HR Companies & HR Consultants in Schaumburg, IL

EmPower HR is a Midwest human resources outsourcing and consulting firm that works mainly with small and mid-sized employers. It has operated since 1995 and says it supports more than 400 client businesses. Its corporate headquarters is in Wisconsin.

It also has regional offices in Schaumburg, Illinois; Dublin, Ohio; and Brighton, Michigan, which gives organizations in the Chicago suburbs a nearby point of contact. Beyond traditional consulting, the firm offers PEO services and full HR outsourcing. Buyers can hire it for a single function or hand over a large share of their people operations.

Services

The firm groups its work into a few core practice areas that can be combined to suit each employer:

• HR consulting covering strategic planning, performance management, employee engagement, training and development, and diversity initiatives
• Employee benefits administration, including access to benefit plans the company compares to those offered by large corporations
• HR administration and payroll, including withholdings, 401(k) matching, automated investments and payroll tax filings at the federal, state and local levels
• Recruitment services aimed at building talent pipelines and filling key roles
• Risk management and compliance, tracking regulatory changes on behalf of clients

Clients can choose a fractional arrangement for targeted support or a broader all-in engagement. Employees and managers each have their own online portal. The company also publishes articles, a small business resource section, a COVID-19 toolkit and an HR content series called The HR Bar. A partner program is available for referral relationships.

Industries Served

EmPower HR highlights experience with nonprofits, private equity firms and their portfolio companies, technology businesses, professional services practices, healthcare providers and hospitality operators. For each sector it points to typical concerns:

• Workforce planning and employee classification for nonprofits
• Headcount and cost control for investors
• Talent management for fast-moving tech teams
• Seasonal workload spikes for professional firms
• Attrition and employee relations in healthcare
• Turnover reduction for restaurants and hotels

Client testimonials on the site come from employers in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Washington.

Working Style and Culture

The company's materials stress personal, relationship-driven service. For payroll, each client is paired with a named specialist who learns the business and its staff. The effect is similar to having an internal payroll employee without adding headcount. The firm says it tracks its own responsiveness with an accountability scorecard and describes itself as available around the clock.

It also states a commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and access, which it abbreviates as IDEA, and says its team includes professionals from varied backgrounds. Employee reviews quoted on its site describe a close-knit, non-corporate workplace with flexible schedules.

For buyers comparing HR providers in the Schaumburg area, EmPower HR combines long tenure with a local Illinois office inside a multi-state Midwest footprint. Its service menu covers consulting, payroll, benefits, recruiting and compliance under one relationship.

FractnHR is a fractional human resources consultancy based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It works with small and growing companies in the Chicago area that need experienced help managing their people but aren't ready to build a full in-house HR department. The firm acts as an outsourced partner and takes on the employee-related work that often pulls owners away from running the business. That work includes recruiting, managing staff, handling departures, setting up core HR structures, meeting compliance obligations and training employees.

Background and approach

The company brings more than two decades of experience across talent acquisition, general HR operations and workforce training. Its mission starts with listening closely to each client's situation. From there it builds an HR base that helps employees do well as the business grows. FractnHR describes its model as an ecosystem built on three activities: exploration, education and support. It says compassion and innovation guide each engagement.

One difference buyers may notice is that FractnHR does the build work itself instead of handing clients self-service templates. Some larger do-it-yourself HR platforms rely on heavy client input. This firm instead interviews stakeholders, gathers information, and then drafts finished policies and tools that clients can put into use right away. It says its goal is to deliver results, not tasks for the owner to complete.

Services

Clients can hire FractnHR for one offering, a pair of offerings or the complete suite. Plans are adjusted to fit the size and maturity of each organization. Its service areas include:

• Employee handbooks: custom handbooks written for the client's state and industry, such as healthcare or education, with free federal, state and county regulatory updates throughout the year
• Hiring and onboarding: job architecture, role design and job description writing, a review of the candidate experience, and a redesign of recruiting and onboarding processes. The firm can support an internal team or take over recruitment entirely
• HR foundations and compliance: an assessment of the full employee life cycle from onboarding through separation, a review of federal and state compliance, HR policy creation, and development of employee guides and procedures
• Learning and development: yearly harassment-prevention and workplace safety training, employee upskilling, ongoing HR education, and access to subject matter experts on HR and legal topics

Who it serves

The firm focuses on small businesses and growing companies. It's a fit for owners and leadership teams who want to hand off routine HR tasks so they can spend their time on strategy, innovation, customer relationships and growth. Handbook work is tailored to each sector, and the firm names healthcare and education organizations as examples.

Because the services are modular, a company that only needs a compliant handbook can start there. An organization that wants ongoing fractional support can choose a monthly plan.

FractnHR works from an office on McConnor Parkway in Schaumburg. New clients start with a discovery session, which the firm uses to learn about the organization before recommending services. For buyers comparing HR consultants, its main differences are a people-first philosophy, a done-for-you way of delivering work, and the option to buy services individually or as a bundle.