SESCO Management Consultants

What SESCO Management Consultants does

SESCO Management Consultants is a full-service human resources and employee relations consulting firm founded on February 1, 1945 by Joseph W. R. Lawson Sr. in Princeton, West Virginia, after his departure from the U.S. Department of Labor where he served as a Federal Wage-Hour Compliance Officer. The firm relocated its corporate headquarters to Bristol, Tennessee in 1964 and is currently in its third generation of family ownership under COO Andrea Ford and Co-Owner Bill Ford following their 2004 purchase. SESCO primarily serves small to medium-sized organizations that lack an internal HR department but require professional compliance, employee relations, and employment law support.

The firm's core technology is a validated Employee Satisfaction Survey (92% validation rating by the University of Tennessee, field-tested over 60+ years across 18 attitude categories with national industry norms) and a network of over 35 third-party assessment publishers whose instruments comply with American Psychological Association and Association of Test Publishers standards. SESCO also maintains proprietary compliance audit checklists for regulated industries including coal mining, lumber and saw mills, common carriers, soft drink bottling and distribution, and construction. The service catalog spans ten+ practice areas including Affirmative Action/EEO, Labor Relations (95%+ win rate in union avoidance), Employment Law Compliance, Recruitment & Retention, Compensation Administration, Organizational Development, Background Checks, and Employee Handbook development. Documented outcomes include a 96% success rate in obtaining no-cause findings in EEO discrimination charge representation and a stated record of no client ever being fined or losing an employment lawsuit due to a SESCO-produced handbook.

SESCO generates revenue through a hybrid model anchored by a monthly Service Agreement retainer (starting at $40/month for unlimited telephone/email consulting, four flex consulting hours, annual handbook review, and 15% project discounts), supplemented by transactional fees for background checks ($75-$240 per package), training webinars ($65 per session), and one-time sales of HR forms, compliance manuals, and federal/state labor posters via an e-commerce storefront. Distribution is sales-led through field consultants providing on-site and virtual services, supported by content marketing (news blog, The SESCO Report bimonthly newsletter, SESCO Weekly Updates email) and partnership referrals from trade and professional associations for which SESCO serves as the preferred HR consultant.

Name

SESCO Management Consultants

Legal name

SESCO Management Consultants

Website

https://sescomgt.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SESCO Management Consultants is a 1945-founded, family-owned HR and employee relations consulting firm headquartered in Bristol, Tennessee, serving small and medium-sized U.S. organizations lacking internal HR departments with retainer consulting, compliance audits, labor relations, and employment law support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HR Consulting Services

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Labor Relations & Employment Practice Advisory (BPAHAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Risk, Compliance & Internal Controls Consulting (BPAHACAJ), Performance Management & Productivity Consulting (BPAHAGAL)

Keywords

• Human resource consulting
• Employee relations consulting
• Employment law compliance
• Labor relations consulting
• Affirmative action services

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retainer/Service Agreement: Monthly retainer agreements providing unlimited consulting, annual handbook reviews, flex consulting hours, reduced project fees, and access to HR forms and compliance publications. Clients receive 15% discount on project work outside the agreement.
2. Background Check Services: Four tiers of background check packages ranging from $75 to $240, plus credit checks at $40 and drug testing. These are one-time transaction fees per candidate.
3. Training/Webinars: Individual webinar training sessions at $65 per participant, covering HR topics such as supervision, wage compliance, background checks, recruitment, FMLA, ADA, and compensation.
4. Forms and Manuals: Sale of HR forms (employment records, medical files, exit interviews, timecards, etc.), manuals (COBRA, FMLA, wage-hour compliance guides for various industries), and federal/state compliance posters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SESCO Management Consultants is a full-service human resource and employee relations consulting firm offering retainer-based HR advisory services, employment law compliance assessments, employee handbook development, labor relations and union avoidance consulting, affirmative action plan development, recruitment and retention services, compensation administration, and organizational development. The firm complements its consulting practice with a portfolio of sellable products including HR forms, compliance manuals, federal and state labor law posters, training webinars, applicant and employee assessments from a network of 35+ publishers, and tiered background check services.

Product overview

SESCO Management Consultants is a full-service HR and employee relations consulting firm established in 1945. The company offers a comprehensive suite of consulting services including Affirmative Action/EEO compliance, Labor Relations (with 95%+ union avoidance win rate), Employment Law Compliance, Recruitment & Retention, Compensation Administration, Organizational Development, Employee Satisfaction Surveys (validated at 92% by University of Tennessee), Background Checks, and Employee Handbooks. Complementing its consulting services, SESCO provides a portfolio of for-purchase products including Applicant & Employee Assessments (Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test II, Everything DiSC Workplace Profile), Employee Training Webinars, HR Forms (ADA, FMLA, Attendance, Performance Management, Pre-Employment, Separation), Compliance Manuals (COBRA, FMLA, and industry-specific wage-hour guides), and Federal & State Compliance Posters. The company also offers a monthly Service Agreement retainer providing unlimited consulting, annual handbook reviews by employment attorneys, and discounted project fees. SESCO serves clients nationally and is currently in its third generation of family ownership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Service Agreement (Retainer) Monthly retainer providing unlimited telephone and email consulting, 4 flex consulting hours annually, free annual employee handbook review by employment attorneys, free federal and state compliance posters, and 15% discount on project work outside the agreement.
• Employee Satisfaction Surveys Validated employee satisfaction survey with 92% validation rating from the University of Tennessee, covering 18 attitude categories and benchmarked against national industry norms, with follow-up action planning consulting.
• Recruitment & Retention Services Professional recruiting services, applicant assessment tools, exit interviews, behavioral interview training, employee recognition and retention strategies, and culture assessment for employers.
• Compensation Administration Compensation program development including job analysis, position descriptions, job evaluation, performance management tools, wage and benefit surveys, and implementation guidelines.
• Affirmative Action / EEO Development and implementation of Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs) compliant with OFCCP requirements, EEO discrimination charge representation with a 96% no-cause finding success rate, and EEOC representation for federal contractors.
• Labor Relations Union avoidance consulting, counter-union communications campaigns with 95%+ win rate, contract negotiations, strike contingency plans, and supervisory training, with staff available 24/7.
• Employee Handbooks & Policy Manuals Development and review of employee handbooks and policy manuals compliant with federal and state regulations, with a track record of no SESCO client ever being fined or losing an employment lawsuit due to inappropriate policies.
• Employment Law Compliance Fair Labor Standards Act compliance assessments, wage-hour accounting audits, and evaluation of personnel policies, procedures, and forms for federal and state compliance.
• Organizational Development 360-degree management assessment appraisal, career pathing, culture assessments, family business succession planning, and team building services.
• Background Checks Employment background screening with four pricing tiers: Package 1 (Hourly/Entry Level, $75), Package 2 (Drivers/Sales/Field with driving record, $95), Package 3 (Professional/Management with financial responsibility and Federal Bankruptcy records, $105), and Package 4 (Professional/Management with degree and credential verification, $240); credit checks available as add-on at $40.
• Applicant & Employee Assessments Pre-employment and employee testing instruments including the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test II and Everything DiSC Workplace Profile, sourced from a network of over 35 top assessment publishers consistent with American Psychological Association and Association of Test Publishers standards.
• HR Forms Comprehensive collection of HR compliance forms including ADA Forms, Attendance Forms, FMLA Forms, New Employee Forms, Performance Management Forms, Personnel File Folders and Kits, Pre-Employment Forms, and Separation Forms, priced $2-$259 depending on form type.
• Employee Training (Webinars) Live and recorded webinar training sessions covering HR topics including supervisory competencies, wage-hour compliance, FMLA administration, ADA compliance, recruitment, termination, and compensation, priced at $65 per session (some Virginia-specific webinars at $40).
• Manuals Compliance and guidance manuals including COBRA Administrative Manual, Family Medical Leave Act Administrative Guide, and industry-specific wage-hour compliance guides for automobile dealers, funeral directors, healthcare organizations, and automotive service and tire dealers.
• Federal & State Posters Federal and state labor law compliance posters including Five-In-One Federal Poster for employers with less than 50 employees, Six-In-One Federal Poster for employers with 50 or more employees, and State Posters Kit.

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% success rate in obtaining 'no cause' findings in EEO discrimination charge representation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• University of Tennessee Office for Customer Responsiveness StudiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContracted to conduct a thorough management and marketing assessment of SESCO Management Consultants - the first time an assessment of this magnitude had ever been conducted for a consulting firm by the University of Tennessee. Provided specific recommendations with corresponding timetables.
• Assessment Publisher NetworkcoreTechnology or IntegrationNetwork of over 35 of the top assessment publishers in the world providing pre-employment and employee testing instruments. All tests are consistent with standards set by professional associations like the American Psychological Association and the Association of Test Publishers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• TriNet: TriNet is a PEO providing HR, payroll, benefits, and compliance services to small and mid-sized businesses; it addresses the same pain point SESCO's retainer targets—SMBs needing outsourced HR expertise—but via co-employment rather than advisory consulting.
• Insperity: Insperity is a PEO that bundles HR administration, benefits, and compliance support for SMB and mid-market employers—an adjacent model that competes for the same buyer segment SESCO targets ('too small for full-time HR') through a different delivery mechanism (co-employment vs. advisory retainer).

Direct peers

• Fisher Phillips: Fisher Phillips is a U.S. employment-law firm specializing in labor relations, wage-hour, and workplace compliance—directly comparable to SESCO's labor relations, employment law compliance, and affirmative action service lines.
• Jackson Lewis P.C. Jackson Lewis is a leading workplace-law firm offering preventive counseling, litigation defense, and HR training—overlapping with SESCO's labor relations, EEO charge representation, and policy/handbook advisory services for non-union employers.
• Ogletree Deakins: Ogletree Deakins is a national employment-law firm with deep labor-relations and EEO practices that competes for the same employer-of-record and HR advisory engagements SESCO targets, particularly around union avoidance, OFCCP defense, and handbook policy work.
• BLR (Business & Legal Reports): BLR provides HR compliance content, training, and policy tools to U.S. employers across industries, overlapping directly with SESCO's forms, manuals, poster, and webinar products and serving a similar SMB audience seeking compliance certainty.
• XpertHR: XpertHR is an HR compliance intelligence and tools provider offering handbooks, policies, legal updates, and training content to SMB and mid-market employers—directly comparable to SESCO's e-commerce catalog of forms, manuals, posters, and webinars, and to its retainer-driven compliance advisory model.

Broad incumbents

• Willis Towers Watson (WTW): WTW provides broad HR, talent, and risk consulting including compensation surveys, benefits, and M&A advisory—a scaled incumbent comparable to SESCO's compensation administration, employee surveys, and HR consulting offerings but serving a wider client portfolio.
• Mercer: Mercer is a global consulting leader with large HR, compensation, and benefits practices; while SESCO operates at a much smaller scale, Mercer's HR advisory and compensation consulting compete for the same client categories (e.g., manufacturing, healthcare, franchise employers) on a portfolio basis.
• Aon: Aon's Human Capital practice offers consulting, benefits brokerage, and risk solutions that overlap with SESCO's HR compliance and labor-relations advisory, though Aon operates at enterprise scale and as part of a much broader insurance and advisory portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SESCO Management Consultants