The PEO: Your Competitive Advantage

Having worked for an Arizona PEO company for quite some time, I still find myself continually shocked by the diverse mix of companies that benefit from outsourcing their human resources and payroll services. For instance, just the other day I was sitting across the table from a new client who had been in the construction industry for about three years. The unique thing about this visit, however, was that this table looked nothing like the long board room conference table I am used to encountering. Instead, it was a small glass kitchen table situated in the owner’s cozy two bedroom apartment.

As it turned out, this tiny kitchen table was the center of all business operations for our newest client. It was the central location for all of the companies call processing, scheduling, recruiting, and payroll processing. A rather impressive feat for a company with over 20 employees. However, as I glanced over at a stack of papers wedged between the salt shaker and a pile of napkins, I realized that our HR consulting services had been enlisted not a second too soon. Pushed to the side of this overburdened, small business owner’s “desk” was a stack of 940’s, 941’s, and several overdue workers compensation forms. After a few moments of conversation, I just had to ask about the status of these documents. To which he responded, “oh those…I’m not really sure what all that is. It’s all been sitting there for a while and I guess I just kinda forgot all about them.”

This is the exact kind of scenario in which PEO companies and business owners can join forces and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. Arizona PEO companies have the knowledge and resources to handle all of the behind-the-scenes support functions of an organization, which leaves the business owners free to grow their company and focus on what they do best. By simply recruiting the services of a PEO, business owner headaches can be exponentially limited.

Though PEO companies have historically been associated with the tasks of payroll administration, our services are rather abundant. At my Phoenix PEO company in particular, our services range from payroll and benefits administration to workers compensation, HR consulting, Training & Development, and recruiting. Thus, we are literally a one-stop-shop for all of a business owner’s supportive needs. In addition, by recruiting the services of a PEO, many business owners find that they are now able to offer benefits and incentives that would never before have been imaginable for the organization.

In the case of the construction owner previously mentioned, there had never before been any sort of health care or retirement package established for any of his employees. After just a few brief correspondences, I was able to set his company up with several fantastic benefits options and a 401(k) that gave his employees the retirement savings plan of their dreams. Additionally, our recruiting division was able to ease the owner’s hiring burden by pre-screening several potential new employees for his operation and sending him only the most qualified of individuals. Afterwards, our training and development team conducted a thorough evaluation of the company and presented a magnificent safety training program to ensure that the company was staying compliant with all of the new legislation in the field. All the while, the business owner was able to focus on the critical day-to-day operations of his company.

As you can see, there are a multitude of reasons why an organization or business owner would want to enlist the knowledge and abilities of a PEO. However, the single greatest reason for this partnership is the development of a competitive advantage for your company. By aligning yourself with a PEO, you will be establishing a support network that you can depend upon for all of your back office needs. This frees up time, money, and resources that can be better vested in the generation of revenue and expansion of services.