A near-death skydiving experience, combined with years of working in the sound business, awakened Chris Jordan. When his parachute collapsed just 400 feet from the ground, he knew his time was up – but, miraculously, it snapped open just before he hit the ground.
“That experience got me a little interested in church,” he says. “And when I went to church, not only did I realize I had a big need for God – but I also realized that churches also had a big need for sound.”
Jordan grew up working in his father’s stereo company out of the family garage. They installed custom stereo systems in large residences. “I realized that I could take what I learned about sound and churches growing up, and put those two together.” So Chris Jordan and his wife, Sue, started Electro Acoustics out of their garage in 1985.
“I used the typewriter my parents had given me for college,” says Sue Jordan. “There were no cordless phones or fax machines or internet, so it was a very fun time to get started and do that together.”
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Growth Brings New Needs
Electro Acoustics still is a family business (and an NSCA member), but it has grown to 24 employees (and they left the garage years ago). After realizing that a bookkeeper isn’t the same as an HR manager, the Jordans concluded they needed help.
“We realized that, to really serve people fairly, we needed an outside, objective expert who could come in and help us resolve issues – someone who’s not inside the office politics,” Chris Jordan says.
Electro Acoustics uses Insperity’s full-service HR solution, called Workforce Optimization®. It allows the company to focus on the work and its customers while Insperity takes care of HR-related government compliance, training and development, employer liability management, and benefits plan administration.
Training and Education Reimbursement
Electro Acoustics has access to online courses, staff training, team building, and an education reimbursement program online through Insperity – all bonuses that speak to Electro Acoustics’ culture and help its bottom line.
“We spent between $35,000 and $50,000 a year for employee education, certification, and training,” says Chris Jordan. “Insperity reimburses a whole lot of the classes, coursework, and seminars that employees go to.”
“We’ve had several employees going to college while they’re working for us, and that’s been a great benefit,” Sue Jordan says. “A lot of organizations can do payroll, and they can handle HR – but one of the things we really valued about Insperity was the emphasis on education.”
Benefits that Attract Good Employees
Being able to offer a retirement plan and big-company benefits are key factors in retaining talented employees and attracting new candidates.
Peace of Mind About Employment Law
Electro Acoustics leaders know that employment law can be a fluid thing, and staying on top of it is a big job – one that the company prefers to let Insperity handle.
Rick Johnson, general manager at Electro Acoustics, is on the front lines with Insperity when it comes to making sure the company stays in compliance with labor laws. The advice and information he gets from Insperity is up-to-date and relevant. “In the aspect of being and operating correctly within the law, I expect and know that Insperity will let me know what action I need to take, and whether it’s relevant for our company,” he says.
Workers’ compensation can also be an administrative headache. But Insperity can provide a safety officer to visit an office and jobsite to make sure staff is following proper safety procedures in line with OSHA standards.
“All of those things we would normally have to be concerned about, but Insperity takes care of it in the background for us,” Chris Jordan says. “It allows us to focus on our people. It allows us to focus on our customers. It allows us to focus on what we do.”
Why Insperity?
Taking the leap into HR outsourcing can be mind-boggling. “We’ve never been able to find a company that can provide as many services as Insperity provides for what it costs,” Sue Jordan says. “Between the benefits and education and the different employee programs Insperity provides, we just haven’t found anything that compares.”
