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By Scott Meacham
Oklahoma’s own Paycom’s culture of innovation sets it apart as an industry pacesetter.
How many times in the last month have you or someone in your family clicked the shopping cart icon in the upper corner of an Amazon or some other ecommerce screen? For many of us, online shopping is no longer the exception, but the rule.
Connect the dots
Imagine the thousands, or more likely millions, of technology and innovation “dots” that were created and then connected over the last 80-plus years to make that online shopping experience the economic force that it is today.
From Oklahoma’s own Sylvan Goldman who invented the physical shopping cart in 1937, to Henry Edward Roberts, an electrical engineering graduate of Oklahoma State University (OSU) who, in 1974, invented the first commercially successful personal computer, the Altair 8800, to Jeff Bezos, who 20 years later incorporated the business that was to become Amazon, and started operations, you guess it, from his garage.
Whatever you think of Amazon and Jeff Bezos, there is no denying that Amazon is a juggernaut of corporate innovation. When corporate innovation gets baked into the culture of a company, there is no limit to what can be accomplished.
Paycom is a remarkable company known around the world for its innovative edge. Paycom was founded in Oklahoma City in 1998 by entrepreneur Chad Richison, president and CEO. The company was the pioneer in online payroll processing.
Culture of Innovation
Paycom’s culture of innovation has only accelerated since it was founded.
Today, Paycom provides comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software. The company, which went public in 2014, reported a 14 percent year-over-year revenue growth of $841.4 million during the pandemic. It’s one thing for an IPO to have a “unicorn” valuation — it is another achievement entirely for a firm to be closing in on billion dollars in actual revenue. It is no surprise that Fortune has ranked Paycom in the 100 Fastest Growing Companies for the fourth consecutive year.
Paycom continues to set the bar for corporate innovation. With the company’s newest technology, Beti (Better Employee Transaction Interface), Paycom is once again reshaping the entire payroll industry with an industry-first employee-driven payroll solution. The big idea behind Beti is enabling employees to do their own payroll. That means that employees have full insight into their paychecks before payroll is run. They know how their pay changes due to withholdings, expenses, promotions and more. Employers gain efficiency and accuracy.
Sometimes corporate innovation is successfully commercialized as successful businesses recognize cultural and customer shifts that open up huge new markets, both demographic and geographic. Paycom’s Beti capitalizes on consumers’ strong preference for self-service (especially the upcoming workplace tsunami of GenZ).
Other times, corporate innovation may die on the shelf. That doesn’t have to happen. Paycom has set the pace for Oklahoma. Here’s hoping more Oklahoma corporates get in the race and adopt Paycom’s culture of innovation.
Scott Meacham CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state support from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and is an integral part of Oklahoma’s Innovation Model. Contact Meacham at i2E_Comments@i2E.org.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
