Winning Ideas from Winning Women with Suzanne Clifton

Suzanne Clifton, a native North Carolinian with 25 years of experience in the human resources and staffing industries, is a woman whose winning idea started a whole new industry: human resources (HR) outsourcing.

During the 1980s, when few women went into business for themselves, Suzanne established a temporary staffing company in Cary called Executive Temporaries, Inc. After three years, she opened another branch in Raleigh, and four years later, she opened a franchise office in South Carolina. Today the firm is known as Executive Staffing Group (ESG), and it is an Inc. 500 firm specializing in strategic staffing, human resources, payroll services and training, with offices in Raleigh, NC and Columbia, SC.

Like other women of those times, Suzanne had to struggle for success, blazing a trail that women still learn from today. Early on in her career, Suzanne noticed that many business owners without well-staffed HR departments struggled to keep up-to-date and stay in compliance with the numerous and constantly changing laws and regulations governing employment. Suzanne realized that among those HR functions that could be handed over to an outside provider were administrative functions involving wages/benefits and tax withholding/reporting.

Suzanne Clifton

Taking action on her idea, in 1997 Suzanne also established The Castleton Group, a full service Professional Employer Organization (PEO) specializing in human resources outsourcing, with offices in Raleigh, NC and Cincinnati, OH. Today Suzanne is the president of both ESG and The Castleton Group.

Although HR outsourcing is a popular and growing business industry today, a few years ago it did not exist. Suzanne was among the first in the nation to successfully run this type of business. She set up Castleton’s business model to act as a strategic partner to clients and thoroughly understand their businesses. Meanwhile, Suzanne’s competition offered an out-of-area, call center approach.

One satisfied client, President Erika Mangrum of Iatria Spa & Health Center, says, “The Castleton Group is such an integral part of our team that most of my employees do not know that they are a separate company.”

Suzanne says the PEO business amounts to “an education process” with each client. She places emphasis on clear and consistent communication with the client and its employees, with the objective of enhancing the clients’ company culture and teaching them to be HR compliant and benefit savvy.

“Our goal is to increase our clients’ productivity and profitability while lowering their labor costs,” Suzanne explains.

Wally Dawson of TriSure Benefits has known Suzanne for over eight years. “Suzanne challenges me,” he says. “She has high expectations for consultants because she is a total advocate for her customers.”

Suzanne believes in a “best in class” approach, pays salaries higher than trend, and has assembled a staff exceptionally qualified in human resources, employment law and regulation, benefits administration, workers compensation, and payroll management.

Castleton recently opened a state-of-the-art Training and Conference Center, where scheduled courses include human resources management, workers’ compensation, benefits management, safety training, wellness programs, and business law. Clients may also request specialized training through Castleton’s customized Learning Management System (LMS) with over 1700 titles. Currently at 4500 employees, Castleton plans to be at 7000 by the end of 2006 and at 15,000 by 2008.

“This growth will be fueled by new technology solutions that Castleton is developing and by tapping new markets in North Carolina and Ohio,” Suzanne says.

The Triangle Business Journal has recognized The Castleton Group and ESG as the largest woman-owned businesses in the Triangle, and Suzanne has won the Triangle Business Journal’s Fast 50 Award and has been named one of Business Leader magazine’s Top Ten Women Extraordinaire.

What these facts do not show are Suzanne’s years of struggle and personal hardship. A remarkable business owner with creativity and vision, Suzanne has incredible strength of character and has overcome obstacles that would have brought a lesser person to her knees. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990, Suzanne fought the disease and kept working; 18 months later, she recovered. Then in 2000, she was diagnosed with tongue cancer, for which she received treatment for three years.

During those three years, Suzanne handed over the management of Castleton to some people who let her down and did not manage the business properly; revenues fell, employees lost morale, and the company’s very existence was threatened. Sick as she was, Suzanne returned to her company, took the helm, and “righted” the ship.

Throughout this difficult time, Suzanne’s belief in herself and her employees never faltered. She never let cancer stop her from forging ahead with her many accomplishments and participation in civic and charitable organizations. Today she is fully recovered.

Suzanne funds the American Cancer Society through such events as the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Tournament—for which ESG is only one of two lifetime sponsors—the Fred Fletcher Memorial Golf Tournament, and the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Event. She epitomizes the finest qualities of a winning woman.