times over — in just two years.
FAST FACTS
Background
Chicago-based Regroup provides telepsychiatry services that connect clinicians with patients all over the country. Founded in 2011, the company entered a phase of rapid growth in 2016.
That growth included two funding rounds, increased revenue, and an urgent need to expand the team, which brought with it several logistical challenges.
Challenge:
Attract and retain a Valuable, Dispersed Team
David Cohn, Regroup’s CEO, notes that the company has a unique business model.
“All of our employees are important to us. Our clinicians, while yes, we employ them, are more than employees. They’re a major part of our product offering,” he says, referring to the clinicians Regroup connects to the patients of healthcare systems around the country.
Because the company’s growth spurt happened so quickly, it needed additional HR support, so they decided to look for a partner who could provide the infrastructure that would allow them to hire and scale more efficiently.
“We knew we needed some help,” he says. “We were using another payroll service and looked at health plans separately, mostly through brokers, but we felt like we could get a better deal.”
And hiring employees who lived all around the country presented some additional needs such as communication and support for remote employees and ensured compliance with each state’s unique employment laws.
Solution:
Partner with a PEO
Cohn shared these concerns with Regroup’s investors, who recommended looking at a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), a vendor that specializes in helping small businesses grow by allowing them to outsource all their HR needs to a single source.
He’s now a big believer in the power of the PEO, especially for a company in its early stages.
“Let people who are experts [in HR] focus on it and do it,” he says. “It’s a great way to ensure your company is in compliance and your employees are happy and engaged.”
When the Regroup team connected with CognosHR, they knew it was a fit.
“Right away, they made it clear they could make it easy to get started, give us fair pricing and great service,” says Cohn. CognosHR also operates in 47 states, so handling the dispersed workforce was no problem.
Today, Regroup relies on CognosHR to provide the following:
Outcome:
The Stability to Scale
Since its 2016 funding, Regroup has roughly doubled its in-house staff. And this year, Cohn and his team decided to convert many of the company’s remote clinicians from contractors to full-time employees, which means offering health insurance and access to other benefits like a 401(k) plan and disability insurance.
And thanks to CognosHR’s client team, Regroup employees have direct access to a dedicated a HR professional who can answer questions and handle the enrollment process.
“[They] really care,” Cohn says of CognosHR. “We feel we’re important and we’re being taken care of.”
For a company whose employees are its most valuable asset, that sense of support is crucial.
RESULTS:
a Framework for Growth
Regroup was able to scale when they needed to without additional disruptions to its operations. The CognosHR team enables Regroup leaders to:
Focus on Growth: With CognosHR handling HR, Regroup’s team is free to focus on sales, recruiting, and product development.
Stay in compliance: Regroup’s clinicians are located in multiple states, which means multiple sets of employment laws to keep straight. CognosHR handles it all.
Retain top talent: Growth is impossible without a strong team. Thanks to the benefits packages and support CognosHR makes possible, Regroup knows employee inquires are handled quickly and effectively.
Are you in need of a more stable framework to power your next phase of growth? If so, get in touch! We’d love to talk about how we can help you achieve your next milestone.