Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in Michigan face countless obstacles — difficulty hiring, challenges offering affordable benefits, and implementing compliance procedures for nuanced employment regulations. Some of these challenges are unique to smaller companies because they often lack the size to hire in-house experts.
Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) in Michigan have many human resources responsibilities they handle for their clients, including payroll, benefits administration, and employment law compliance.
Michigan SMBs have a choice when deciding on a PEO partnership — a national PEO or a Michigan PEO. There are significant upsides to working with a PEO based in Michigan. At the same time, partnering with a national PEO has substantial disadvantages.
PEOs in Michigan are Local Experts
Local PEOs are local experts. They understand what your business goes through and the challenges your business faces in your community.
Michigan-based PEOs, especially those near Ann Arbor, have a finger on the pulse of potential new regulations and newly implemented employment laws. They can help your business adjust in real-time to these new laws to keep your company compliant.
Established Michigan PEOs also have a working relationship A2Y Chamber of Commerce and have close relationships with legislators and regulators. That helps them stay up to date on employment laws and upcoming regulation changes.
National PEOs do not have the same presence or community connection. National PEOs rely on local resources to update them on local and state-wide changes for their clients. This second-hand information risks losing some factual details. Your business is better off getting the information firsthand by working with a Michigan PEO.
Large PEO Companies are Impersonal
To a national PEO, you are nothing more than another account number that provides them additional revenue. If a national PEO gets terrible reviews or has unhappy clients in one city or state, they can simply rely on their clients’ base elsewhere to keep them going.
Local PEOs do not have that option. A Michigan PEO has an incentive to provide each client with the highest level of service. If word of mouth referrals dry up, the local PEO risks going out of business. A Michigan PEO takes extra care about its customer relationship because everyone is a member of the same community.
Besides the additional and personalized care you receive from a local PEO, they can also provide you with on-site assistance when necessary since they are local.
Your employees will appreciate the personalized service they receive from a local that treats them with respect and as individuals. By forging a bond with your employees, your Michigan PEO can provide a higher level of service to your company.
Michigan PEOs are More Flexible
With national PEOs, they generally offer a one-size-fits-all package. Your business is unique and cannot fit into the same box as every other business. Local PEOs recognize this and will offer you the flexibility of services.
Even if a national PEO has a Michigan office, the corporate headquarters still sets the policies and orders strict adherence to their one-size-fits-all package. Rarely will you find a national PEO that offers your business the flexibility of a local Michigan PEO.
Because of this flexibility, you get the exact service you need from local experts.
Choosing a Michigan PEO Makes Sense for Michigan Businesses
Michigan PEOs are ideal for Michigan businesses in need of HR outsourcing services. One of the most common areas that gets small and mid-sized businesses into trouble is violation of obscure employment laws. Many of these laws are state or local, making it even less likely a national PEO could guide you through these challenges.
And that’s just one of the many problems a PEO solves.
That’s why it is vital to your business’s success and growth that you choose a local Michigan PEO to help your business grow and thrive.