HR Companies & HR Consultants in Franklin, TN

Core Matters, LLC is a consulting firm based in Franklin, Tennessee. It helps owners of established, founder-run companies build an organization that keeps working when the owner steps away. It is not a payroll or compliance provider. The firm treats an owner's daily problems as people and process issues: managers and staff keep sending decisions upward because they have never been shown how the owner would want those decisions handled.

Who They Serve

The firm works mainly with businesses that have at least 50 employees, where the founder still runs operations and much of the workforce is on the front line. Typical clients include:

• Companies built around crews, technicians or field teams
• Owner-operated businesses where key decisions still depend on the founder
• Leaders who have tried to fix these problems on their own for years and now want practical guidance on how to do it

Its client stories include an HVAC-related business, Tech Air, and its LinkedIn page lists a roofing company and a steel erectors trade association among its connections. This points to a strong focus on skilled trades and service contractors.

Approach and Programs

The firm's main framework is the Core Fit Blueprint. The goal is to put an owner's judgment into writing as repeatable processes that managers and employees can follow without the owner present.

The firm says the results it aims for are fewer escalations, managers whose decisions reflect the owner's priorities, staff who head off issues before they grow, and a company that can grow on process rather than on the owner's working hours.

It also presents this as a way to make a sale, family handoff or long-term hold of the business a realistic option.

Prospective clients usually start with the free Bottleneck Test. This online assessment has fifteen questions, takes about ten minutes and shows which operating systems a business is missing and which to fix first. Results are shared without a sales call. The firm also offers a masterclass, a podcast and a blog for owners who want to learn more before booking a consultation.

HR Capabilities

The firm is rooted in workforce development. Its public profiles list hiring, onboarding, training and employee retention as core specialties, along with its own Core Fit Hiring System, a method for bringing recruiting in-house. In client testimonials, owners describe the team as a long-term partner rather than a traditional recruiter. One owner says he now works a standard week or less after the engagement.

What Sets Them Apart

Core Matters says plainly that it will push back on clients' current habits. Its reasoning is that if an owner's existing methods worked, outside help would not be needed.

For buyers comparing HR consultants, its main features are a narrow focus on owner-dependent, frontline-heavy companies, a defined program built around documented decision-making, and a free diagnostic that comes before any sales conversation. Ryan Englin leads the team, and the firm has client video testimonials and a careers page, which suggest it is an active, operating business.

ExtensisHR operates as a PEO, or professional employer organization, taking on the administrative side of human resources for small and mid-sized businesses nationwide. According to the firm, its background in HR and the PEO field spans over thirty years. Its clientele ranges from young startups building HR processes for the first time, to firms employing somewhere between ten and one hundred workers, to bigger employers whose headcount exceeds one hundred.

Understanding the co-employment arrangement

Under the co-employment approach ExtensisHR follows, each client retains control of its daily business, its workforce management and its strategic choices. ExtensisHR, in turn, assumes responsibility for compensation processing, benefits administration and compliance duties, while also supplying continuous HR counsel. A transition generally runs several weeks, with timing tied to how large the organization is.

As part of getting started, specialists examine current pay and personnel procedures, establish payroll, organize benefits sign-up and set up the technology. Firms that already employ HR professionals may retain those staff members, offloading day-to-day administrative tasks so internal personnel can concentrate on strategic initiatives.

Core PEO services cover the following:

• Processing of pay cycles, reporting and tax filings across multiple states
• Coverage for workers' compensation, safety initiatives in the workplace and management of unemployment claims
• Health, dental and vision coverage, 401(k) plans, life and disability protection, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts and optional voluntary perks, along with administration of ACA and COBRA requirements
• An assigned account manager plus an HR business partner, assistance drafting employee handbooks and policies, advice on workforce relations and management of leave
• Full-cycle hiring support, from advertising openings through extending offers, included at no added cost, as well as onboarding assistance and tailored learning and development programs

Employee benefits form a central piece of the value proposition. Because it pools numerous smaller employers, ExtensisHR states that clients gain access to coverage comparable to what large corporations provide, at a lower price than they could secure independently. Workers enroll in and adjust their plans through an online portal.

Questions from staff go straight to the Employee Solution Center, which, by the company's account, settles roughly 90 percent of inquiries within the same day and picks up calls in 15 seconds or less.

Software tools and the enhanced service level

HR tasks are handled through Work Anywhere, a mobile-first system that consolidates payroll, benefits, hiring and compliance in a single hub. Optional components address performance monitoring, time and attendance, learning materials and candidate tracking. Schools receive PEO support through a distinct platform called SchoolCloud.

Organizations with more intricate needs can choose PEO Premier, which provides a Premier Account Manager responsible for the entire relationship and assigned a limited client roster.

This tier further includes an assigned recruiter targeting a 45-day time to fill open roles, a designated payroll specialist, payroll handling for businesses operating multiple legal entities, and support for overseas payroll via third-party partners. Additional perks for Premier clients include One Medical primary care, health advocacy, expanded long-term disability caps and life coverage reaching three times an employee's salary.

Sectors served and qualifications

The firm works with organizations in the following fields:

• Professional and business services
• Finance and technology
• Healthcare and the life sciences
• Industrial work and skilled trades
• Media and consumer goods
• Nonprofits
• Education and schools

ExtensisHR characterizes itself as holding federal PEO certification, with outside auditors reviewing both its fiscal soundness and its data protection safeguards. Among its executives, Jen Morrow holds the presidency while also directing the firm's day-to-day operations. Alan Missen leads information technology as CIO, and Nicholas Kapiotis heads legal and compliance matters at the senior vice president level.

With internal recruiting staff, its benefit offerings and same-day assistance for employees, the company may attract expanding businesses seeking to outsource HR administration rather than build out a sizable in-house department.

Harman Stone Corporation is a regional brokerage and consulting firm. It combines employee benefits, individual and commercial insurance and human resource advisory work under one roof. The company is headquartered in the Memphis area and has an office in Germantown.

Other offices are in Franklin, which serves Middle Tennessee and greater Nashville, plus Dyersburg in West Tennessee, Florence in North Alabama and Jonesboro in the Arkansas Delta. The firm is licensed in Alabama, Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Its Middle Tennessee service area includes Hendersonville, Gallatin, Goodlettsville, Brentwood and Murfreesboro. Its copyright notice dates back to 1994.

Who They Serve

The firm works with organizations of every size, but its main focus is small and mid-sized employers. Many of these clients have no full-time HR staff. Harman Stone positions itself as a small business working on behalf of other small businesses. Its stated aim is to help owners spot, measure and understand the workforce and operating risks they face, so the business can last over the long term.

Human Resource Consulting

For companies without an internal HR department, Harman Stone provides guidance across most areas of people management. Clients who buy an insurance package from the firm may get general HR advice at no added cost. Deeper, project-based work is billed separately. Its HR practice covers:

• Recruiting, interviewing and the full hiring process, including selection criteria and job offers
• Training, talent development, coaching, mentoring and job descriptions
• Discipline procedures and handling terminations correctly
• Compensation design, rewards and recognition, total rewards and employee engagement
• State and federal employment law compliance, including OSHA matters
• Employee handbooks and policy and procedure manuals
• Employee relations and labor relations guidance

On its site, the firm explains workplace laws that affect employers, such as the FMLA, ADA, FLSA, Title VII, USERRA and the WARN Act. Clients can use these explanations to check their own obligations.

Benefits and Insurance Programs

On the benefits side, Harman Stone arranges group medical coverage. This includes fully insured, partially self-funded and self-funded plans, consumer-directed options with HSAs and HRAs, and Medicare carve-out arrangements. It also places group dental, vision, life and disability coverage, Section 125 cafeteria plans with flexible spending accounts, and voluntary supplemental policies. The firm offers enrollment support as well.

Its commercial insurance work includes workers' compensation, employment practices liability, employee benefit liability, general liability, property, cyber and surety bonds. That lets an employer handle HR risk and insurance protection through a single advisor.

How They Work

Harman Stone's approach starts with meetings where its advisors learn how a client operates. They then use their experience to build tailored solutions. The firm says it puts the client's best options ahead of its own compensation. It also says it follows industry research and trends so owners can keep their focus on running the company.

For buyers comparing HR consultants, the main thing that sets the firm apart is this combination of benefits brokerage, commercial coverage and hands-on HR advice for smaller employers across several Southern states.

Lynn HR Consulting is a Franklin, Tennessee firm that serves as an outsourced people-operations team for small and mid-sized employers. Owned and run by women, the company covers human resources, payroll administration and recruiting for organizations that would rather not carry the overhead of a full internal department. It also takes on defined projects and interim leadership assignments for larger corporations that need added capacity or a temporary HR executive.

Core HR, payroll and recruiting

On the HR side, the firm acts as a stand-in internal department, working alongside the client's staff rather than advising from a distance. Typical engagements include:

• New-hire onboarding and introductory-period evaluations
• Drafting workplace policies and procedures
• Employee relations and guidance on complaint investigations
• Performance management and coaching for leaders
• Terminations, including talking points and role-play preparation
• Compliance guidance across differing state employment laws

Payroll support does not depend on any one platform. The team can work inside whatever software a client already uses, or hold a needs-based strategy session, shortlist two or three alternatives and help migrate to the chosen one.

A dedicated Payroll Coordinator runs scheduled payrolls, enters and validates time data, adds new hires, handles withholdings, garnishments and deduction codes, builds an annual calendar of submission deadlines, holds weekly or biweekly approval meetings, answers employee questions directly, produces year-end W-2s and supplies data for general ledger reconciliation and to outside partners such as CPAs, benefit brokers and 401(k) providers.

Buyers should note that the firm does not file payroll taxes itself. Instead, it coordinates with the client's system or accountant to confirm filings. Engagements start with an annual contract and an implementation period of about one month or two payroll cycles, during which existing procedures are documented.

Recruiting starts with learning about the organization and the details of each role. Services include talent assessment, strategy sessions, writing job postings, conducting virtual interviews and preparing offer letters and onboarding paperwork for new employees.

Real Time HR subscription

For owners who need only occasional advice, the firm offers Real Time HR, a monthly retainer that gives access to an experienced HR professional by call, email or text, usable in short increments. It is advice-only with no written deliverables, and it covers questions about terminations, employee relations, payroll compliance, onboarding and general best practices. Extra hours can be added, unused time does not carry over, and an emergency line is available for urgent situations.

Team and approach

The company was co-founded by President Jannis Lynn Muscato, who has roughly four decades of experience as an HR executive, and CEO Ariana Lynn Middleton.

They are joined by HR Administrator Jenny McIntyre, who has lived in Nashville for more than 20 years, and HR Consultant Joe Serjak, whose background includes healthcare, rehabilitation, law enforcement and corrections, and state and local government.

The firm says it can support clients in any state, and it stresses customized plans, savings compared with staffing a full department, and close collaboration with existing teams. Its stated mission is to help businesses build strong work environments by drawing on the strengths of their people. Client testimonials point to its strategic depth and people-focused style.

Organizational Development Solutions is a consultancy based in Franklin, Tennessee. It works on the people side of business: culture, talent, leadership and organizational change. The firm takes on clients of every size, from early-stage ventures to big enterprises. Its stated aim is to improve business performance by making the workplace better for employees and strengthening the managers who lead them.

It calls its approach to human resources structure the PeopleProcess™, which means defining a company's culture and then building HR practices that support it.

How the Firm Works With Clients

Most engagements begin with a review of the client's current organizational setup. The consultants look at which practices help performance and which get in the way, recommend changes, and then stay involved to help put those changes in place. Prospective clients can book a free initial evaluation. Companies that don't need a full project can buy fractional consulting instead.

This gives them a few hours of private advice each month on topics such as scaling, culture, change, leadership development, learning opportunities and engagement, plus a monthly virtual peer group session on current HR issues.

Services and Programs

• Leadership 360 assessment with a debrief and follow-up coaching hours
• Leader as Coach training, offered in sales and non-sales formats
• Leadership readiness assessments using tools such as LPI 360, Hogan, StrengthsFinder and Myers-Briggs
• Custom onboarding programs for new employees
• Learning and development strategy, roadmaps and help choosing learning technology
• Design, launch and evaluation of mentoring programs
• New manager assimilation sessions and facilitated executive retreats
• Organizational evaluations and fractional HR/OD advice

The firm also runs workshops. These include a two-day Leadership Challenge® program, a one-day course on guiding teams through change and uncertainty, and a half-day session on managing and coaching millennial employees. A blended training program for retailers aims to reduce the risk of customers perceiving racial profiling. Shorter topics include teamwork, sales skills, collaboration, decision making, delegation, difficult conversations and feedback.

Team and Background

The firm says its team has more than a century of combined experience in HR and organizational development. CEO Laura Strausberg holds SPHR and SHRM-SCP credentials and has over twenty years of experience in talent management and organizational design, working with startups up to Fortune 100 companies. The other specialists are:

• James Neal, a retail executive who leads the bias-prevention programs
• Jared Halter, PhD, an analyst focused on assessment and leadership development
• Jennifer Sims, who handles executive communications and change management and whose past clients include Dell and Visa
• Theresia Intag, a recruiting specialist who has worked with Samsung and Yeti
• Yolanda Owens, an HR generalist with two decades of experience

Industries Served

Healthcare is the firm's main area of experience. It has also worked in technology, financial services and retail. Team members bring further experience in insurance, aviation, media, entertainment and the public sector. One published testimonial comes from the COO of JumpCrew, a company in Nashville and New York.

It credits the firm with helping put the company's values into practice, designing its employee orientation and facilitating a leadership off-site. Buyers who want structured leadership development, help with onboarding and mentoring, or ongoing part-time HR advice may want to compare this firm against more administrative HR providers.

StevenDouglas is a boutique executive search and project and interim staffing firm that has been placing talent with employers since 1983.

Its Middle Tennessee presence operates from an office in downtown Franklin, which covers the Nashville region and nearby communities such as Brentwood, Spring Hill, Columbia, Murfreesboro and Smyrna, with reach extending to Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville and cities in neighboring states.

The company is headquartered in Sunrise, Florida, and runs a network of more than twenty offices across the United States and Canada, serving clients in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Who they serve

The firm describes its client base as industry agnostic, ranging from start-ups and emerging middle-market businesses up to Fortune 500 corporations, along with private equity and venture capital firms, investment funds and family offices.

Sectors it lists include healthcare and life sciences, banking, financial services, wealth management, technology and telecommunications, industrial and manufacturing, real estate and construction, consumer and hospitality, business services and non-profits. The Franklin office places particular weight on healthcare, alongside professional services, technology and companies backed by private equity.

Services for HR buyers

For organizations looking at HR support, StevenDouglas works on two fronts: it recruits permanent HR staff, and it supplies seasoned HR consultants on a temporary or project basis. Its HR search practice fills roles from mid-level managers through senior HR leadership, using either retained or contingency engagements depending on seniority and complexity. Specialties within HR include:

• HR executive leadership and management
• Recruiting, staffing and workforce planning
• HR operations and compliance
• Benefits, compensation and total rewards
• Employee relations and labor and union avoidance
• Training, development and organizational culture
• Diversity and inclusion
• HRIS and talent management systems

Through its Project and Interim division, the firm places HR associates averaging roughly 18 years of experience who can work alone or as a team. They may take on a specific initiative the client lacks the internal skills for, or cover an existing position so in-house staff can focus on a larger effort.

Typical triggers include acquisitions, system implementations, restructurings, audits, medical leaves and unexpected departures. Beyond HR, the company also handles executive search, professional recruiting for individual contributors and middle managers, and IT staff augmentation offered on an interim or right-to-hire basis.

Approach and local leadership

StevenDouglas presents itself as a trusted advisor to both employers and job seekers, stressing ethics, respect and lasting relationships, some of which it says go back several decades. It deliberately favors quality over volume and aims to match candidates to both the role and the client culture.

The Franklin office is led by Christopher Oldham, Vice President of Executive Search, who brings more than 25 years of background in recruitment, business development, operations and healthcare consulting, including earlier posts as a partner, regional operations executive and division president.

Firm-wide HR search falls under Executive Vice President Elizabeth Jacobs, a CPA with an MBA who joined in 2002, while Senior Vice President Craig Lewis heads the interim division.

The Intention Collective is a consultancy based in Franklin, Tennessee. It helps founders and owner-led companies with strategy, team health and developing their leaders. Its work combines business planning with people management. That makes it a good fit for buyers who want an HR-related partner focused on leadership skills, how well managers perform and the overall health of the organization. It does not handle transactional work such as payroll or benefits.

Who they serve

Its main clients are entrepreneurs and their senior leadership teams. Many are businesses that have stopped growing or are finding it hard to keep their teams healthy while they expand. The firm describes a common problem: owners get so caught up in daily operations that long-range planning and team development fall behind. The Intention Collective acts as an outside guide that helps these leaders step back, set a direction and develop managers who can take on more responsibility.

Services

• Strategy and operations planning using the System and Soul framework
• Workshops, from single sessions to full-day events
• Multi-day leadership retreats
• One-on-one coaching for owners and executives
• Training for managers and leadership teams
• Fractional leadership, where coaches join the client's team
• Organizational health checkups
• Hiring guidance and free planning resources through its Learning Center

Its strategic operating system aims to get leaders agreed on who the company is and where it is going, and then to put that vision into practice. The firm says clients can see real change in about a quarter. Workshops and retreats are sized to each client's needs. The coaches draw on more than 18 certifications and systems, so they can tailor their approach to each company's leadership problems.

How engagements work

Work starts with an introductory call to learn the owner's priorities. Next is a meeting with the whole senior leadership team. In that meeting the coaches look at the state of the organization and explain their framework for growth.

The formal program then begins with three full-day Clarity sessions, which aim to give leaders a clear direction and measurable progress within about a month. After that, the relationship continues with no fixed end date. The firm stresses that it stays with clients as their needs change rather than running a training and leaving.

What sets them apart

Three ideas shape the firm's approach. First, it puts people at the center, whether that means supporting the owner directly or helping the owner support their staff. Second, it relies on a growing library of tools and systems. Third, its coaches see themselves as hands-on participants who work inside the client's daily operations.

Its fractional leadership service is the clearest example of this. Client testimonials on its site credit coach Zach with helping managers lead larger teams. One client said his sessions produced more empowered staff than earlier management training had. Another praised his skill at getting everyone to take part, even in remote and virtual meetings.

The quoted clients include a co-founder of DNA Partners.