Founded in 1906, American Greetings (NYSE: AM) is the world’s largest publicly owned creator, manufacturer and distributor of social expression products. In the United States, the company’s greeting cards are marketed under the names Carlton Cards, American Greetings and Gibson. American Greetings is also a leading manufacturer and distributor of seasonal gift wrap and boxed greeting cards while americangreetings.com is a leading provider of Internet greetings and other content for the digital marketplace including the popular Blue Mountain eCards. With headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings has over 40,000 associates around the world and is home to one of the world’s largest creative studios.

When American Greetings investigated converting its payroll process to a "paperless" environment, a benchmarking study revealed that the current method of processing and distributing direct deposit notifications was labor intensive and expensive. With such a huge savings potential, the company prepared to face the challenge of asking employees to change the way they receive their pay statement advices.

Considering American Greetings’ field workforce of over 28,000, including many part-time employees, and their lack of information about employee access to the Internet, they knew a comprehensive solution was needed. In order to service all employees it was essential to find a solution that provided paperless payroll access using the Web as well as interactive voice response (IVR) for those associates who only had telephone access.

American Greetings already had experience outsourcing employment and income verifications to The Work Number and they knew employees would be able to reliably access their personal pay information 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The company chose to add The Work Number ePayroll ServiceSM for its paperless payroll solution because it met all accessibility requirements and it offered a secure, reliable environment that was familiar to all American Greetings employees.

American Greetings introduced ePayroll Services to employees by offering electronic access to pay information to all employees who were enrolled in the company’s direct deposit program. Using the web, telephone or convenient kiosks, these employees are able to review current and previous pay statements at any time. American Greetings believes that with round-the-clock employee access to pay information, more employees will choose to participate in the company’s direct deposit program resulting in greater savings.

Smooth Transition
During the service rollout, the TALX ePayroll Team worked closely with American Greetings to make the change run smoothly. First, executive leadership received an initial demonstration that answered their questions and provided the top down support for paperless pay. Also, a TALX ePayroll Account Implementation Manager conducted on-site demonstrations for employees in a main area of the company’s building and hosted an informational meeting to answer employee questions. Multiple, clear communications to all employees also paved the way for a smooth rollout.

"We are a ninety six year-old company so moving to an electronic payroll solution presented a cultural change which we did anticipate," said Mark Hopton, manager of corporate payroll services for American Greetings. "TALX helped to make the transition run smoothly and our employees quickly embraced the change. We’ve received a 99% approval rating from our employees who participate in direct deposit."

Today, all American Greetings employees using direct deposit enjoy multiple access options to their pay information and can print paycheck confirmations that look exactly like the ones they were accustomed to receiving from the company. Electronic access to pay information is available via kiosks in all of the company’s locations, the ePayroll Services web site, the American Greetings’ web site and an 800-telephone number to request pay summary information.

American Greetings began realizing a cost savings from The Work Number ePayroll Services within the first three months of operations. The most significant benefit is the savings of over $20 per employee per year for those employees enrolled in the direct deposit program. Recurring savings are projected at over a half million dollars each year. So far, the cost savings have far exceeded the company’s expectations and will continue to grow as more employees choose to use direct deposit.

Looking to the Future
American Greetings plans to implement Direct Deposit Maintenance, another ePayroll Service, which provides employees with more opportunities to manage their money the way they want to. This paperless pay option seamlessly and effortlessly increases the number of available direct deposit accounts for each employee from three to six. And, using a kiosk or the company Intranet, employees will be able to establish new direct deposit accounts or update those already in place. A big benefit to employees for enrolling in direct deposit is getting online access to their pay information. As a result, American Greetings believes this service will also motivate employees to enroll in the company’s direct deposit program and further reduce the administrative burden and associated payroll costs.

American Greetings’ change to paperless payroll conveniently connects employees with their pay information. The company believes as more and more businesses "go paperless" and report their significant cost and labor-savings benefits, this trend will continue to rise.