CFOs don’t need another HR theory — they need numbers that work.
Companies using a PEO (Professional Employer Organization) see an average 27% ROI, 40% lower HR overhead, and twice the growth rate of similar firms running HR in-house. For Marwell Logistics, a private-equity-backed logistics firm in New York, that meant turning a six-figure cost sink into a margin engine — and a CFO rediscovering what control actually feels like.
It was one of those cold, gray New York mornings where the rain fell sideways — sharp, relentless, and just inconvenient enough to remind you that you were late.
Mark sat in the back of a black Lincoln idling in front of a midtown office tower, watching rivulets of water race down the window glass. He took a sip of burnt coffee and glanced at the clock: 7:42 a.m. He had 48 minutes before his first call with the private equity group that now owned Marwell Logistics.
Six months ago, the acquisition had been hailed as a clean deal — “operational upside with scalable potential,” as the PE partner called it. But by the end of Q2, scalable had started to look a lot like sinking.
Marwell’s margins had thinned by nearly a full percentage point in two quarters. Not catastrophic, but enough to make investors restless.
His CEO — a veteran of the trucking industry, shrugged.
“We’re busy, Mark. You can’t cut your way to growth.”
Maybe. But the numbers were what they were. Payroll, benefits, compliance fees, insurance — all climbing.
He’d been a CFO long enough to know cost creep was like corrosion: you don’t see it happening; you just wake up one morning and realize the balance sheet feels heavier.
Mark flipped open his laptop. There it was again — the line item that made his left eye twitch: Human Resources.
$1.9 million. Up 17% year over year. No clear reason why.
He scrolled through the subcategories — payroll services, brokers, consultants. Twelve states, two insurance carriers, and no single source of truth.
The rain hammered harder. His phone buzzed with the call agenda:
Topic #1 — Margin improvement (120 bps). Deadline: next board meeting.
He rubbed his temple. There wasn’t much left to trim.
Then, one new line caught his eye:
PEO (Professional Employer Organization) Possible HR cost consolidation. See Dinsmore Steele.
He stared at it for a long moment. The word consolidation echoed in his mind.
“You want me to pull up front, sir?” the driver asked.
Mark closed his laptop.
“No,” he said. “Let’s take the long way around.”
He needed time to think — not about HR, but about leverage.
The next morning, rain again.
His controller, Elena, had bad news:
“Texas and Illinois threw us off. We’re paying two different unemployment tax rates because the state accounts were never merged.”
“We merged those companies 18 months ago,” Mark said.
“On paper,” she said. “Not in payroll systems.”
That was Marwell in a sentence: an empire of tiny HR headaches.
At 8:31 a.m., his phone buzzed. PE Ops — Quarterly Review.
The partner, Elliot Parker, didn’t waste time.
“Morning, Mark. HR overhead’s still eating margin. Have you looked into a PEO arrangement? One of our other holdings did it last year. Payroll, benefits, compliance — one contract, one invoice. Their margins improved by almost a point.”
Mark frowned.
“We’d be outsourcing HR.”
“You’d be outsourcing administration,” Elliot said. “Keep control, lose the paperwork. We used a firm called Dinsmore Steele to benchmark options. They don’t sell PEOs; they compare them. You should talk to them.”
He dropped a file in chat: PEO ROI Study — NAPEO 2024.
The first page read: 27% average ROI. 40% lower HR overhead. 12% lower turnover.
Elliot smiled.
“Don’t look for savings in people. Look for them in friction.”
Mark wrote that down. It stayed with him all day.
Wednesday afternoon, Mark closed his door and joined a video call.
“Mark,” said the man on screen, smiling. “Rodney Steele. Heard you’ve got a logistics operation that’s starting to feel more like a paperwork factory.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Let’s make sure it’s not the expensive way.”
Mark laid it out: HR sprawl, compliance errors, runaway costs.
Rodney listened, then grinned.
“Sounds familiar. You’ve built an empire of tiny HR headaches. Happens to the best CFOs. Let’s quantify it.”
He shared a dashboard: five metrics comparing before and after PEO adoption.
HR overhead, benefits cost, turnover, compliance, and growth.
“Here’s what we see,” Rodney said. “Across industries, a PEO cuts HR overhead 40%, benefits 8–12%, turnover 10–14%. Businesses grow roughly twice as fast. That’s not a theory — that’s NAPEO data, verified by SHRM.”
“So what’s the catch?”
“None. Except it only works if you treat it as strategy, not escape. You’ve got a PE clock ticking — that means you don’t just need savings; you need evidence.”
Rodney’s delivery wasn’t salesy. It was surgical.
He wasn’t selling HR — he was selling control.
“What’s the first step?” Mark asked.
“We run a PEO ROI audit. Benchmark everything. Payroll, benefits, workers’ comp, compliance. You’ll see what it’s worth to you — or you’ll see it’s not. Either way, you’ll know.”
“Alright,” Mark said. “Run the numbers.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.”
Two weeks later, the rain returned.
Rodney arrived at Marwell’s office with Nina, a senior analyst who seemed to think in Excel formulas.
They took over a boardroom with too many chairs and too few outlets. Elena joined, armed with files.
Rodney opened with calm precision.
“Let’s see what your world looks like in numbers.”
Payroll vendors: three, totaling $142,000 annually. Under a PEO: $82,000.
Savings: $60,000.
Benefits administration: small-group rates. With pooled plans through carriers like Aetna and Cigna, savings of $150,000.
Workers’ comp: MOD rate 1.14 → 0.89. $48,000 saved.
Compliance consultant: $85,000 — gone.
Software licenses: $27,000 — consolidated.
Tax penalties: $18,000 — eliminated.
Nina displayed a simple chart:
Current HR Run Rate: $1.92 million.
Projected Under PEO: $1.42 million.
Savings: $500,000.
Rodney paused.
“That’s your hard-dollar ROI — 26%. Before we touch retention or compliance risk.”
Mark exhaled.
“So half a million. Recurring.”
“And predictable,” Rodney said. “That’s the real value. CFOs don’t buy services — they buy predictability.”
For the first time in months, the numbers didn’t look like an indictment. They looked like a map.
The CEO, Ben, stared at the report.
“So we’re hiring someone to do HR for us?”
“We’re hiring someone to do the paperwork so our people can do HR,” Mark said. “And we’re saving half a million doing it.”
By Friday, the plan was official.
Tara, the HR Director, crossed her arms in the meeting.
“What happens to my team?”
“You get to stop being the complaint department,” Rodney said. “Start being the culture department.”
That line disarmed her.
Implementation began in phases: payroll → benefits → compliance.
There were hiccups — a mis-coded job title, a lost form — but nothing catastrophic.
By 90 days:
Tara stopped by Mark’s office.
“I left at five-thirty last night. First time in two years.”
He smirked. “Don’t get used to it.”
By Q2, turnover fell from 19% to 14%.
Insurance renewals dropped 9%.
The HR line item was finally under control.
Elliot called.
“You hit your 120 basis points. How’d you do it?”
“I stopped managing people through spreadsheets,” Mark said. “Started managing spreadsheets through people.”
By autumn, New York had traded rain for wind. The leaves on 7th Avenue swirled like orange invoices as Mark entered the PE boardroom.
“We closed Q3 at a 1.2-point margin improvement,” he told the room. “EBITDA up 118 basis points year-to-date.”
Slide two:
HR Costs: $1.9M → $1.37M.
Savings: $500,000.
“Half a million in direct savings,” he said. “Plus $200,000 in avoided costs from reduced turnover and compliance stability.”
“Total ROI?” Elliot asked.
“Thirty-one percent. Measured. Verified.”
Silence, then approval.
The PE partner smiled.
“You just bought us time. And time is runway.”
That night, the city buzzed beneath a misting rain.
Mark loosened his tie, poured a bourbon into a paper cup, and stared at two spreadsheets: the old cost model and the new one.
Two versions of the same company — separated by one decision.
He thought of Tara leaving early, the drivers who finally understood their benefits, the controller who’d stopped apologizing for errors.
He remembered Rodney’s first line:
“Sounds like you’ve built an empire of tiny HR headaches.”
He smiled. Not anymore.
On a blank page of his notebook, he wrote three words:
Cost. Compliance. Clarity.
That was the real ROI.
A week later, an email:
Subject: Marwell Logistics — Final ROI Report
Mark, Numbers look solid. You turned a cost center into an advantage.
Appreciate the partnership. – Rodney
Mark forwarded it to Elliot with two words:
“Told you.”
He closed his laptop, grabbed his coat, and stepped into the rain — lighter this time, almost pleasant.
Mark’s story isn’t unique.
According to NAPEO, companies using PEOs see …
For Marwell Logistics, that meant …
We built Dinsmore Steele for CFOs like Mark, leaders who don’t want another vendor; they want to leverage it.
Our role isn’t to sell you a PEO.
It’s to architect one that fits your cost model, your risk tolerance, and your growth targets.
We analyze. We benchmark. We negotiate. We clarify.
Because the ROI of a PEO isn’t just what you save, it’s what you stop losing: time, focus, and margin.
Find out what your numbers actually say — before the next rainy Friday on your calendar.
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.
Senior PEO Consultant
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 Consultant
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.
