HR Companies & HR Consultants in Lansing, MI

Centennial Group is a Lansing, Michigan firm whose core business-facing work centers on employee benefits consulting. It helps employers design, fund and run benefit programs, and the company states that it has offices across Michigan. Its main audience is organizations that want benefits to support hiring and keep good people, particularly small and mid-sized businesses, although the firm also serves individuals with insurance and financial planning.

Services for employers

The firm groups its business offerings into several areas that touch HR and total rewards. Buyers comparing HR partners will see that its focus is benefits strategy, retirement plans and related compliance work, not recruiting or payroll outsourcing. Its main offerings include:

• Employee benefits consulting covering plan financing, benefit design and compliance resources
• Strategic benefit planning built around a multi-year horizon, generally three to five years
• Qualified retirement plans, including 401(k), pension and cash balance arrangements
• Non-qualified compensation plans and programs to attract, keep and retire key staff
• Business planning, including help estimating what a company is worth
• Compliance administration that helps clients keep up with legislative changes
• HR administration support through daily digests and HR dashboards
• A client portal and supporting technology intended to save time and lift employee engagement

How the firm works with clients

Engagements follow a three-step method. The team starts by reviewing a client's present objectives and defining the results it wants. It then analyzes and benchmarks the existing program to surface coming challenges and areas to improve. The last stage covers rollout and continuing service, which the company describes as pairing current tools with a personal touch.

New prospects fill out a short inquiry, after which the firm matches them with a team member suited to their background and needs. The stated aim is a benefits program that is efficient, affordable and competitive, so the employer can sustain a healthy, high-performing workforce over time.

The firm combines consulting and advisory work with technology and analytics, and it also shares information on trends and cost-saving options.

Background and history

The company began in Lansing in 1967 as a financial services business called Creamer and Associates. Its early work was selling life insurance to families and small firms to help them manage risk.

In 1976, the year of the national Bicentennial, the founder bought an old Centennial Farm House to use as headquarters and renamed the business The Centennial Group, after the label given to farms kept in one family for a century. In 1990 it created a broker-dealer, and in 1996 it added an investment advisory practice.

In 2007 it launched Centennial Employee Benefits to serve small and medium-sized employers, and in 2013 it moved its securities relationships to Principal Securities, Inc.

The firm describes its guiding values as strength, integrity, respect and community, and it says these shape its client-focused approach. Its leadership points to developing people with a long record of service to individuals and businesses. For HR buyers, what sets Centennial Group apart is more than five decades of local history and a mix of benefits consulting, retirement plan expertise and business continuation planning under one roof. Its representatives are licensed in a number of states besides Michigan.

Personnel World, Inc. is a staffing and recruiting firm headquartered in Lansing that supplies workers to employers throughout mid-Michigan. It does not position itself as an HR consultancy or software vendor. Instead it concentrates on sourcing, vetting and placing people, so local organizations can rely on one partner to fill openings in many departments. Besides Lansing, its site names Holt, Grand Ledge, Charlotte and Mason among the communities it covers.

Background

Shirley Yaeger founded the agency in 1980. Her aim was to help companies strengthen their workforces by connecting them with capable employees. Kent Housler joined the firm in 1995 and became its owner and president in 2011. He brings more than four decades of staffing experience.

The company lists affiliations with a mid-Michigan association for human resource professionals and with the regional chamber of commerce in Lansing. These memberships tie it to the area's business and HR community. Its site displayed 143 Google reviews at the time of research. Candidates in those reviews often mention individual recruiters by name and describe being placed within days.

Services and Industries

Employers submit openings through an online job order form and can choose from several engagement types:

• Temporary staffing for short-term, seasonal or project-based needs
• Temp-to-hire arrangements that let both sides assess fit before a permanent offer
• Direct hire recruiting for permanent positions
• Contract staffing
• Screening that can include interviews, background checks and skills tests
• Start-date coordination and check-ins after placement

The firm recruits across these areas:

• Manufacturing and skilled trades
• Warehouse and distribution
• Administrative and customer service roles
• Professional and accounting
• Legal
• Technical and IT
• Medical office

How It Works With Clients

Each engagement starts with a consultation to understand what the employer needs. Recruiters then combine search tools with their own judgment to find suitable candidates. Next come screening and placement logistics. Finally, the team follows up to confirm that both the business and the worker are satisfied.

The job order form gathers detailed requirements, including protective equipment, union membership, relocation reimbursement, proficiency levels in Word, Excel, Access, Outlook and data entry, offered benefits and education expectations. This lets recruiters target searches precisely. Personnel World says it favors candidate quality over application volume, values open communication, and bases its recommendations on each client's goals and culture.

It works with small firms and large organizations alike.

On the candidate side, the agency provides skill assessments, help with resumes, interview coaching and guidance on professional growth. As a result, the people it refers to employers tend to arrive prepared. For buyers comparing providers, its main distinction is consolidation. A company can staff production, warehouse, office, professional and technical roles through a single relationship, with one accountable contact rather than several agencies. That offering rests on a Lansing presence dating back to 1980.