policy services

Before you decide what your team should take on next year, look at what consumed its time this year.

Where did work pile up? What required repeated follow-up? Which projects stayed on the list because daily responsibilities always came first?

The answers can help you make a different kind of plan for 2027…not just what to accomplish, but what your team should stop carrying on its own.

That’s the starting point for rightsourcing: deciding which work belongs with your internal team and which could be handled with support from Employee Pooling.

Start with where the time went

Look beyond the largest responsibilities on the org chart. Consider the tasks that repeatedly interrupted the day, required extra attention, or depended on someone finding time between other priorities.

Ask your team:

• What took more time than we expected in 2026?
• Which recurring tasks pulled us away from other responsibilities?
• Where did we rely on overtime, workarounds, or one person’s availability?
• What important work did we postpone?

Then get specific. “We need help with operations” is a starting point. “We need support with commission reconciliation” or “We need someone to manage outstanding case requirements” gives you a workload to evaluate.

Here are six areas to examine.

Commissions: What required the most checking, tracking, and follow-up?

Review the time your team spent on commission-related work. Which activities were predictable, and which repeatedly demanded additional research or attention?

Consider:

• Recurring processing and reconciliation work
• Discrepancy research and outstanding-item follow-up
• Work that accumulated around payment cycles
• Responsibilities concentrated with a single employee

The planning question: Which commission tasks need your team’s judgment and which could move to a dedicated support resource?

New Business and Case Management: Who spent the year chasing the next step?

Review the work required to keep cases moving: checking documentation, tracking requirements, following up on outstanding items, and communicating status.

Identify where that work competed with other responsibilities.

Consider:

• Pending cases that needed more consistent attention
• Repetitive follow-up that occupied a significant part of the day
• Coverage gaps during absences or volume increases
• Producers or internal teams waiting for updates

The planning question: What casework could Employee Pooling support so your team can focus on the responsibilities you need it to own?

Licensing & Agent Contracting: Where did onboarding slow down?

Review the work required to license and contract agents, from gathering documentation and tracking requirements to managing outstanding items and keeping appointments moving forward.

Consider:

• Licensing and contracting backlogs
• Repeated follow-up for missing information or documentation
• Delays that kept agents from getting appointed and ready to do business
• Workload spikes when recruiting or onboarding activity increased

The planning question: Which licensing and contracting responsibilities could Employee Pooling handle to help your team onboard agents more efficiently?

Policy Services: What kept your team tied up after the sale?

Review the ongoing work required to support policyowners and maintain service. Which requests were routine, and which created backlogs or required repeated follow-up?

Consider:

• Recurring policyowner service requests.
• Policy changes and maintenance tasks that required consistent processing.
• Backlogs that affected response times.
• Service work that pulled employees away from other priorities.

The planning question: Which policy service activities could Employee Pooling support to help your team manage workloads and maintain timely service?

Special Projects: What never made it off the list?

Some work has a clear endpoint but no clear place in the daily schedule.

A cleanup effort, document review, process transition, or backlog may have remained unfinished, not because it lacked importance, but because no one had time specifically assigned to it.

Consider:

• Projects repeatedly pushed into the next month or quarter
• Work with a defined scope but no dedicated resources
• Initiatives that would pull employees away from daily operations
• Backlogs that need a focused effort to resolve

The planning question: What could get finished in 2027 if it had its own support rather than waiting for spare time?

Complete Back Office: Is the issue bigger than one task?

If your review uncovers gaps across several functions, assess whether individual task support is enough.

Look at how responsibilities fit together, where work changes hands, and how much time your team spends coordinating coverage.

Consider:

• Multiple functions competing for the same people
• Recurring coverage problems across the operation
• Managers regularly stepping in to handle processing work
• A growth plan that requires broader operational support

The planning question: Do you need help with a specific workload or a more comprehensive back-office arrangement?

Decide what stays, what shifts, and what gets finished

You don’t need to move every time-consuming task outside your organization. You do need a deliberate plan for who will do the work.

For each area you identify, document:

• What the work involves.
• How much attention it requires and when.
• What your internal team needs to retain.
• What support could take off your team’s plate.
• Who will oversee the work and review results.

If you already work with Employee Pooling, use this review as a starting point to identify needs beyond the services you use today. If you’re considering EP for the first time, this exercise will help you start with a clearly defined workload rather than a broad request for more capacity. And in either case, we’re happy to help you develop a plan that will help you deliver results and success that achieve your goals for growth.

Employee Pooling supports Commission Processing, New Business/Case Management, Licensing & Contracting, Policy Services, Special Projects, and Complete Back Office services.

Where did your team lose the most time in 2026? Start there to decide what should come off its plate in 2027.