Choosing the right PEO is a strategic move that strengthens your HR, compliance, payroll, and benefits operations. By evaluating accreditation, service quality, technology, scalability, and real client experiences, you can confidently select a partner that truly supports your growth. The right PEO ultimately reduces risk, protects margins, and helps your business scale with clarity and confidence.
Selecting the right Professional Employer Organization (PEO) is more than a simple vendor decision — it’s a strategic investment in your company’s long-term stability and growth. The ideal PEO strengthens your HR foundation, protects you from compliance risks, and gives your team access to competitive benefits that improve retention. With the right partner, administrative burdens shrink while operational efficiency rises. This allows business leaders to focus more on strategy, innovation, and scaling. A well-chosen PEO doesn’t just support your business — it accelerates it.
Start by identifying your most pressing needs. Are you looking for end-to-end HR support, payroll management, benefits access, or compliance protection? Getting clarity here will immediately help you filter the right PEOs.
Work only with ESAC-accredited or IRS-certified PEOs. These designations signal financial reliability, operational integrity, and compliance with strict industry standards.
Some PEOs specialize in specific sectors such as tech, healthcare, or manufacturing. A provider familiar with your industry will better understand your risks, regulations, and growth needs.
Not all PEOs offer the same scope. Review what’s included — and what’s not. Make sure their service package aligns with your current operations and long-term strategy.
Explore client testimonials, case studies, and independent third-party reviews. A provider’s track record often says more than their sales pitches.
A modern, intuitive platform is essential. Request a demo and evaluate features such as payroll, onboarding, time tracking, and benefits administration.
PEOs usually charge either a flat per-employee fee or a percentage of total payroll. Ask for a clear breakdown and confirm there are no hidden or surprise charges.
Your PEO should act as a compliance shield, helping you stay up to date with labor laws, tax rules, and healthcare regulations.
As your business grows, your PEO should be able to grow with you. Confirm they can support future headcount, new locations, and evolving needs.
Request a full breakdown of available health plans, retirement options, and other perks. Strong benefits can significantly improve retention and help attract talent.
Transitioning to a PEO should feel seamless. Ask if you’ll have a dedicated account manager and whether they provide training for your team.
Every agreement should allow for a clean exit. Review termination clauses, penalties, and how your data — and your employees — will be handled if you decide to move on.
Ask to speak with clients of similar size or within the same industry. Their real-world experiences offer valuable insight into service quality and responsiveness.
Carefully review the contract, including roles, responsibilities, liabilities, and service-level agreements. If needed, have legal counsel review it.
Your early interactions indicate what ongoing service will be like. Evaluate how quickly they respond, how clearly they communicate, and whether they treat you like a partner or just another account.
Choosing a PEO isn’t just a vendor decision — it’s a strategic infrastructure move that affects your workforce, finances, and growth trajectory. At Dinsmore Steele, we help growth-stage companies and private equity leaders make this decision with clarity, engineering custom PEO strategies that protect margin, reduce risk, and scale confidently.
Need help choosing the right PEO? Let’s build a smarter workforce strategy — together.
Dinsmore Steele is the Strategic PEO Advisory™ that helps growth-stage companies and PE-backed firms align cost, compliance, and clarity turning HR into a source of leverage, not liability.
Chief Operating Officer
Stephen Clemente serves as Chief Operating Officer at Dinsmore Steele, where he leads operations, finance, administration, sales enablement, and marketing in support of the firm’s PEO advisory mission. He focuses on strengthening how organizations evaluate, structure, and optimize their PEO relationships — helping clients improve cost, performance, and long-term outcomes through objective, data-driven guidance.
Throughout his career, Stephen has led global, cross-functional teams across a range of industries, including technology, eCommerce, and professional services. He has successfully raised venture capital for startup organizations, guided companies through growth and transformation, and helped maximize enterprise value during business sale and exit processes. His leadership approach emphasizes process discipline, organizational alignment, and building high-performing, collaborative teams.
Known for his commitment to delivering exceptional client outcomes, Stephen works to ensure every engagement results in a high-quality advisory experience and long-term partnership. At Dinsmore Steele, he collaborates closely with the advisory and client service teams to enhance benchmarking, negotiation support, implementation oversight, and ongoing performance management — always with the goal of ensuring clients are fully supported and genuinely delighted with their results.
Director of Broker Sales & Strategy
Chad serves as the Director of Broker Sales & Strategy at Dinsmore Steele, where he leads the broker channel with a clear focus: delivering unmatched support, strategy, and results for our partners and their clients. With a strong commitment to responsiveness and transparency, Chad ensures every broker partner has the guidance, tools, and insights needed to navigate the PEO landscape with confidence. He excels at simplifying complex decisions, strengthening relationships, and aligning solutions that put the client’s best interest at the center.
Whether he’s shaping growth strategy, optimizing partner workflows, or advising on PEO fit, Chad brings both strategic clarity and hands-on follow-through — always grounded in his belief that great brokerage relationships are earned through consistency, honesty, and meaningful impact.
Outside of work, Chad’s world revolves around his family. He takes pride in being a dedicated husband and father, and one of his greatest joys has been coaching his kids throughout the years—from their early seasons to where they are today. Whether on the field or in business, Chad brings the same energy, patience, and commitment to helping people succeed.
Senior PEO Advisor
Alicia helps businesses navigate the world of PEOs—whether they’re evaluating options, switching providers, or simply looking to get more value from renewals. At Dinsmore Steele, she manages the RFP process from start to finish, gathers competitive quotes, and delivers detailed analyses that give clients clarity and confidence. Acting as a bridge between companies and PEOs, Alicia makes sure onboarding, compliance, and benefit transitions are smooth and stress-free.
With a strong background in PEO brokerage, consulting, and customer service, Alicia brings both industry expertise and a client-first mindset. Her style is strategic and detail-oriented—she’s known for keeping projects organized, proposals accurate, and communications clear. Over the years, she’s successfully negotiated lower fees, secured stronger service agreements, and uncovered hidden savings that translate into measurable ROI. Clients trust her not just for her knowledge, but for her ability to listen, advocate, and deliver solutions that make a real difference.
Alicia’s passion for helping others extends beyond the office. She’s a dedicated animal rescue advocate, actively volunteering with dog rescues and adoption efforts—and a proud dog mom of three herself. She also loves staying active through strength training, hot yoga, and pickleball. Whether with clients, colleagues, or in her community, Alicia thrives on building strong connections and supporting others in reaching their goals.
Peo Advisor
Ethan helps clients make sense of the complex PEO landscape, guiding them through evaluations to find the right long-term solution. Before joining Dinsmore Steele, he spent several years at ADP—starting in small business and later selling TotalSource—working closely with companies in blue collar industries, professional services, and tech. A consistent top performer, Ethan has built a reputation for listening closely, cutting through the noise, and finding solutions that actually solve the problems clients are facing.
His strengths lie in navigating the overwhelming number of PEO options to identify the best fit for each company’s goals. Ethan’s approach works because it’s rooted in problem-solving—he focuses on what matters most to clients and ensures every recommendation aligns with their specific needs. What he enjoys most is the trust clients place in him and the satisfaction of delivering solutions that truly fit.
Operations Director
Pat is the glue that keeps operations running smoothly at Dinsmore Steele. As Operations Director, Pat focuses on processes, workflows, and accounts—making sure nothing falls through the cracks and every system works the way it should.
With a career that spans industries and countries, Pat brings a truly global perspective to the team. Prior to joining Dinsmore Steele, Pat served as a Marketing Manager for a restaurant chain in the Philippines, a Regional Sales Director for a tech start-up in Vietnam, an Accounts Manager for the Central Bank of the Philippines, and an Operations Manager for an HR firm in Australia. This diverse background has given Pat the ability to see both the big picture and the finer details, spotting inefficiencies, improving workflows, and bridging gaps between teams to create systems that actually scale. Known for being strategic yet execution-focused, Pat makes sure every plan is not only effective but also executable.
Pat’s early career as an international model with Elite Model Management developed a sharp eye for branding, visual storytelling, and creative direction. That creative perspective still shows up in their work today, blending operational precision with design-minded detail. Outside the office, Pat enjoys exploring new ways to merge structure with creativity, bringing balance to both professional and personal pursuits.
Chief Human Resources and Client Experience Officer
Bobbi Jo is a seasoned HR leader who believes people strategy should always push the business forward—not just keep it running. With more than two decades of experience, she’s helped companies tackle big challenges like turnover, scaling through acquisitions, and building systems that make HR less reactive and more proactive.
As a former CHRO, Bobbi Jo knows what it takes to lead a high-performing HR team and get results in fast-changing environments. She’s streamlined processes, redesigned job structures, and rolled out performance tools that stick—all with a focus on creating efficiency without losing sight of the people behind the work. Having been both a sole contributor and a leader of large teams, she gets what HR professionals at every level are up against, and she knows how to help them shine.
Bobbi Jo is the person you call when HR needs to be more than just a support function. She guides businesses through PEO transitions, benefit renewals, and M&A integrations, while also digging into the nuts and bolts like compensation benchmarking, pay equity, recruiting strategies, and turnover action plans. She’s skilled at building or reworking HR systems, creating policies that actually work in practice, and setting up engagement programs that inspire real results. Whether it’s payroll, performance reviews, or planning the next generation of leaders, Bobbi Jo brings clarity, structure, and energy to every project.
Marketing Director
Rachel leads all things marketing at Dinsmore Steele, where she’s known for turning big business goals into smart, data-driven strategies that actually connect with people. Her superpower? Blending creativity with analytics to build marketing programs that not only look good but also drive real, measurable growth.
Rachel has worn just about every marketing hat: go-to-market planning, brand positioning, demand generation, team leadership, and more. She’s built marketing programs from the ground up, partnered with product, design, sales, and growth teams, and helped transform complex ideas into stories that resonate with customers. From launching new ad formats and running multi-channel campaigns to refining customer journeys with data insights, Rachel brings a mix of strategic thinking, collaboration, and a results-driven mindset.
When she’s not leading marketing initiatives, Rachel’s likely off exploring. She’s traveled extensively (including bungee jumping in Greece!) and loves experiencing new places and cultures. Rachel’s love for travel fuels her curiosity and creativity—she’s always drawing inspiration from new experiences. At home, she finds joy in music—she’s an accomplished pianist and never misses a chance to sit down at the keys.
Chief of Staff
Josh is an operations and marketing strategist who helps businesses scale by combining automation, CRM strategy, and airtight systems that eliminate chaos. With more than a decade of experience supporting executives and business owners, he’s built a reputation for translating big ideas into workflows that actually work.
At Dinsmore Steele, Josh manages client lifecycle campaigns, builds CRM automation in HubSpot, leads outreach strategies, and makes sure marketing vision translates into measurable results. Known for being proactive, precise, and systems-obsessed, Josh is the trusted behind-the-scenes operator who keeps both the DS team and their clients running smoothly.
Josh specializes in creating end-to-end systems that drive growth and efficiency. He builds CRM automation and marketing funnels, designs HubSpot workflows and sequences, and develops follow-up strategies for both active and lost deals. He also supports PEO lead nurturing and client retention efforts, while running survey campaigns, email drips, and slybroadcast voicemail outreach. Beyond campaign execution, Josh strengthens team communication systems, ensures content and campaign quality, and continuously optimizes processes to keep businesses running at peak performance.
SVP/Sales & Revenue
Cassandra joined Dinsmore Steele in 2023, bringing more than a decade of experience and a reputation as one of the top 1% of performers in the PEO industry—earning her the nickname “The PEO Queen.” Few, if any, know more about the inner workings of PEOs than Cassandra, and she uses that expertise to help clients navigate their options with clarity and confidence.
Her role focuses on guiding businesses to the PEO that best fits their needs and budget, then ensuring a smooth transition through the DS platform. With deep experience across PEO, ASO, EOR, HRIS, benefits, payroll, workers’ compensation, compliance, and risk mitigation, Cassandra brings both breadth and depth to every engagement. She combines market knowledge with high-volume productivity and strategic insights to help organizations achieve true scalability. Known for her compassion, professionalism, and dedication, Cassandra always chooses client success above everything else—even when that means losing profit.
Managing Partner
Barbara has been part of Dinsmore Steele since 2016, bringing with her a wealth of industry experience and a knack for building high-performing teams. An industry veteran, she quickly streamlined operations and helped shape a world-class team to better support clients, partners, and providers. What makes Barbara’s perspective especially unique is her background as a former partner in a successful PEO—giving her firsthand experience on both sides of the table and a deep understanding of what it takes to deliver real value.
Today, Barbara focuses on developing cost-effective PEO solutions for organizations of all sizes. She believes the key is understanding each company’s needs and vision, then researching and analyzing the best options to deliver the right fit. Beyond advising clients, Barbara also leverages her deep PEO expertise to work directly with both PEO and ASO providers, helping them expand their marketing engines and strengthen their reach.
Founder and CEO
In 2010, Rodney founded Dinsmore Steele with a clear vision: to give business owners an unbiased, efficient way to shop, compare, and negotiate with Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs). As CEO, he has spent the last 16 years redefining how companies build HR infrastructure—not by selling vendors, but by engineering smarter PEO strategies that protect margins and fuel growth.
Rodney often says most companies don’t pick the “wrong” PEO—they pick without a strategy. That lack of strategy costs businesses time, leverage, and profitability. Through Dinsmore Steele’s Strategic PEO Advisory™, Rodney and his team compress what would normally take months of research into a few days of outcome-driven analysis. The results speak for themselves: over 6,000 companies advised, more than $592M in savings delivered, and an average of $2,016.78 saved per employee, per year. Trusted by growth-stage founders, PE operators, and portfolio teams, Rodney has built an independent, strategic, and proven model that helps businesses design infrastructure that scales—because the right PEO strategy doesn’t just save money, it powers the next stage of growth.
