America Back to Work: Jessica Gomez, OneDigital

Generalists or Specialists: Determining the Best Fit for Your HR Team

In this episode of America Back to Work, Arnette Heintze sits down with Jessica Gomez, an HR consultant at OneDigital, to discuss the evolving landscape of human resources. Jessica shares her journey in HR, from her early days as an intern to her current role.

The conversation covers various topics, including the differences between HR generalists and specialists, the rise of fractional support, and the impact of hybrid work on organizational culture.

Key Takeaways

  • HR Generalists vs. Specialists: Jessica explains the main differences between HR generalists and specialists and offers insight into how organizations can balance these roles based on their size and specific needs.
  • Fractional Support: The discussion delves into the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing fractional HR employees, highlighting how this approach can fill essential gaps in an organization’s HR function.
  • Current Trends: Recruitment, onboarding, and payroll processing are identified as some of the most in-demand fractional HR roles right now, especially in the current competitive job market.
  • Navigating Hybrid Work: Jessica shares her expertise on the challenges organizations face with hybrid work models, offering practical advice on policy consistency and employee engagement.
  • Future of HR: As economic uncertainties loom and the baby boomer generation begins to retire, Jessica highlights the importance of knowledge transfer and talent retention for long-term organizational success.

Memorable Quotes

  • “A generalist role would be great for someone who enjoys a variety in their day, is good at multitasking and juggling competing priorities.” – Jessica Gomez
  • “One of the tools that I think is actually very underutilized are employee engagement surveys…if an organization is going to do an employment engagement survey, they need to be prepared to act on it.” – Jessica Gomez

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About America Back to Work

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S2Verify is one of the leading, privately held, pre-employment background screening companies in the United States. 

Arnette Heintze is co-founder and chief strategy officer at S2Verify. Before establishing S2Verify, Arnette spent more than three decades working at the highest levels of federal, state, and local law enforcement. 

He served more than 20 years in the United States Secret Service as a special agent and senior executive,—oØ where he planned, designed, and implemented security strategies to protect U.S. Presidents, world leaders, events of national significance, and our nation’s most sensitive assets, including financial infrastructure.  

After retiring from the Secret Service, Arnette focused on building the growth and performance of innovative start-ups and SMBs. In 2004, he established Hillard Heintze, a globally recognized strategic security risk management and investigations firm.

In 2009, along with Bill Whitford and Jim Zimbardi, Arnette established S2 Verify with an approach and methodology that delivers fast, accurate, compliant, and affordable background screening insights crucial to better managing insider risks, threats, and vulnerabilities.  

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