admin While global expansion may be a top aspiration for most brands, attaining this feat is not an easy task, given the complexities involved in the process of expansion. From global onboarding of employees to managing compliance and payroll issues, expanding one’s business on a global platform is quite an arduous process. Elements Global Services was established in 2015 to help assuage these issues. Created with the goal of assisting firms in achieving their global expansion dreams, Elements Global Services works to eliminate the delay and processing incongruences created by local third-party service providers. To this end, Elements owns 150 legal entities across the world and works with clients to help boost their expansion plans sans the hassles of compliance and tax issues.
The Man behind the Venture
Elements Global Services has blossomed into a globally revered Super Brand under the auspices of its Founder and CEO, Rick Hammell. With extensive experience in the field of HR, Hammell had already served in the role of a Director of Human Resources and CEO, before launching his own venture. Apart from a Degree in Business Administration with a focus on HR, Hammell also has an SPHR Certification on his long list of credentials. Hammell dissipates his insights and expertise by being an active participant in several HR organizations including the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), Certification Institute & NAPEO. Under his guidance, Elements has flourished into one of the fastest-growing ventures. Leveraging his years of expertise, Hammell helped pioneer a novel business model for the global employment industry.
I had knowledge of the industry from the perspectives of both the service provider and the client. I wanted to leverage that experience to develop a concept that would provide clients with the best HR services and support possible, while simplifying their ability to expand globally. – Rick Hammell
The ‘Employer of Record’ Model
Filling in an important lacuna in the industry, Hammell pioneered a new approach for employee onboarding and payroll management on a global scale. Crafting a new business model -dubbed as the Direct Employer of Record Model- Hammell aimed to empower companies across the world on their quest of international expansion and employee onboarding, with Elements serving as their legal employer. Talking about the inspiration behind the venture Hammell asserts, “I had knowledge of the industry from the perspectives of both the service provider and the client. I wanted to leverage that experience to develop a concept that would provide clients with the best HR services and support possible while simplifying their ability to expand globally.” This ingeniously novel model eliminates the need for third-party providers and streamlines the process of global expansion by offering global benefits on an astutely designed technology platform.
USP of the Brand
Securing a unique market niche is one of the most pivotal parts of a firm’s journey toward becoming a Super Brand. The ingenuity of Elements lies in its astute ability to simplify global expansions. By acknowledging how costly and arduous this process can be for firms, Elements works to ensure that its clients have an opportunity to explore global markets in a cost-effective manner, prior to launching a full-scale operation in these markets. When firms partner with Elements, they get to enjoy a streamlined expansion process, one that reduces cost overheads, while simultaneously ensuring that they get to operationalize their overseas ventures as early as possible. Moreover, Elements also manages the foreign labor and tax regulation compliance issues, so that its clients can focus on business growth and development rather than be caught up in the nitty-gritty of such issues.
Tech Platforms Developed by the Brand
Super Brands attain ace market positions by virtue of their ingenuity. Perceptive implementation of technological boons helps them attain an incomparable edge in the market. The same is true for Elements. By leveraging technological tools of the modern age, this brand has achieved one accolade after the other. In 2020, Elements developed and launched two proprietary HR technology platforms that were crafted to further simplify the experience of its customers. Talking about the role of both these tech platforms in pioneering change Hammell asserts, “Our technology has disrupted the marketplace.”
We own and operate every entity with which we do business in every country. We do all the upfront work. That way we can give our clients a cost-effective speed to market solution – Rick Hammell
ApprovPay- Ideated as a global human capital management and payroll platform, ApprovPay makes the process of onboarding and payment generation swift and streamlined. By allowing customers to onboard and pay employees within merely three days, ApprovPay rationalizes the process of global expansion.
Expandopedia- Designed as a business intelligence platform, Expandopedia handles compliance issues. By collecting HR, tax, and regulatory compliance information from over 150 countries, the platform ensures that companies remain compliant with the standards of their operational locations.
Conquering One Feat after Another
The growth trajectory of a firm has a significant bearing on its potential of attaining the coveted Super Brand status. Elements has successfully achieved this feat by recording an annual revenue growth rate of 100%. During the trying times of the pandemic, the company managed to record a revenue growth rate of over 45%. Remaining on the path of impeccable growth, Elements now braces itself to triple its revenue records by the end of this year.
Carrying the Legacy Forward
Mapping the client and employee base of Elements illustrates the extensive sphere of influence the firm has in the global market. With more than 250 employees scattered around the global -58 of whom are stationed in the Chicagoland area, where the firm is headquartered- the company plans to further extend its employee base in the upcoming months. Over the last 6 years, Elements has successfully managed over 3000 worksite employees across the world on behalf of its customers. Currently, this global Super Brand has 3 offices in the US and 10 offices overseas and plans on perpetually fueling this fire of expansion in the upcoming days of 2022. Talking about the future, Hammell asserts that he aims for Elements to hit the $7 billion market evaluation mark within the next 3 to 5 years- mainly through acquisitions.
Magazine 
