Shalon A. Murdaugh-Travis

Though she has always approached her work with fearless creativity, it was during the pandemic that Shalon A. Murdaugh-Travis had the idea that truly changed the game for talent acquisition at Lendmark, a consumer finance company with locations in 22 states across the US.

In 2021, with the company designated an essential business, Murdaugh-Travis’ team grew frustrated with the shortage of offerings from their third-party contingent labor providers, which nonetheless charged high fees for their services. In response, Murdaugh-Travis put together what she describes as a “crazy” proposal — to move all contingent worker recruiting in house — and secured the approval of Lendmark’s senior leadership.

Today, she oversees a fully centralized hiring process internally, free of vendor management and managed service providers. The impact of this change has been enormous. In the last year, her team has recruited more than 750 direct hires and filled 700 contingent labor positions. In addition, 143 temporary workers were converted to permanent positions, and the program has grown to include middle- and upper-level professional openings. To date, the program has saved the company nearly $4 million while doubling the talent acquisition volume and decreasing the time-to-fill by five days.

Murdaugh-Travis’ in-house model has also enabled her team to give prospects with transferable skills a chance in temporary positions to see if they are a fit for full-time employment. “Knowing your organization is priority one,” she says. “As stakeholders, we have an interest in finding talent that we can invest in rather than seat fillers.”