Rodney Steele

PEO Comparison Expert Empowering Businesses | 3,000+ Companies Served | Co-Host of the Eric and Rodney Show with Robin

Private equity and growth companies rarely get hurt by big decisions.

They get hurt by drift. 

Pricing that creeps, assumptions that stop matching reality, systems that no longer align, and operational noise that never appears in the model but always hits the P&L.

This is especially true once a company is already using a PEO.

After the decision is made, no one is truly independent.

PEOs service the relationship.
Brokers focus on placement.
Management teams are busy operating the business.

As a result, renewals roll forward, risk compounds quietly, and misalignment becomes normalized.

That’s the gap I work in.

For more than 15 years, I’ve advised PE Operating Partners and leadership teams at growth-stage companies on PEO governance, alignment, and renewal discipline — acting as an independent oversight layer once a PEO is already in place.

The pressure points are usually familiar:

• Pricing inflation without justification
• Misaligned class codes and SUTA overpayments
• Volatile PEO renewals
• Fragmented HR and payroll systems
• Implementations that quietly become fires
• No portfolio- or company-level visibility

These aren’t HR problems.
They’re governance failures that become value-creation risks.

What a PEO Alignment Review Examines

• Whether the current PEO structure still fits the company’s stage
• Where pricing, risk, and renewal assumptions have drifted
• What is actually negotiable vs. fixed
• How class codes, SUTA, and underwriting logic align
• Where system fragmentation is creating operational noise
• What leadership should care about — and what they shouldn’t

The objective isn’t change for its own sake.
It’s clarity.

In PE-backed environments, this clarity often becomes a portfolio-wide value creation lever — not by forcing replacement, but by standardizing governance, renewal discipline, and decision-making across companies.

The result is quieter operations, fewer renewal surprises, and leadership teams that aren’t carrying risk they don’t need to.

We’re not a broker.
We’re not a vendor.

We provide independent PEO governance.

If your company or portfolio company is already using a PEO, a PEO Alignment Review is how serious operators confirm whether the structure still fits the business they’re running today.

Chief Executive Officer

As CEO of Dinsmore Steele, I lead the nation's largest PEO brokerage, making HR and employee benefits simpler for businesses. Over the past 16 years, we've saved over 3,000 companies a total of $592 million—an average of $2,016.78 per employee each year.

I developed the easiest, most unbiased platform for comparing the top PEOs in one place, saving businesses over a month of research time. Our service is free, and our expertise is unmatched, helping companies quickly find the right fit without the hassle.

My focus is on providing straightforward, efficient solutions that make life easier for business owners, allowing them to focus on growth while we handle the complexities of HR.

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