“We run payroll daily, serving approximately 35,000 employees a week, so anything interfering with this would be catastrophic. This process — and the underlying support — must be bulletproof.”

— Jill Crabtree, Vice President, ERP Technology, Staffmark

Matching people with job opportunities and businesses with talent is the fuel that energizes the economy. When the right person fills the right role at the right company, satisfaction, productivity, and growth — for individuals and organizations — skyrocket. At Staffmark, a team of champion staffing professionals has delivered on this promise for more than 40 years, enabling employers to thrive, people to blossom, and its own staff to succeed.

The Power Of People

At Staffmark, staffing and recruiting are part science, part intuition. Matchmaking between unique individuals and just-as-unique companies requires smart people-sense, supported by the right tools to ensure that employers and job seekers are never disappointed. PeopleSoft is one of the core assets that make up the vital centerpiece of Staffmark’s environment.

Jill Crabtree, vice president, ERP technology, explained, “My team is responsible for all things related to PeopleSoft. This means we touch many different functions, including recruiting, staffing, orders, assignments, candidates, as well as internal HR benefits and financials.”

Crabtree works enthusiastically with the Staffmark operations team to ensure that technology is always serving business needs. She said, “Many of our customers use online timesheets to approve hours worked and receive invoices; others have their own timekeeping systems. We also integrate with providers such as Equifax, as well as our internal applications teams. All this data must pass back and forth quickly, accurately, smoothly, and securely.”

One of the most critical components of Staffmark’s ERP is PeopleSoft Payroll. Crabtree emphasized, “We run payroll daily, serving approximately 35,000 employees a week, so anything interfering with this would be catastrophic. This process — and the underlying support — must be bulletproof.”

A Big Bet

As Staffmark grew, each division had different instances and versions of PeopleSoft. Crabtree spearheaded a five-year project to transition the entire business — including all subsidiaries and a new acquisition — onto the PeopleSoft 9.2 platform. She observed, “It was a huge initiative, keeping everything running smoothly while standardizing across the organization. Once the consolidation was complete, we kept the pressure on and looked at where else we could drive cost savings and other operational efficiencies.”

Traditionally, the organization had used Oracle support, an expense that initially seemed worthwhile given the criticality of Staffmark’s PeopleSoft deployment. Based on personal experience in a previous company, Crabtree was very familiar with an independent third-party support provider that promised significant cost savings coupled with outstanding service for PeopleSoft, including PeopleSoft Payroll. She recalled, “I knew the claims were real, so I had no hesitations about the positive impact this would have at Staffmark.”

Savings Are Only The Beginning

Even with the most enticing of incentives, change is challenging, but robust planning makes for smooth sailing. “There was a clear transition plan, the process training was excellent, and there were informative demonstrations on how to create and access tickets. We were extremely well supported,” Crabtree noted.

The Staffmark and third-party teams collaborated efficiently and smoothly from the outset. Performance tracking, monitoring of tickets, clear escalation options, and regular reviews keep the systems — and the business — humming. Crabtree pointed out, “It’s not just electronic communication; we have regular calls and sometimes demos of specific scenarios. We enjoy a very interactive relationship.”

The decision to move away from Oracle support has delivered substantial benefits to Staffmark. “We have the cost savings, which was a primary goal, but we’ve been able to optimize the SLAs we originally had in place to enhance the quality of service we provide to the rest of the company. In our monthly reviews, the SLA numbers are fantastic,” Crabtree reported.

Another big benefit is proof of compliance. Crabtree explained, “There have been tax updates and multiple changes to laws related to COVID-19; we’ve been able to get immediate updates to match those changes. The support we receive is phenomenal.”

Rimini Street: A Twice-Proven Partner

Independent, third-party enterprise support provider Rimini Street is Staffmark’s secret ingredient. With her earlier experiences with Rimini Street, Crabtree had high expectations of the benefits of partnering again. As a result of the dramatic cost savings, Staffmark has been able to increase investments in advanced service offerings for both employers and talent.

Additionally, Rimini Street offers much more than slashing support fees. Crabtree observed, “We have so much confidence in Rimini Street. The staff is knowledgeable, reliable, and dedicated. The comprehensive approach has enabled us to maximize the functionality of PeopleSoft and all of the associated investments we’ve made.”

How would Crabtree counsel a colleague considering Rimini Street? She reflected, “It’s not just about the numbers, it’s also about the personal connections. Rimini Street does a great job onboarding new clients and then works really hard to help extract the full value from the application. In addition, Rimini Street exceeds the SLAs and is very responsive and committed to its customers.”

Crabtree concluded, “I can’t express enough how excited I am with the collaboration and the results we’ve accomplished together.”