FINANCE
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURE : TOM BANKS
Ambitious – the Atom Financial team ( left to right ) Matt Herrell , Nathan Raine and Matthew Fannan .
UP AND ATOM
Firm ’ s growth continues with HR and payroll service
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When an employee interacts with HR , it ’ s often because something negative has happened . We ’ re trying to change that .”
So says Nathan Raine , the payroll and HR services manager of Atom People – an innovative new offshoot of Stocktonbased consultancy Atom Financial .
With a friendship going back more than 20 years and a wealth of experience between them , Matt Herrell and Matthew Fannan were confident their fledgling financial consultancy firm , Atom Financial , had what it took to succeed .
And after a hugely encouraging first year , that confidence has been justified – to the extent they are now working on exciting expansion plans and have brought a payroll and HR service into the mix .
Called Atom People , it offers a wide range of cost-effective , bespoke HR solutions and payroll services to North- East SME businesses .
Fronted by “ young , bright and hungry ” Nathan , Atom People , says Matt , is all about filling a gap they noticed existed . He says : “ Payroll tends not to get involved in HR , and HR consultants tend not to want to get involved in payroll . There ’ s a gap in the middle , but we ’ re bringing that together .”
And Nathan , 25 , believes it ’ s “ changing the face of HR ”.
He explained : “ When an employee interacts with HR , it ’ s normally because something negative has happened . We ’ re trying to change that because that ’ s not the modern world .
“ Now it ’ s more about how your staff benefits and rewards strategy feeds into your culture . That , in turn , feeds into your workforce ’ s effectiveness and efficiencies – and a happier workforce equals a happier management team .
“ They ’ re going to work better because they want to work for you – and if everyone is pulling in the same direction , it means the business isn ’ t going off and doing one thing and trying to drag its workforce along with them , it ’ s actually pulling the whole thing together .”
Nathan knows Atom ’ s founders well , having worked with them in a previous role for a number of years , and is relishing the opportunity to lead the new division .
And CIPD-qualified Nathan believes Matthew and Matt ’ s decision to offer HR and payroll , rather than purely financial consultancy services , makes perfect sense for Atom Financial and its clients .
He said : “ They thought , ‘ We ’ ve got the finance bit nailed , there ’ s an opportunity for HR here ’ – and besides , why is a company outsourcing the payroll when we know an HR manager who can do both ?
“ HR and finance functions complement each other , with the payroll being the link between . If you can bring that back in-house and save yourself money each month , it makes for a really positive offering and takes the stress away from the owners and MDs .
“ It lets them carry on running the business and leave it to the experts to run with the finance , the HR and the payroll functions .
“ We ’ re someone you can trust that isn ’ t an outsourced function – it ’ s a fully integrated , fully managed service . We ’ re onsite . We get in front of clients and get to understand their needs , and the needs of the workforce .”
Nathan started at Atom in May but has worked in HR for seven years . And he believes a proactive approach is key to Atom People ’ s success .
He said : “ A lot of HR is firefighting because you ’ ve let it get to a certain point . Particularly in a growing business , if you ’ ve never had an HR problem before , and your business has grown , you might think , ‘ Why do I need that ? I don ’ t see the value in it ?’
“ If I can demonstrate with a client that it can make a positive impact by getting things right first time around , you don ’ t end up firefighting – it ’ s about being proactive .
“ What ’ s integral is getting in front of clients and being fully ingrained so you understand the people and the business . You can add more value by having a strategic outlook that you wouldn ’ t get from an outsourced service . It also means you can have a positive effect on people management because the people know you , can see you and trust you .”
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42 | Tees Business