HR Trailblazer

As the Founder of an innovative HR firm, Paul Sarvadi has many thoughts on the personnel challenges confronting companies of all sizes – such as creating effective diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Sarvadi, CEO and Chair of Insperity, even wrote a book on the issue, co-authored with Eli Jones, titled Making Differences Work. The book expands on the original unifying principles of DEI, before proposing a “values-based, culture-driven, people-centric approach to focus on commonality, equality and cohesion as the other side of the coin for each of those elements”.

“Instead of an energy drain, which the DEI movement has become many times in a business, this is a positive energy builder that builds momentum in your company.”

The new approach, Sarvadi tells The CEO Magazine, sidesteps the problem of DEI becoming a perfunctory task for companies, which was causing conflict in workplaces due to the different approaches in how to move it forward.

“Instead of an energy drain, which the DEI movement has become many times in a business, this is a positive energy builder that builds momentum in your company,” he explains.

HR Trailblazer

Sarvadi has been a trailblazer in the HR sector for nearly four decades, founding Insperity in 1986 at age 29 with the goal of helping companies make the most of their human capital. Insperity works closely with small and mid-size firms, handling their HR tasks so that its clients can focus on managing their profit opportunities.

“We’re not just an HR department providing administrative support,” he says. “We’re helping you get your people strategy right, to take your business to the next level. That means being ready to do whatever you need.”

“We’re helping you get your people strategy right, to take your business to the next level.”

Insperity has proved a runaway success by any measure. The Texas-based company went public in 1997 and has revenues of US$6.5 billion.

An entrepreneur by nature, Sarvadi founded Insperity precisely to target businesses and entrepreneurs that take the risk to start and expand their enterprises.

“I’m just totally focused on helping them succeed. That’s become the mission of our business, helping businesses succeed,” he points out.

Serving Small Business

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. That includes Sarvadi, who loves confronting a challenge.

“Challenges excite and energize me; they improve my whole focus,” he reveals.

“I see when challenges come our way, nobody wants to attract them, but when they do and when they happen, you really have to focus and lead effectively.”

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“Working with Paul Sarvadi and his key executive team is the ultimate definition of partnership! The entire Insperity team is driven by and focused on helping their clients not only achieve but exceed their goals and objectives. That is totally consistent with the philosophy that Lockton has had in partnering with Insperity since 2005 and all our clients since 1966.” – Rick Schornack, Partner, Lockton Companies

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However, Sarvadi balances his appetite for risk by seeking the input of his entire team, ensuring a diversity of thought.

“I appreciate that so much because that’s so powerful in a business,” he explains. “It’s a balance to be thinking out of the box. What are the opportunities? How can we leverage those strengths to improve?”

Creating a New Box

Sarvadi has been thinking outside the box since the very beginning. In fact, he quips that Insperity was built “completely outside the box”.

Insperity had to create a legal construct known as co-employment, which would allow the company to co-employ its clients’ employees so it could act as their HR department. The process took 20 years of lobbying for employment law to be revised in 2014.

“It takes a while to create a new box. We were doing that not just for us. We were doing that because this was generating a higher likelihood of success for small and mid-size companies, and that’s what we’re all about,” he says.

“That made it worth it. It makes it worth it to overcome the challenges, makes it worth it to be persistent and persevere through the challenges.”

“The depth of our services are bringing tremendous advantages to them while they’re focused on their business.”

Sarvadi is quick to credit innovative thinking and a stellar team for the success of Insperity. He also credits strong partners, such as Lockton, which he describes as a creative insurance brokerage that has provided crucial support with its innovative co-employment construct. Another one is Workday, the enterprise cloud application leader with whom Insperity announced an exclusive partnership in early 2024 to bring to market a full-service HR solution for small and medium-size businesses.

“When we establish a relationship, we want to know what the characteristics of their best clients are because we want to be one,” Sarvadi explains.

“That’s important because in the long run, you’re going to have challenges and we want to be high on their list of working together, responding quickly, doing what it takes, and our vendors become part of what we’re offering to our customer in a significant way.”

Those partnerships help Insperity’s customers concentrate on what they’re best at. As Sarvadi puts it: “The depth of our services are bringing tremendous advantages to them while they’re focused on their business.”