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The Human Element of AI Transformation

Discover ways to effectively navigate through AI transformation. Only 4% of companies say they’re creating real value from their AI investments. The key differentiator is how well organizations manage the human side of implementation. 

Download the white paper to explore best practices for taking a human-focused approach as you lead through change.

Recruiter Report: Find the “Perfect” Candidate

Finding top talent remains difficult in today’s labor market. However, holding out for the “perfect” candidate may mean losing out on high-potential individuals that would thrive in the role.

Read our blog post gain insights on redefining what the ideal candidate looks like and share how to take a realistic and future-focused approach to making the right hire.

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Retaining Top Talent: Engagement Strategies in a Competitive Market

What factors are critical for business success? Financial acumen? Business savvy? Public awareness? While these all provide useful contributions to an organization’s staying power, their impact is eclipsed by one thing—human capital. Employees are the most vital aspect of an organization and its future success. In today’s candidate-driven labor market, the development of a leadership pipeline and the continued retention of key employees is a major business concern. In fact, 39 percent of organizations are worried that they will lose top talent in the coming year—and they have cause to be concerned. In our latest edition of Compass, Jacobson’s JoJo Harris, senior vice president, shares her unique insights into best practices and strategies for developing an impactful and effective retention and engagement strategy for your organization’s top performers. For an insider’s look at retention and engagement best practices along with an update on the insurance industry's talent market, download Compass.

RPO Myths Debunked

The true underdog of recruiting is recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)—a powerful tool that is under-utilized and overlooked despite the industry-wide talent crisis. Some organizations ignore RPO’s robust benefits due to a fear of the unknown or a perceived loss of control. Others are unnecessarily anxious that an RPO partner could fail to fully understand their needs or would be more expensive than keeping recruiting in-house. These myths surrounding RPO are clouding many insurance organizations’ judgement and may end up costing them significant time and money. In fact, 88 percent of hiring managers report satisfaction with the results of outsourcing some or all of their recruiting functions. Today, we’re answering some of your most pressing questions and debunking the common myths that surround RPO. How exactly does RPO work? RPO is a form of business process outsourcing in which an organization transfers all or part of its recruiting process to an external partner. The process typically starts with designing a program blueprint. This blueprint will define the scope and desired outcomes of the recruitment project. Once in place, your RPO partner will use this blueprint to support your recruitment needs. This can include thoroughly sourcing the market, screening and assessing potential candidates, and/or interviewing qualified professionals. The relationship between your organization and your RPO partner can continue through coordinating hiring, onboarding candidates and executing an ongoing reporting process. Essentially, RPO provides you with any component of a hands-on, effective hiring process that your organization needs.  Is RPO right for my organization? First, ask yourself this question: what problems am I trying to solve? If you are looking to decrease cost, improve candidate quality and recruit more efficiently, RPO may be the solution. An anticipated increase in hiring, a short-staffed internal HR department or a desire to cut costs can all be important factors in your decision. Whether you need to streamline internal processes or have urgent recruitment needs, bringing in an RPO partner can help efficiently and successfully marry quality candidates with open positions. As an additional benefit, RPO users typically see a reduction in recruitment costs by an average of 45 percent. Outsourcing recruitment has proven to lower costs for organizations in need of a talent solution. Remember that partnering with an RPO provider doesn’t necessarily mean transferring all of your recruitment processes. In some cases, outsourcing just one aspect of hiring can streamline the process and provide significant benefits. Finding a consultative partner to handle your recruitment advertising, sourcing, interview coordinating or onboarding may make the task of filling your next open position faster and more efficient. We’ve decided to outsource – what’s next? Choose an RPO partner who understands what success means to you. Ask them the questions that are most important in maintaining your alignment: How can your organization customize the RPO process to best fit our needs? In what ways can you improve the consistency of our hiring process? What reporting and analytics can you provide to help us track our progress? What experience do you have recruiting for our industry or these specific types of roles? Together, set goals for what your project should look like in 10 days, 30 days and 60 days. Make sure to measure and track quality and efficiency using hiring manager surveys and new hire surveys. In any RPO program, metrics should be progressive. As the program gains momentum and continuity, raise the bar. This will help you continue to become more effective in recruiting top talent. Now that you’ve turned to RPO to help with your recruitment efforts, the next step in talent management is maintaining efficient employee retention practices. Once you’ve recruited the best, remember that happy, engaged employees are the key to a successful workforce.  If you would like to learn more about Jacobson’s capabilities as a proven RPO partner, find our full process here.

Compass 10.2: Retaining Top Talent: Engagement Strategies in a Competitive Market

In today's increasingly competitive labor market, keeping key talent is vital to future success. JoJo Harris, senior vice president with Jacobson, shares her unique insights into the best practices for developing an impactful retention and engagement strategy for your organization.This edition also includes our regular overview of the industry's current labor market and recent executive-level job changes.

6 Things Your Candidates May Be Thinking, But Won’t Tell You

The hiring process is a two-way interaction. Knowing and understanding how to best anticipate your candidates’ not-always-transparent thoughts can help give your organization the upper hand when securing the best talent. In order to create long-standing, genuine relationships with candidates, it is extremely important to put yourself in their shoes. Take a look at your hiring process through your candidates’ eyes. This will allow you to better address their concerns before they are brought up. In order to gain insights into these situations, I have polled a number of Jacobson’s tenured recruiting professionals for an insider’s perspective. Here are six things your candidates may be thinking but not telling you, and some strategies for responding to their concerns. Candidates are motivated by a positive interview experience. According to a recent Montage study of 200 active job candidates, 75 percent indicated that the experience they have when interviewing for a job “matters a lot” in their decision about where to work. Just as it is important for candidates, your organization should focus on making a good first impression. Consider providing a tour of the office environment and introducing top candidates to potential teammates. Make sure that the interview process is as seamless as possible. Be conscious of time and try and avoid keeping your candidates waiting. Some may be utilizing their lunch breaks to conduct interviews. This mindfulness will go a long way in shining a positive light on your company. Lateral movements are not compelling reasons to change positions. Today’s competitive labor reality has created a candidates’ market. Many industry professionals are relatively happy with their current roles and, as a result, are passive in their career search. Lateral movements will no longer be attractive enough for these individuals to consider a possible career move. Organizations looking for talent should make sure to provide offers that include enhanced benefits. This goes beyond compensation and to additional job responsibilities and even the potential for increased career visibility. Understanding what will motivate top talent to make a move will be key in competing in today’s market. Passive job candidates may still be interested in career opportunities. According to Rosemary Young, Assistant Vice President with our professional recruiting arm, passive candidates are not always completely happy with their current roles. While some engaged employees are less likely to enlist a recruiter, others are open and interested in learning about new, compelling opportunities. It is important to understand that many candidates don’t want recruiters to feel that they have negative feelings about their current employers. However, they may still be looking for opportunities to advance their careers. The key is to focus on how the opportunity that provides the candidate with a positive move forward. Skype interviews can be a challenge. In today’s increasingly tech savvy and connected business era, interviews are going high-tech. More and more, organizations are utilizing technology, such as Skype, to conduct introductory level interviews. However, in a recent study of 200 active job seekers, only 24 percent of candidates felt that using Skype was a simple, convenient way to conduct an interview. Despite the prevalence of technology, not all candidates may have the equipment or environment necessary to conduct interviews via Skype. In addition, some candidates are just more comfortable with face-to-face interactions. Recruiters should keep this in mind when scheduling interviews. If a Skype interview cannot be avoided, make sure you are providing your candidates with the instructions and tips necessary to use the application with ease. Consideration goes a long way in the application process. Just as organizations don’t want to invest time in candidates who are applying for the sole purpose of gathering competitive market insights or to leverage a counteroffer, job seekers are hesitant to spend time interviewing for a company that is not fully considering them for a role. Organizations should avoid conducting conversations for the sole purpose of comparing external candidates to internal ones or to fulfill an interview quota. Candidates don’t want to be taken for granted and used as a comparison to the candidate of choice. In fact, this practice can be damaging for organizations—particularly in today’s socially connected world were reputations can be made or broken with a single post. The key is to be honest and promote open interactions. Extended hiring processes can be a big turn-off. According to Diana Shay, an Assistant Vice President also within our insurance recruitment practice, securing the best talent for the job can be a time-consuming process. Meeting all company and candidate needs involves a lot of back and forth communication, which can be drawn out over a long period due to busy schedules. However, in today’s increasingly competitive labor market, protracted hiring decisions can be fatal. When the process drags on, candidates are often left asking what’s taking so long and wondering if the company is actually interested in them as a potential employee. As a result, organizations can potentially lose out on great talent. You can put candidates’ thoughts at ease by keeping them in the loop and providing timely feedback. Giving updates before prompted will establish a solid repertoire and leave the relationship on good terms even if the candidate was not the right fit. Now more than ever, skilled individuals hold much of the power during the hiring process. It is important to adjust with this shift in balance and proceed wisely when seeking candidates. While it is not necessary to be a mind reader in order to secure talent, it is helpful to anticipate what they may be thinking and know how to address their concerns before beginning your search.

Continued Staffing Growth Accelerates the Search for New Talent Solutions

The results from our latest Semi-Annual Insurance Industry Labor Market Study are in! Since the first survey in 2009, this study has become an accurate predictor of the industry’s staffing outlook. Read on to gain insight into the projected talent market for this year or download the full results. Slowed Revenue Growth Projections Both property and casualty and life/health companies expect revenue growth in 2017—with 70 percent of insurance companies surveyed expecting to increase revenue. The anticipated growth is primarily being driven by changes in market share. This increasing market share will likely stem from organic growth in organizations’ current footprints, as well as expansion into new states. While these projections are certainly well above the lows that followed the Great Recession, this is the lowest growth expectation since our January 2012 survey. Despite decreased growth forecasts, only two percent of companies are actually anticipating a decline in revenue. Historically, the insurance industry has seen a significant gap between the growth rates in revenue and in staffing—with revenue far outpacing staffing projections. However, while the number of insurers expecting increased revenue has slowed, plans to increase staffing over the next year have remained steady. This continued focus on growing staff has greatly reduced the revenue-staffing gap, bringing them within five points of each other. Continued Staffing Growth If the insurance industry follows through on current plans, we will see a 1.56 percent increase in industry employment this year. This projected growth will help to create new jobs within insurance. According to the survey, 65 percent of companies intend to increase staff in 2017—driven by near-record-high numbers of personal and commercial lines property and casualty organizations. Of companies who plan to add staff, 82 percent expect an increase in revenue, with 53 percent responding that this will be caused by a change in market share. Small companies (fewer than 300 employees) report the highest expectations for growth in staff, as more than 77 percent expect to hire new employees. In contrast, large companies (more than 1,000 employees) project the greatest decrease in staff, with 12 percent anticipating a reduction in force. Additionally, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of job openings in finance and insurance continues to rise. The current 262,000 job openings is the highest number since the inception of our study in 2009. This continued upward trend indicates that openings are taking longer to fill now than in the past—a growing concern that insurance organizations are working to address. Labor Market Challenges The insurance industry remains focused on combatting the growing talent gap and increasing demands for staff. Virtually non-existent industry unemployment—currently 3.3 percent—has resulted in a shallow talent pool, accentuating the challenging recruiting environment. Actuarial, analytics and technology roles remain the most difficult-to-fill positions. As a result of the tight labor market, many companies are turning to contract professionals to fill challenging positions. Some of the waning in job growth over the next several years may, in fact, be a result of organizations turning to temporary talent as part of their staffing strategies. Filling Gaps with Temporary Staff Since 2009, the use of temporary staff has been on a rapid growth trend. Already, interim employment is up by more than 70,000 jobs since July 2016. During the next six months, 81 percent of companies expect to maintain their current number of temporary employees. Meanwhile, 11 percent anticipate an increase—the highest expected increase in temporary staff usage since January 2014. Clearly, temporary and interim talent are set to have an immense impact on the future of the insurance industry. The impending management challenge will be in effectively integrating rising numbers of contract workers into a workplace previously dominated by full-time, permanent employees. Though the insurance industry continues to enjoy growth; continued staffing demands amid today’s shallowing hiring pool are accelerating the need for new talent solutions. For further insights into the industry’s 2017 labor outlook, download the full results of the study.

Regulatory Update: Does Your Talent Provider Have Your Back?

We stand amidst a contract-focused business reality. In today’s marketplace, it is vital that organizations are aware of contract standards when engaging with a staffing firm. Nearly four years ago, we delved into the importance of contract compliance. As we mentioned in that previous post, a contract without a strong process to ensure the clauses are clearly understood, tracked, implemented and audited, as they say, isn’t worth the paper it is printed on. At The Jacobson Group, we understand that each client has its own unique requirements that must be met. Keeping on top of all these variables—from education and employment verification to drug screens and MCR checks — is a time-consuming task. To that end, Jacobson has begun implementing a number of innovative technology solutions to help manage this complex process. These systems are allowing us to improve our compliance efforts and increase efficiency. Unfortunately, not all staffing firms are up to the challenge. In order to ensure your staffing partner is above board, organizations should pay careful attention to their responses to the contract discussion.  Do they simply accept all of your language as-is? Red flag! Compliance is costly and a firm that simply rolls over during contract negotiations may not intend to comply. This can result in steep costs to your organization including liability fines and penalties. Are they an encyclopedia of employment knowledge? Your staffing partner should be an expert on employment laws, regulations and standards. Do they know how background checks differ in each state? Do they have insights into the thousands of federal, state and municipal employment regulations? This is increasingly important as we continue to see a marked increase in the number of cities, municipalities and states enacting employment regulations and legislation. At Jacobson, we monitor for regulatory updates; and, when a new requirement is enacted, go directly to the source to read the actual regulation or legislation. Compliance options are then discussed and implemented to ensure we are adequately mitigating risk for ourselves and our clients. Are they open to audits? Most contracts call for audit rights for the client organization. Yet, clients often don’t use this right unless an issue arises. Verifying contract compliance on behalf of your staffing partner is important. Have they updated for any recently introduced regulations? Are they complying with all necessary legislation? At Jacobson, we welcome the client audit—something we feel differentiates us from other firms. The feedback we receive is vital to helping us grow and improve as an organization. In an industry where the rules and regulations are being regularly updated, ensuring your staffing firm is on top of the changes is key to a successful partnership and to mitigating your own risks.

Today’s Evolving Talent Reality: Finding Success in a “Blended” Workforce

Today’s talent reality is shifting at a breakneck pace. This rapid evolution is bringing about an unprecedented movement away from the traditional workplace of recent years. Today’s modern workforce is increasingly “blended”—creating a unique combination of full-time, permanent employees working side-by-side with temporary professionals. Already, the inclusion of contract professionals is becoming the industry norm. However, 93 percent of organizations identify this widely growing “blended” workforce as a business concern. As more and more organizations incorporate temporary employees into their staffing strategies, the challenge of effectively integrating these individuals is becoming a hot-button topic. Addressing this situation is vital to effectively developing a “blended” workforce. In our latest edition of Compass,  we share insights into the growth of temporary staffing within the industry and best practices and strategies for integrating contract professionals into an organization. For an insider’s look at the rise of the “blended” workforce along with an update on the insurance industry's talent market, download Compass.

Compass 10.1: Today’S Evolving Talent Reality – Finding Success In A “Blended” Workforce

Faced with a rapidly shifting labor market, more and more organizations are utilizing temporary employees as part of their revamped staffing strategies. Jacobson shares insights into the growth of temporary staffing within the industry and best practices and strategies for integrating contract professionals into your organization. This edition also includes our regular overview of the industry's current labor market and recent executive-level job changes.

Insights into the Talent Horizon: Trends for 2017

The insurance industry stands amid a rapidly evolving talent market. Organizations are now face-to-face with the rise of virtual training, the push for inclusivity and the growing importance of the employee experience. Is your company prepared? Here are the eight top insurance industry trends for 2017: Technology Changes Highlight Need for Non-Traditional Talent: Technology continues to play an increasingly vital role within the insurance industry. As a result, insurers need to refocus their recruitment and engagement efforts to better reach professionals with non-traditional, innovative backgrounds. Need to Promote Compelling Careers: While organizations have confidence in their internal talent pipelines, studies show that even satisfied employees are looking to move to companies that offer more compelling career opportunities. Inclusion Remains Important Business Mandate: Insurers need to focus on the inclusion of all facets and faces of today’s increasingly diverse demographic talent landscape. Industry Hiring Challenges Continue to Heat Up: Rapidly increasing hiring demands are far outpacing the current pool of available industry talent. In order to bridge the gap, the insurance industry must work to increase its appeal to the next generation of professionals. Employee Referrals Top List of Candidate Sources: Internal talent referrals continue to grow in importance as the labor market tightens and organizations seek to expand their staffs. Employee Training Goes Virtual: Insurers looking to increase retention are focusing on incorporating virtual reality into their current employee training plans. Refocusing on the Employee Experience: In today’s candidate-driven labor market, creating an effective and engaging employee experience is imperative to attracting top talent. Industry Sees Rise of “Blended” Workforce: The blending of full-time, permanent employees with temporary, contingent professionals has resulted in a need for more inclusive workplaces. Want to learn more about the top insurance industry trends anticipated in 2017? Download our full trend guide for an inside look.

Solving the Candidate Interview Puzzle

It is my pleasure to introduce a guest blogger for this latest post. Jaime Elgas is an engagement director with Jacobson’s insurance executive search practice. Her insights into interview best practices are worth a read. Enjoy… You’ve put together a carefully worded job description. You’ve closely vetted each job applicant and determined your top candidates. Now it’s time for the interview. For many organizations, this step in the process can be tricky. According to a recent study, today’s business interviews are often ineffective. In fact, a study on predictors of job performance found that the typical interview increased the likelihood of choosing the best candidate by less than two percent versus no interview. Preparation is key to a successful interview. Organizations should develop a list of carefully crafted questions that allow them to dive deeply into a candidate’s background, experience and motivation to get a better understanding of both their qualifications and their cultural fit. The most effective way to do this is for the organization to have two sets of questions.  The first set would be the organization’s “go-to” questions that they plan to pose to all candidates and the second set, is a list of more role-specific questions that probe into a candidate’s technical knowledge and the key competencies of the targeted role. So, while there will be some consistency in interview format and general questions, the more probing questions should vary from position to position. When it comes to “go-to” general questions, organizations should focus on four main areas including knowledge of the company, career transitions, motivation and 360-degree feedback. Company Knowledge Before bringing on a new candidate you want to make sure that they have adequately vetted your organization and are sure that it aligns with what they are seeking. Ask questions that can help determine if they are able and willing to make a commitment to both the job and your organization. How did you find out about the job? Have you spoken to anyone previously about the company? Why do you feel you are a good fit with the organization and its culture? What interests you most about our company? The quality of the answers can speak to the candidate’s level of interest, as well as their ability to be a proactive, self-starter who takes it upon themselves to seek information. Career Transitions Job candidates should be able to articulate their career paths in a cohesive and meaningful matter. Questions regarding career transitions should be designed to provide insights into their overall performance, decision-making processes, motivators and relationship skills. Focus on open-ended questions that provide descriptions and examples. What reasons contributed to your decision to select new opportunities over the course of your career? What major challenges and problems have you faced throughout your career? How have you handled them? What do you consider to be your most transferable skills from past positions? What are you looking for in your next job? Professional Motivations Motivation-focused interview questions are a key part of the screening process. These questions are a great way to understand what drives a candidate’s success. Are their professional career motivations a fit with the position responsibilities and your organization’s professional development opportunities? These types of questions help employers understand the alignment, or lack thereof, between their needs and the candidate’s desires.  It can also help the employer effectively influence a candidate’s level of interest by providing insight into the candidate’s top concerns. Take time to really dive deep into what drove the candidate to apply for the role. What’s on your shopping list for your next position and/or organization? Why are you seeking in a new position? If you could create a position with the perfect attributes, what would those be? What sort of tasks are you best at? In what sort of environments (busy, deadline-driven, loud, quiet, etc.) do you work the best? 360-Degree Feedback The 360-degree feedback process is capable of so much more than just evaluating employee effectiveness. It is a strategic interviewing method that will allow you organization to gain insight into a candidate’s self-awareness, collaboration and ability to interact with others at a variety of levels within an organization.  After asking a candidate to provide an example of teamwork, leadership, change management or perhaps project management. Follow-up with a question about how others viewed the candidate in different situations. How did your peers, manager, senior leaders, staff members and/or other stakeholders view you in this situation? How do you know and what evidence do you have to support that belief? What did you learn or what would you do differently if a similar situation arose in the future? Remember, interviews are not one-sided. Make sure to provide time for the candidates to ask their questions. Together, this four-pronged interview approach will provide a clear picture of whether a candidate is a good fit for your organization. What interview best practices does your organization follow?

Revive Your Recruitment and Selection Strategies: Kicking Off Your Recruitment Process

This blog entry is part four in Jacobson’s Insurance Recruitment and Selection series, which provides insights into updated recruitment and selection processes and strategies for the modern workplace. Maybe your organization is scrambling to fill an open position after its Chief Actuary moved to a different organization. Or perhaps the executive committee has decided to add an Innovation Officer to help manage and update your company’s growing evolution. Regardless of the situation, the first step in any recruitment strategy should be a kick-off meeting. Planning is vital to implementing an effective and efficient recruitment process. Finding and engaging a candidate should not be a shot in the dark. Rather, your key stakeholders must develop a carefully thought out plan. But just want should this plan entail? Meet with your key stakeholders to set a baseline of information from which to develop your recruitment plan. Ask questions to determine what they are looking for in a hire. What are the skills and characteristics required? What background is preferred? How will success be measured? Taking a deep look at the responses to these questions allows recruiters to build a complete profile of the ideal candidate and understand how they will fit within the organization. Once you have developed this blueprint of the ideal candidate, it’s time to build a process. Create a target timeline that lays out the steps in your recruitment process with milestones and goals for completion. Avoid setting unrealistic timelines as they can often double the length of your search and have a detrimental impact on your ability to hire. Build a marketable job description that not only sells the company, but also covers the key evaluation criteria set by the selection team. Include the skills, characteristics, background and values that your organization is looking for in a hire. Engage your pipeline and seek referrals from current employees. Job boards and social media are also great sources for potential candidates. Make sure that your selection team has a clear understanding of their responsibilities. They should be involved in kick-off planning and setting timeline goals. Ensure they are aware of interview strategies and follow interview best practices when meeting with potential candidates. Consider utilizing a combination of conventional interview techniques combined with behavioral and ethics-based questions in order to build a complete picture of each candidate. Encourage and promote feedback among team members. For organizations utilizing recruiting firms to assist in their hiring process, it is important that the firm has an understanding of these expectations. Make sure to do your due-diligence to make sure that you and your recruiting partner are on the same page. Set up touch bases to promote dialogue and collaboration. Most importantly, be realistic. Finding, recruiting and hiring the ideal candidate can take time. Don’t rush the process in order to fill unrealistic goals. A lack of time preparing or the inability to provide adequate attention to the hiring process has shown to result in poor hiring decisions. With nearly 70 percent of all hiring managers and HR professionals reporting bad hiring decisions, it is clear that recruitment is not a time to “wing it.” What does your organization’s recruitment process entail?

A Smooth Transition: Integrating Temporary Staff into Your Organization

As a result of the recent economic downturn, many organizations have embraced a “doing more with less” mindset­—implementing drastic staffing changes and cuts to full-time employees. Despite the uptick in industry market conditions and a return to its pre-recession state, many insurers continue to maintain a “run lean” mentality. They are now employing a staffing strategy that provides cost-effective, proven solutions to deliver organizational support on an as-needed basis—temporary staffing. Today, the total number of temporary employees is 2,957,500. Within the insurance industry, it is estimated that 30,000 temporary professionals are currently employed—a number that is only expected to increase. According to an Intuit report, by 2020, more than 40 percent of employees in the U.S. will be temporary, contingent employees. Organizations utilizing temporary staffing can occasionally hit a bump in the road when integrating these professionals into their workplaces. Your full-time employees are already familiar with the office atmosphere, are aware of their current job responsibilities and often have the support that comes with working with the same colleagues day after day. Temporary employees, on the other hand, may not have any of these same advantages. As more and more organizations continue to utilize temporary staffing, how can they best integrate these contract professionals with their full-time employees? Set the Stage: Before a new temporary staff joins your team, set up a meeting with your permanent employees to discuss the new addition. Make sure everyone is on the same page in terms of job duties and reporting. Ask for feedback and reassure your full-time employees that their jobs are safe. Eliminate Office Separation: Often organizations cluster their temporary employees into a conference room or into a separate cluster of cubicles. This does nothing more than literally separate them from other employees. It’s hard to be engaged when you aren’t working near the people you should be collaborating with. Make sure to seat temporary professionals within the group they will be working. Introduce Who’s Who: Most companies rely solely on first day introductions to ensure their contract workers have met the key players they will be working with. However, this hectic first-day is rarely conducive to remembering names and backgrounds. Instead, provide a mix of organizational charts and access to the intranet or company social media site—such as Yammer—to allow new employees to learn about their coworkers on their own time. In addition, this provides temporary staff with insights on who to contact for particular questions. Follow-up with team lunches and encourage inclusion in coffee breaks to better assimilate contract employees into your workplace. Promote Inclusion, Not Exclusion: One key way to better integrate temporary staff is to ensure that your company culture is one of inclusivity and not exclusivity. Make sure to add temporary employees to any company-wide emails, inviting them to company-wide events and bringing them into meetings. Consider hosting social events—either during work hours or after-work—that integrate all new employees into your company culture and solidify introductions and relationships. Schedule Time to Touch Base: Schedule time to touch base with your temporary professionals on a weekly basis. Check in on how things are going and answer any questions they may have. Consult with your team to get feedback on the performance of the new employees and nip any issues in the bud. This doesn’t have to be a formal, weekly evaluation. It can be as simple as a Skype chat or just a drop in at their workstation. Temporary staffing continues to play a vital role in the industry’s labor market and will only continue to do so. In light of the growing use of contract professionals, seamless integration is key to making your workforce more productive and ensuring your return on investment.