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If you turn on the radio in any major metropolitan city during drive time, you're likely to hear Arnold Palmer telling you why his company uses Administaff. This $1.5 billion organization acts as a full-service human resources department for more than 5,000 small-, and medium-size businesses. Administaff handles everything from processing the payroll to helping recruit employees. Paul Sarvadi, Administaff's chief executive officer, bases the company's success on three things: an abundance of good technology, a caring attitude toward customers, and a culture where employees can grow and prosper.

When Sarvadi co-founded the company in 1986, the Internet didn't exist. Yet by the mid 1990's, the Internet had become Administaff's network. And for the past decade, the company has continued to increase its investment in Web-technology. Sarvadi says, "At one time, we had one IT person for every 10 employees. Now we have one IT person for every 10 employees."

Over the years, Sarvadi has seen some clients choose to bring the human resources function back inside their company, and others choose another HR service firm. He says, "Many of them come back to us. When they do, we always ask them to tell us how are different from our competitors. They always cite our caring attitude about what they are doing."

In this podcast, Sarvadi talks more about how he has led his company to success, what advice he gives to aspiring entrepreneurs, and what important trends in hiring will occur in this country 10, even 20 years from now.

Resources

The Businessmakers: Interview with Paul Sarvadi, Administaff

Change Agent

Administaff's 20th Year Was a Robust One

Bio

Paul Sarvadi serves as chief executive officer and chairman of the board for Administaff, a $1.5 billion company specializing in providing small to medium size businesses with managed human resource services. He has been chairman since he co-founded the company in 1986. He attended Rice University and the University of Houston prior to starting and operating several small companies. Sarvadi serves on the board of trustees of the DePelchin Children's Center in Houston. In 1995, he was selected as Houston's Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for service industries. In 2001, he was selected as the 2001 National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for service industries.

Production Credits

Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer