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HR outsourcing: A step-by-step guide to professional employer organizations (PEOs)

If you’re exploring HR outsourcing, chances are you’re trying to sort through a lot at once: compliance pressure, payroll demands, rising benefit expectations and the need to support employees without stretching your team too thin. For many business leaders, the next question is whether a professional employer organization (PEO) could help.

This 10-page downloadable guide offers a practical starting point. It explains where a PEO fits within HR outsourcing services, the types of services available with a PEO and what factors to consider when choosing a PEO partner.  

What you’ll learn

This resource helps you understand the PEO model, how it works and the support you can gain.

  • What is a PEO is and how it fits into the broader HR outsourcing landscape
  • How HR outsourcing with a PEO supports businesses with benefits, payroll, HR compliance and employee administration
  • How PEOs work through a co-employment relationship and what that means for day-to-day business operations
  • Which responsibilities a PEO may assume or help manage, from handling payroll tax reporting and employee benefits to support for HR compliance and employer-related risk management
  • Common misconceptions about PEOs, including concerns about losing control or disrupting the employee experience
  • What to look for in a PEO when deciding whether this approach is right for your business, workforce and growth goals

Why this topic matters for busy business leaders

HR challenges rarely stay small for long. As hiring needs increase and regulations become harder to track, leaders often need more support than an internal team alone can provide. That’s why understanding HR outsourcing through the lens of the PEO model matters.

A strong PEO relationship can help businesses improve access to benefits, reduce administrative strain, strengthen HR compliance support and better manage workplace risk. It can also support growth by freeing leaders to focus on strategy, culture and operations instead of getting buried in HR tasks. For companies trying to reduce turnover, stay ahead of risk and build a stronger employee experience, learning how this model works is an important first step.

Download the 10-page guide to understand how PEOs fit into HR outsourcing and what to consider before choosing this path for your business.

Take the next step toward better HR

Discover an HR solution that will meet your business where it is and help it forge ahead, faster and stronger.

Insperity HRCore

HR technology + consultative service

A powerful HR technology platform backed by a responsive HR service team.

  • Manage employee-related tasks – payroll, benefits and HR administration – in one unified platform
  • HR, payroll and performance specialists available when you need them
  • Guided onboarding experience built around your business
  • Built for small and midsize businesses

Insperity HR360

HR technology + full-service PEO

A comprehensive HR offering that combines technology, HR expertise and competitive employee benefits.

  • Intuitive HR technology helps streamline workforce management
  • Deep HR expertise, guidance and support
  • Competitive employee benefits and resources to help attract and retain talent
  • Helps minimize HR compliance risks through trusted guidance
  • Share certain employer-related responsibilities through a co-employment relationship with a professional employer organization 
  • Designed for businesses that need more comprehensive HR support without complex technology requirements

Insperity HRScale

Workday HR technology + full-service PEO

The power of Workday technology combined with Insperity’s extensive HR expertise and competitive employee benefits – built for businesses with more complex HR technology requirements.

  • Use Workday’s human capital management suite to manage the full employee life cycle
  • Deep HR expertise, guidance and support
  • Competitive employee benefits and resources to help attract and retain talent
  • Helps minimize HR compliance risks through trusted guidance
  • Share certain employer-related responsibilities through a co-employment relationship with a professional employer organization
  • Accelerate time to value by going live in as little as six months*
  • Designed for midsize and large businesses whose HR technology needs require a more robust platform

*Based on complexity and requirements.

*A professional employer organization (PEO) is a comprehensive HR partner that can help with your most time-consuming HR tasks and manage certain employer-related responsibilities through a co-employment relationship.