A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from the American Staffing Association urging me to contact my Representative and Senators and “Tell them to vote ‘no’ when the bill comes up for a final vote.”
Now, let me be clear, I do not think this blog is an appropriate place to discuss the merits of health care reform. One, it is too much of a hot button issue for discussion here and two, I am not educated enough on the matter to post a blog that would comprehensively cover the topic. I do understand the fear that must be present in this industry surrounding health care legislation. Regardless of how you come out on this issue I am sure that you would agree that for a temporary staffing firm the thought of adding an additional annual cost of $2000 per employee (that you do not know if you can recover) would be a daunting position.
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Last post I discussed a relationship with a client that is very expressive of their appreciation of what we provide and how that translates into Wall Street Services working harder on their behalf. I contrasted that with our experience with our large clients who outsource the management of their temporary staffing to a Vendor Management Solution provider (VMS.) It is my experience that the very nature of the VMS client relationship is antithetical to Staffing Companies having an experience of being appreciated. VMS providers are hired to improve efficiency and reduce cost and they do so by interacting with their Vendors as if they are providers of a commodity. As they are not part of the company they are managing staffing for they also do not have sufficient access to the information necessary to have their staffing vendors really successful.
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Ok, long time since my last post. It was a wonderfully busy January which, frankly, took me by surprise. Last January it was so quiet I thought the phone would never ring again. Which is decidedly NOT the case now. I am very grateful.
An acquaintance wrote this Business Week article entitled “Why Victims Can’t Invent Anything.” I loved the article and have been thinking about it a lot. The premise is that innovators see failure as an opportunity and, in fact, failure is the catalyst of innovation. Particularly after such a rough economic climate, this rings true with me.
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Recruiting is the core of what we do. All of the other services we provide start with our ability to bring good candidates through our doors. I’m really struggling with this critical aspect of our business – there are so many people looking for work but at the same time our clients’ expectations have gone up dramatically. Many of the people we would have placed quickly two years ago will not be accepted today.
As the economy improves, we need to dramatically increase the number of candidates we select. A recent New York Times article speaks of a surge in the hiring of temporary workers (Uchitelle, 2009). As the economy improves, this trend in hiring will continue. It has been a very tough time for the recruitment industry – any industry for that matter – but what I need to do now is determine how best to increase the quantity of high quality applicants.
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Forgive the Obama slight – I am actually a big supporter of our President. It is just throughout the campaign, whenever I saw an Obama Hope poster, I chuckled. And it wasn’t the cynic in me.
I think that Hope is the most dangerous thing when interviewing candidates. Particularly for those of us who are empathetic. I for one really want people to succeed and strive to see the best in people. When making critical hiring decisions, however, hope is a killer because we simply cannot hope away our concerns. Those people who are most successful are unequivocal in their history of success – when you interview them it is clear. Yet when we like someone, feel sorry for them, or are just tired of looking, we need to be most diligent. I find it is those situations when I let Hope distort my judgment.
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