PEO HQ

Source: Technology Digital

Date :11/04/2008 03:42:00

Founder and President of PEO HQ, Jim Hansen, tells Exec how his company is successfully removing the burden of HR tasks

Written by Roxanne Ridge and Produced Jon Ellingwood

The world of business can be stressful – pressurized by competition, time and money, a company has a lot to think about. And it can be hard to make all the different parts of a business work to their full potential.

Back in the 1990s, when the world of business was expanding, businessmen started to think about this problem and consider the ways in which the workload could be distributed better. The solution was outsourcing – giving control of a part of your company to another company, which considered itself to be an expert in that field. Businesses recognised that they could give away some of their more administrative tasks to specialist companies, which would in fact do the tasks better. This freed up their time to focus on the real core of the company. And they then had more time to make the business become a success.

It was around this time that Jim Hansen, Founder and President of PEO HQ, decided to set up PEO HQ – a company offering HR, Payroll, benefits and consulting services.

Jim had previously worked in mortgage banking and was Regional Manager for Norwest Mortgage, Inc. In 1991, he took his expert knowledge on the industry and helped his wife expand their company, Contemporary Services, Inc. (CSI), which is now a sister company to PEO HQ. Eight years into working on this project, and, arguably at a time when outsourcing was emerging as a big business, he founded PEO HQ.

A PEO – “professional employer organization” – allows companies to outsource the management of their human resource administration. Companies enter into agreements with PEO HQ to co-employ their workers. PEO HQ then handles all their administrative work and compliance, leaving the client to concentrate on making their business grow.

Jim’s vision has worked tremendously. Today, the company operates from two offices in Illinois. And last year, the companies took in annual revenues in excess of $40 million.

Strategic management

“Since the onset, PEO HQ has experienced a slow, steady growth,” explains Jim. “And we’ve steadily been increasing our range of clients. We’re now licensed to work in five Midwestern states and for many of the clients within these areas, the idea of giving your human resource management to another company is new – so the growth has been slow but steady.

“Over the last few years we’ve marketed to smaller entrepreneurial companies like ourselves,” says Jim. “PEO HQ has shown various companies that they can use outsourcing their human resources to help their business grow and concentrate on more profitable and productive talks. Our current clients include a variety of office-based companies, including law firms, sales organizations and franchises. We have around 43 clients at present.

“We tend to take the approach where we become the client’s partner – like a friend – and build up a relationship with them. Customer service is really important to PEO HQ. However, this is not always an easy task because there are larger PEOs offering competitive products, such as health insurance. We make the companies aware of the impact our good customer service can have on their business and that pricing isn’t everything.

“We are working with suppliers to improve our pricing, but this is not everything and because we offer such good customer service, I think this makes us stand out from some of the bigger PEOs. At present, this approach is working well and we have a very loyal client base. We’re based in a small town and those clients who come to us tend to stay with us.

Well-trained

None of this would be possible, however, if it wasn’t for the strong team of staff that PEO HQ has. The company currently has around 700 employees, which includes some temporary workers. Some of the 28 corporate employees cross over and also work for CSI.

“A lot of our staff are cross trained,” explains Jim. “Where the mortgage finance sector is requiring less staff, we’re moving them over to PEO HQ. A lot of our staff have developed transferable skills which can be used in both companies. All of our staff have great internal training and they are able to offer advice to clients on any HR issue.

“We’ve also been training our staff to work with the technology we are using. We’re using ThinkWare software by Darwin. And if there are any issues with using the software – we have an internal IT department, which is always available.

“All the hard work that the staff does is recognized. We offer an above average compensation and benefits package and a great culture and work environment to be in.

“When it comes to recruiting new staff, we always look around the local community first. We have a good name and reputation in our area so it has been relatively easy for us to hire good people”.

A positive outlook

PEO HQ is a particularly forward thinking company and the future is something that the company constantly keeps in mind. “We’re aiming to grow by ten to 15 percent each year – keeping in line with the way the company has steadily increased in the past,” says Jim. “We’re going to keep building up our client base and continue to partner companies – almost like we’re an extension of their companies, rather than just an outsourcer who provides a service.

“We don’t have any formal continuous improvement programs, but we’re also looking to implement Six Sigma principles in the future and as we continually improve. “We’ll also continue to market at business trade shows and through the internet.

“Companies like the way we have a strong client base and great customer service and this is something that we’re definitely going to continue to improve and market on in the future.” If the company continues to improve on the way it operates in the future, it’s highly likely that they’ll meet their targets.