I just came back from a client meeting that was incredibly invigorating.  The client is a European Bank and I must say I would run through a brick wall for them.

Why?  Well, they appreciate our efforts and they are expressive about their appreciation. 

This simple act results in huge dividends for this client.  We are constantly searching for ways to make the lives of our contacts at this bank easier.  Recently, we’ve been putting together profiles of the divisions within the bank that use the most temp staffers.  These profiles allow us to get a better grasp of the type of employee who is most likely to be successful in a role there.  These profiles minimize turnaround time of resume submission as well as time spent describing the needs of the department and skills/experience required for placement there.  We’re even able to streamline our billing process, and because of the ease with which we’re able to work with this client, we find ourselves prioritizing their orders above all others.

Now of course we do all we can for all of our clients but with this European Bank our efforts come more naturally.  Because I know they appreciate our efforts, I think of them more often in a good light.  And because I think of them more often, I come up with more ideas about improving their experience with Wall Street Services.  And because they like it when I do things for them, I am eager to implement my ideas.  All of this leads to them being more appreciative and the cycle continues.

Now if I compare this experience with some of our large multinationals who outsource the management of their temporary staffing program to separate Vendor Managers, it is a very different experience.  (more…)

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published an article on converting temporary positions in to full time opportunities entitled “Making a Temporary Stint Stick.” 

 The article has some good points but respectfully misses some important steps in this process.

 Keeping your eye on the RIGHT target…

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02/08
2010

Nic Askew, a film maker I know, sent an e-mail a while ago asking for introductions to leaders to interview for his films.  Rightly so, Nic is very concerned with the lack of leadership shown in this country and wanted to make it a theme in his next series of films.  Particularly he wanted to highlight the aspects of leadership that are more elusive and often overlooked.

This is the first in his series on leadership.  I was moved by it and wanted to share.

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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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