Reflections of MIKE PERKINS
Former VP, Corporate Legal Counsel and COO for the PEO Division
Mr. Landrum was one of the pioneers of PEO licensing. He brought a lot of credibility to us, first of all for doing things right–he was on the State licensing and oversight board and couldn’t afford for us not to do everything right, but it brought a lot of credibility for us, and sometimes put him in the uncomfortable position of monitoring some other PEOs out there that weren’t doing things right.
Mr. Landrum is responsible–whether he admits it or not, for raising the image, raising the reputation, raising the bar of the whole PEO industry, particularly in Florida. And Florida is a leading state in the industry, so the impact was national.
There is a whole level of devotion and reverence from the people who worked with him. Mr. Landrum set his own brand, a high standard. There’s a level of devotion to this guy that I have never seen before in business. Long-term employees who are very dedicated would knock down walls for him. And he would have done the same for them.
There were times when we had to have a lot of mercy for people who were going through tough times. That was one of the beauties of a company like that, with a leader like that–if things were tough, you weren’t going to be cut loose to fend for yourself. It’s not always that way in a big company. The company even the size of LandrumHR had a heart. Mr. Landrum set the tone and still does.