HR Companies & HR Consultants in Zionsville, IN

Based in Zionsville, Deep End Talent Strategies operates as a Central Indiana HR consultancy. It acts as an outsourced people partner for growing organizations, combining HR consulting, payroll support and employee training under one roof.

Its clients are mainly small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofits that need senior-level HR thinking but may not be ready to hire a full internal department. The firm describes its style as empathy-driven, and it expects to build long-term relationships with clients rather than handle one-off transactions.

Services and Engagement Models

Clients can bring the firm in at several levels. Some use it as a fractional chief HR officer, getting executive-level strategy with a broader consulting team behind it. Others hand over full-service HR or hire the firm for a defined project.

Its On Deck HR program gives clients on-call access to experienced practitioners for compliance questions, policy matters, employee relations issues and urgent situations, without adding a full-time hire. Prospective clients can begin with a free self-assessment of their HR practices or book a short discovery call. The firm says it keeps clients informed through regular check-ins and offers flexible packages.

Its main offerings include:

• Recruiting, from entry-level roles to executive searches
• Talent optimization using The Predictive Index, where the firm is a certified partner
• Compensation analysis and total rewards strategy
• Employee relations and assessments of leadership and culture
• Teambuilding programs
• Succession planning, offered through three different frameworks
• Payroll through a preferred Gusto partnership, with hands-on backup support
• Outplacement services

Learning and Development

Training is a major part of the business. The team starts with skills-gap reviews and training needs analysis, then designs custom courses and curricula that fit each client's goals and culture. Training can be delivered online, in person or in a blended format, and clients get compliance tracking and progress reports. The firm also runs H2L, its own learning management system for smaller organizations, which has a library of more than 1,400 ready-made courses.

Team and Credentials

Founder and principal consultant Shawna Lake has over 25 years of HR, training and development experience in nonprofits and for-profit companies, in sectors such as advertising, education, energy, conservation and tech startups. Her graduate degree focuses on executive development and adult education. She also holds SPHR and SHRM-SCP credentials and certifications in career coaching, facilitation and change management.

HR Practice Director Lauren Byrum, SHRM-CP, leads the consulting practice and has more than 15 years in the field. The learning practice is led by Debbie Baldwin, who works with an instructional designer able to create content in Spanish, French and English.

Other team members are an HR consultant and a talent acquisition specialist whose backgrounds include healthcare, dental, construction, technology and sales hiring.

Buyers can get HR, payroll and learning from one provider. The firm holds certified partnerships with Gusto and The Predictive Index and owns its own learning platform. Its published case studies cover onboarding design for a multi-unit uBreakiFix franchise operator, career-path and compensation work for a large international cancer nonprofit, and guidance for companies moving away from a PEO. The firm's stated values are service, investment in client success, VIP treatment, empathy, integrity and no ego.