Friend or Foe? Rethinking the Broker-PEO Relationship

OneDigital Senior HR Consultant Susan Rider is featured in a new Employee Benefit News article on a question many in the industry are asking: are professional employer organizations (PEO) a broker’s friend or foe? Rider, who is also the immediate past president of the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP), brings a perspective shaped by both sides of the table.

Rider acknowledges that some brokers have viewed PEOs with caution, concerned about what a bundled model could mean for their client relationships and their role in shaping benefits strategy. But she sees a bigger opportunity. Many employers are dealing with challenges well beyond health insurance, from HR compliance and employee relations to recruiting, retention and limited internal capacity. A PEO can take on much of that work, which lets the advisor focus on benefits strategy, plan design and cost management.

PEOs can be especially valuable when an employer is facing significant change, such as expanding into new states, going through an acquisition or professionalizing HR operations. In those moments, a PEO provides the infrastructure and expertise to grow without building every HR function in-house. Rider points to more consistent processes, stronger compliance practices, better benefits administration and better support for employees. It also frees leadership to focus on revenue, customers and operations. Some employers will eventually bring certain HR functions in-house, while others will stay with a PEO so leaders can concentrate on their core business. Either path can be the right one, and flexible HR and payroll models let employers choose what fits their stage of growth.

For Rider, the value of this kind of partnership shows up when the conversation moves beyond payroll and benefits and into how a client’s business actually operates. It is also how advisors move beyond delivering renewals and build a deeper relationship with the client. That thinking reflects OneDigital’s integrated approach, in which employee benefits consulting, HR consulting and PEO solutions work together under one platform.

Rider’s takeaway is that the industry should stop asking who owns the client and start asking how the right resources can come together to help that client succeed.

“Employers don’t think in terms of benefits, HR and payroll as separate categories. They think about whether their business is running well and whether their people are supported. When advisors, HR consultants and PEO teams work from the same playbook, the employer gets one coordinated strategy instead of a collection of point solutions. That’s where the real value is for the client.”

— Susan Rider, Senior HR Consultant, OneDigital

Read the full article in Employee Benefit News → How partnering with a PEO can add firepower

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