In the past few years, we’ve witnessed a tidal change in when, where, and how we work. More workers want to choose how work fits into their lives, and expect to be able to work outside their employer’s office. Recent research from Gusto found 49% of small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) identified themselves as hybrid, while 33% said they’re fully remote.
At the same time, going remote and hybrid can be a huge strategic advantage for SMBs – the shift helps them attract the best and brightest, while growing their workforces at accelerated speeds. In fact, almost half of workers say being able to choose where they work will be the biggest factor in accepting a new job.
The bottom line? Remote and hybrid work can be a game-changer for both workers and businesses. Workers get more flexibility, while businesses get to expand their talent pool. That’s why Gusto has been building features designed to make distributed work easy, while maintaining compliance with state and city regulations – no matter whether their teams are across state lines or around the world.
Here are four key tools Gusto offers to help SMBs build successful remote and hybrid workplaces:
Quick and easy 50-state tax registration
International contractor payments in more than 120 countries
Performance management tools, like goal tracking and performance reviews
Reliable background checks
These tools have helped more than 300,000 businesses across the U.S. engage and support their remote and hybrid teams. As a result, Gusto has been named the best payroll and HR platform for SMBs by top reviewers like PC Mag, NerdWallet, Business.com, and TechRepublic.
Everything SMBs need to hire, pay, and stay compliant—in one place
Hiring employees in other states can help SMBs unlock access to specialized talent. But doing so while remaining compliant is complicated – there are complex state and city regulations to navigate and costly tax penalties at risk. It’s no surprise that in a recent Gusto survey, 70% of SMBs said access to accurate and compliant state tax registration tools is “very important.”
With Gusto’s state tax registration, SMBs have the tools to easily register their businesses in new states. That means they can hire and pay their people quickly, accurately, and compliantly, while avoiding costly payroll errors. With state tax registration, SMBs can:
Register in all 50 states (and Washington, D.C.): Gusto ensures admins are registered with the right state-level tax authorities for each state
Access fast processing: Eligibility is assessed instantly, we submit orders immediately, and registration can be completed in as little as one week
Track order status: Admins can track their registration order status in Gusto, so they know where they are in the registration process
Sync their payroll with accurate tax rates: Gusto automatically gets registration and tax information from CorpNet, so you can get started with payroll right away (eligible states only)
It’s becoming increasingly critical for SMBs to be able to access talent anywhere. As SMBs cross borders, they need a payroll platform that enables them to pay their workers accurately and on time in their local currency, while accounting for fluctuating exchange rates and payment delays. Additionally, they need reliable compliance in every market.
With Gusto’s international contractor payments feature, SMBs can easily and compliantly onboard and pay contractors in over 120 countries. With international contractor payments, SMBs can:
Send quick payments: Payments are delivered in as little as 3 business days from when payments are initiated within Gusto to ensure you pay your team on time
Schedule payments: Easily automate payments schedules to ensure your team gets paid on time
Empower contractors to self-onboard: Enable contractors to hit the ground running with a cloud-based flow to collect personal details, tax and payment details, and important documents like their W-8BEN directly in Gusto
Enable contractors to check their payment status and history
Collect important information through documentation: Upload, share, and collect e-signatures for documents
Access onboarding checklists: Keep workflows on track with customizable tasks that can be assigned to anyone on the team
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Our state tax registration and international contractor payments features are the best in class:
Gusto named “best for companies that need to file taxes in multiple states”
Gusto named “best for international contractors“
Gusto named “best for contractor-run global companies”
Create great places to work, no matter where their people work from
People are what make businesses successful. Yet to be effective, it’s essential for people to feel connected to their coworkers – even when they’re physically apart.
One of the biggest challenges for leaders and managers is to ensure their remote and hybrid employees feel heard, while also giving them regular feedback and recognizing them for performance. With Gusto’s Goal Tracking and Performance Reviews features, SMBs get the tools they need to develop and grow their people, while ensuring their employees are driving the impact they need for their businesses.
Goal Tracking: SMBs can manage employee goals, send monthly reminders on progress updates, and incorporate goals into performance reviews. Managers can also view real-time insights on their team’s progress in one easy dashboard. And when it’s time for evaluations, these goals can easily be integrated into performance reviews.
Performance Reviews: SMBs can seamlessly manage the performance review process by collecting 360-degree feedback from team members – whether they’re upward, downward, peer, or self reviews. Feedback, reviews, and goal tracking are all available in one simple Admin Dashboard. And for businesses that use other performance development tools like Lattice and 15Five, they seamlessly integrate them with Gusto to keep all the info on their team’s growth in one place.
Our HR and performance management tools help our customers build talented, high-performing teams. That’s why we’ve won awards and recognition from top review sites:
Gusto named “best for expert guidance for top HR software”
Gusto rated “9.7 out of 10 for HR software“
Hire teams with confidence
Expanding a business beyond four walls can provide huge opportunities, but it can also invite risk. It’s critical to safeguard business data, property, and assets. Background checks can help and provide SMBs with peace of mind when bringing on new workers in different states. For some industries and clients, they are also mandatory.
With Background Checks through our partnership with Checkr, SMBs can now:
Streamline hiring: Run background checks directly within Gusto so you can screen and onboard new hires all in one place.
Hire equitably and compliantly: Gusto provides guidance on which background checks are necessary, how to run them, and how to interpret results. Customers have the option to enable filters via Checkr Assess that can expand their candidate pool and reduce potential bias.
Remote and hybrid work are here to stay. As SMBs continue shaping the evolution of distributed work, Gusto will be right here to enable and support them. We’re committed to building and improving tools that will help them attract the best talent and scale their businesses, no matter where they’re located. With new products unlocking access to talent all over the world with fast, simple, and compliant hiring, payments, and management, we’re excited to help power the growth of our customers.
