Benjamin W. Towne, MBA, MPA, PHR

A concise and effective EVP can ultimately serve as the basis for all of your other HR programs, perks, benefits, communications, and strategies. If developed correctly and adopted wholeheartedly by leaders and managers, the EVP should help to: - attract future talent with attributes and aspirations that align with the organization's - guide the organization on how to advertise open positions. - build a strong organization brand and positive organization image. - determine what kind of benefits, perks, and incentives to offer current and future associates. - foster transparency and consistency, meaning all associates, current and future, know what the company expects and how they intend to deliver a positive employment experience.

It's very important to make sure you have the important skills, tasks, procedures, and protocols laid out for each position in some sort of organized way. Doing this will help ensure that each position's important responsibilities are accurately defined and trackable between associates on your team as they move through training. It will also help to identify where your documented cross-training gaps are. Yes, some evaluation must take place to confirm that the newly trained individual can perform certain functions. But taking the time to organize each position's key attributes will go a long way toward efficiently managing the cross-training effort. Look into a training-within-industry (TWI) checklist template for guidance.

This may sound cliche. But one of the most effective methods of team-building is centered on personality types (DISC, Myers-Briggs, How the World Sees You), and having a trained facilitator lead the team through a sharing and comparison exercise. It will put into perspective why people act the way they do, what their personality traits are, how you can be cognizant of these other styles, and how to consciously flex your own work style to accommodate teammates. The facilitator will also provide strategies for resolving conflicts and improving overall team dynamics. It goes toward understanding one another and is a strong basis for team building. Psychology—it's powerful.

A senior colleague once told me (and coached others too) that the most important factor when writing SMART goals was centered on the timeliness (or time-bound) factor. Specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic factors are important too. I don't diminish that. But there needs to be a clear expectation of when the goal should be accomplished. For example, say you were tasked with writing 10 standard operating procedures. (And let's assume it's specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant to your position too.) How awkward would the conversation be if there was no time-bound aspect? What if you thought you had until December 31st to complete the objective? But your leader wanted it done by September 1st? Uh oh - awkward.

Setting expectations is likely the lynchpin in the entire temporary employment lifecycle. The temporary assignment, its anticipated duration, and the key objectives of the assignment must all be thoroughly communicated during the recruiting and sourcing process. Those same expectations and objectives should be reinforced during the time of employment too. Surely, all parties should know what they signed up for and what the measures of success will look like. There's nothing more awkward than a disconnect between expectations and/or objectives.

Use "commander's intent." This concept is an effective way to provide parameters on what the ideal end result should look like, but it also gives team members autonomy to make decisions and be creative within those parameters to achieve the ideal end result. This concept is going to sound highly directive. That's not the point here, though. But using the commander's intent looks something like this: 1.) Give a clear description of the task that needs to be carried out. 2.) Formulate the purpose for doing the task (or project or initiative). 3.) Suggest some possible methods for carrying out the task. 4.) Clearly describe what the ideal end result should look like.