Managing Director
IPS by HRsolution GmbH
Connect the world
The mission that IPS Managing Director Gerhard Benneck set himself when he founded his company in 1988 could not have been any other: Connect the world!
Born in New York, Benneck got to know life abroad at an early age: Cologne, Paris, Munich – this is where he grew up. His father was sent to many countries as an expat of a US company, always with the family in tow.
After studying business administration in Washington DC and in keeping with the family tradition, Gerhard Benneck moved to Europe. On behalf of an American bank, he first worked in Luxembourg, later in Brussels. What hurdles do seconded employees face when working abroad? During this time, his own practical experience led to a further understanding of the complex issues involved in transnational work.
From Anywhere in the World to Germany
Well equipped, with expat experience and American pioneering spirit in his blood, Benneck founded Contacts & Management GmbH in Düsseldorf at the end of the 1980s, a personnel consultancy specializing in helping foreign companies – often for their market entry – to find suitable employees in Germany. Time and again he was confronted with the problem that although he was able to attract promising talent, his clients did not know how to hire the candidate because the company did not have a permanent establishment in Germany. For Benneck, there was only one solution: to expand the portfolio to include international payroll services.
German companies out into the world
What began with payroll services in Germany for international companies quickly expanded to include payroll services in countries outside Germany. In times of increasing globalization, it became essential for many German companies to operate across borders. High on the wish list of companies is testing markets with their own employees in an uncomplicated way and without having to set up a branch office. International Payroll Services now manages employees for its clients in around 120 countries, including neighbors such as the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Denmark and Poland, but also more distant markets such as the USA, Canada, Argentina, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, China and Japan.
Expansion of the range of services
In 2019, Gerhard Benneck was presented with the opportunity to further expand his international business. HRsolution International AG in Switzerland, previously a network partner of IPS, was up for sale, and so Benneck founded IPS International Payroll Services by HR solution. Today, the company has 15 permanent employees and its own branches in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, England, Ireland, the USA, Mexico and soon also in Italy. Together with an established network of experts, it offers its services in over 120 countries worldwide.
What’s more?
The world of work is changing rapidly. Many business activities are being permanently relocated to the home office or even handled by digital nomads. Digitalization seems to be a huge opportunity for employers from all over the world to easily expand internationally. But hiring employees across borders requires a lot of expertise in all legal issues as well as compliance requirements of the respective countries. Gerhard Benneck and his experienced team are at your disposal so that you can master your international expansion plans with new or seconded employees without stumbling blocks, unnecessary effort and costs.