How Foundry Commercial looks ahead at payroll management and the employee experience

In today’s fast-paced world, it's easy to focus only on quick wins. Foundry Commercial, a southeast-based commercial real estate company, is looking ahead at the long game.  

After many years of growth and acquiring a large senior living platform, Foundry Commercial has a combination of employees who work within different business lines, from hourly, frontline workers to full-time, salaried employees. The company’s unique structure, driven by its focus on being a generational company and growing sustainably, allows it to make strategic decisions about talent and investments that set it apart from other commercial real estate companies. But that means more complexity to get in the way of the company’s people doing the work they’re meant to do.  

At the recent Dayforce Summit in New York City, Brandy Garnero, Chief Human Capital Officer of Foundry Commercial, shared how her team is achieving simplicity at scale and making a strong community impact. 

Managing payroll complexity at scale 

Managing payroll for different types of work and workers adds complexity to Foundry Commercial’s operations. Garnero shared more details about this daily challenge for their team. “Payroll was the biggest thorn in our side because we had such a volume of employees who were hourly workers. Getting time approved, accurately entered, and putting in the right direct deposit was challenging.” 

The Foundry Commercial team is focusing on its growing business and uses Dayforce Managed Payroll to support its HR team. “Now that we have the Dayforce team to help us process payroll, my team does the higher-level work, from triaging to going back and forth with managers or leaders, so it's really getting them to do the work that they want to do. It has helped us operationally. It’s having the confidence in a partner like Dayforce that we know our people are going to get paid, and benefits are going to be fine.”  

Helping provide financial stability 

Decreasing manual work has been key for improving the experience of their HR and payroll teams. Garnero talked about how having the right payroll partner is also creating an impact across their workforce. “It's reduced their stress. I really underestimated Dayforce Wallet, especially with our frontline workers, who can be working paycheck to paycheck and may have unexpected needs.”  

In the first few months after implementation, Foundry Commercial saw over 200 transactions from its employees. From a business standpoint, on-demand pay helped reduce the turnover of their senior living business employees by 12 percent. Foundry Commercial has already seen the benefits of $450,000 in annualized cost savings. “Particularly if you have frontline workers, Wallet is a game changer,” said Garnero. 

Building partnerships 

Beyond its business goals, Foundry Commercial is also focused on making a positive impact on the greater community. Garnero opened up about the roots it’s putting down: “Our mission is really to be a generational company, and we want to focus our time based on our people, our purpose, and our performance.” 

That includes giving back to the communities in which they work and live. Garnero shared about their passion for Serve Week, a dedicated week annually during which employees take time to serve local charities. “We are primarily serving organizations around food insecurities, critical needs, and impoverished populations. For some cities, we are doing land cleanup of beaches, lakes, and the hard-hit Western North Carolina region that’s still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Helene. In others, we’re serving students in after-school programs that promote fun and learning. It can be anything that the Foundry office is passionate about. It's awesome; it's fun; and it's our way of really giving back and showing it's important that we invest back in the community.”  

Some partnerships extend to local real estate councils and talent programs to bring in the next generation to commercial real estate. “It’s about opening doors for the next generation and helping young people see the many possibilities within commercial real estate. By engaging students early, we can inspire a broader, more diverse group to consider careers in this industry, whether they’re college-bound or exploring other paths.” That same forward-looking mindset is reflected in how Foundry Commercial approaches its business partnerships. Maintaining partnerships is integral to Foundry Commercial’s business model. Garnero shared their company tagline of “It’s Personal” and the importance of building for the future together. “I chose Dayforce for our team because I believe that we can have a long-term partnership. I want a company that will grow and change with us.”  

Building for the future in unpredictable times takes the right strategy with long-term goals and fast-acting agility. When it comes to the commercial real estate industry, a personalized touch is always going to make the difference. Foundry Commercial is putting down roots in their community and looking to expand their footprint as a generational company that helps their people do the work they’re meant to do.