Indianapolis Temporary Services

So, I was browsing Wikipedia and looked up the definition of feedback to see if it was consistent with the level of importance that we put on the survey feedback that we get here at That's Good HR. Here is the definition that I found:

"Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same (i.e. same defined) event / phenomenon (or the continuation / development of the original phenomenon) in the present or future."

We ask our candidates and our clients how we are doing as often as we possibly can. After interviewing in our office, every candidate receives a survey and at the conclusion of each assignment, we send a survey to ask both the client and the candidate about their experience with us and with each other.  The feedback that we receive from these surveys is critical to how we conduct and manage our business. The feedback that we do not receive is most likely even more crucial, but because we do not receive it, we are missing some great input into process improvements or reinforcements.

Our surveys are very short and easy to respond to - they take about 3-5 minutes, tops. We read, analyze and appreciate every single word of input and feedback that we receive from these surveys. We also invite our clients and candidates to Share their Story right here on our blog as well. To hear from our customers about how we are doing is the highlight of our day - even if the feedback is negative, we are excited because only when we know what we might be doing wrong, can we correct it or make it right.

This feedback not only challenges us to be better at what we do, it gives us an opportunity to thank our temporary employees when they do a great job on an assignment.  When we get excellent feedback from a customer, we send a special thank you to that employee.  This feedback also helps us to learn more about the culture and environment at our customer locations. This information can only make us better at what we do.  There simply is no downside for asking how you are doing for your customers at any point in the service delivery process that you can.

So, how do we encourage our Indianapolis staffing customers to provide feedback? Our current response rate on our surveys ranges between 55-75%, which simply stated, means we are missing out on a lot of great information.  We are trying some new tricks and ideas here to increase that rate.  I will let you know how they go, but we would love to hear some ideas from our Indianapolis staffing audience as well! 

In the meantime, I encourage you to have your voice heard, provide feedback on your experiences whenever you can. With modern technology and the amount if information at your fingertips on the Internet we are all relying on each other more and more to tell us what you think about....well, anything at all!  For example, when I look up a new recipe on line, I pay attention to the comments and ratings from others who have tried it out already.  This helps me to know that this recipe works better with olive oil instead of butter without going through the trial and error myself. Good stuff! 

At That's Good HR, we get a large percentage of our candidates and clients through referrals so for us, telling other people what you think is of great value. So, keep talking, Indianapolis, people like me want to hear from you!

I know….I said that I was only going to do one blog post because I am not a writer.  However, a couple of things have happened at the office recently that have made me wonder how sometimes it just feels like the “Good Guys” finish last.    Growing up, my parents instilled a high value on telling the truth and always doing what’s right.  As a matter of fact, I never got into trouble because my parents taught me that there are always consequences.  This is why I always follow the rules and respect boundaries. 

You may remember from my previous blog, integrity is very important to me and therefore it is important for me to work with hiring managers that share this same value.  That said, it has been a frustrating month for our That’s Good HR temporary staffing group for a couple of reasons.  We have had a couple examples of situations where we handled our accounting, administrative or HR search with honesty and integrity but have lost the business to a competitor that doesn’t have those same values.  Short cutting the process of quality service delivery just to give the appearance of efficiency works for some, but I have a hard time stomaching it. It seems to have become increasingly prevalent as 2011 progresses, almost as if there is a sense of desperation to hit sales quotas at any cost. This has me wondering...are we part of a very small minority of staffing companies who will sacrifice being “cheap and fast” in order to do things “right” and act with integrity.  I mean, I thought that Good Guys always finish first.  Am I just naïve?

Then, just as I was sitting here lamenting the injustice of it all for our business, I heard the news about Officer David Moore.  As many of you have heard by now, Officer Moore passed away as a result of his injuries incurred during a “routine” traffic stop in Indianapolis.  From everything I have heard and read about Officer Moore, he seemed like the quintessential “good guy”.  Overall, Police Officers are the good guys and this officer had to pay the ultimate price for being a good guy.  For those that know me well, you know that I have several very special people close to me that are Police Officers in this city.  Just as I was feeling down about losing out as the good guy, Officer Moore’s story puts it all into perspective. 

I did do some research on this topic to see if I was alone in my quandary over this question and I did find some believers out there that Good Guys don’t finish last. My favorite quote came from a post by  AndrewJDumont.com and here is what he had to say on the topic.

"Call me old fashioned, but I believe in the business of doing good. I believe that those who finish first are the ones who place integrity at the base of everything they do. Look at the way you conduct business or simply live your life, for that matter – are you positioning yourself to finish first in the long-run?”

So, while it hurts that not all staffing  agencies  follow all of the rules of integrity and ethical business practices, it’s the reality of the world we live in.  However, that isn’t going to change my passion for this business or my passion to handle each situation as my parents have instilled in me, with honesty and integrity.  The fear of the “Bad Guys” didn’t change how Officer Moore lived his life and it isn’t going to change how I live mine. 

Patrick Lencioni's newest book, "Getting Naked", heralds a provocative approach to client service. He focuses on the concept of "entering the danger" in your consultative relationships with your customers. Here is an excerpt from Patrick on this topic:

"Entering the danger is powerful because it makes a bold and unequivocal statement that you care more about helping your client than about protecting your business. Whenever I've entered the danger with clients, they almost always stop me afterward and say something to the effect of "thank you for making us deal with that issue; we've been avoiding it for way too long."

Now, entering the danger does have costs. First, it is always uncomfortable. As positive as it almost always turns out to be in the end, it can be downright scary in the moment. Second, in rare cases, a client won't appreciate the naked approach and might very well punish you, going so far as to end your relationship. But without the discomfort and possibility of backfire, there would be no danger."

As an Indianapolis staffing professional, one of my core responsibilities (and natural tendencies) is to keep current on any "danger" trends that we see in the marketplace as they relate to hiring trends and Indianpolis job opportunities.  Currently,we are experiencing two rather sensitive "danger" trends as they relate to Indianapolis job openings. One on the client side, one on the candidate side. We know these issues could cause some emotional response from our constituents but from our perspective these are very real and very important to recognize so we are going to risk the danger to talk about them out loud.

For our clients - we have noticed a recent and quickly escalating trend of our best candidates securing fulltime employment faster and having more irons in the fire that are all moving quickly through the hiring process. Our fair warning is that for clients who are used to taking a long time moving through the interview and decision process, you will no longer have the luxury of those great candidates having the patience to wait for you. There are too many other interested and viable options that they can pursue and the fastest to the hiring finish line will win the loyalty of the candidate. This is a hard message to communicate to our customers who are used to having the time to mull over their hiring decisions with our candidates, but the reality is that it is part of our responsibility as a service provider to be very clear and consultative about employment trends, as we are typically the first to see them. We are doing a great disservice to our customers if we do not. Our message with new job orders these days is this: move quickly or lose your chance at the choice candidate we work hard to source and carefully select for you.

For our candidates - the trend is a scary one. The applicant flow we are seeing is showing more and more signs of having been out of the workforce for anywhere from 12-18 months, sometimes longer. The extensions in support from unemployment payments has resulted in many choosing the remain on unemployment instead of taking a lower paying position to remain in the workforce. This is a tough conundrum and one can understand the argument of keeping your stream of income coming in from unemployment funds vs changing your lifestyle to adapt to a lower income if you don't have to. The downside to this is that our customers are standing firm on their requirement for recent and relevant work experience in order to even consider a candidate for a position. This goes for both temporary and full time positions. The relevant may not be as critical as the recent, but given the significant of changes that have taken place in the workplace over the past year or two, anyone who has not been employed may find it difficult to adjust to today's office cultures, technology and expectations.

Our advice for our clients is to take a moment to assess your hiring processes and see how you can streamline them to ensure that you get the candidate that you want before they get away when your competitor moves faster. For our candidates - make sure that you are taking any action possible to update your resumes with recent and relevant experience - and if you have been out of the workforce for an extended period of time, see if you can apply other experiences such as part time work, self-employment experiences or volunteer work. Be sure to recognize that the workplace has changed over the past year and educate yourself on updated technology and workplace trends through research and following blogs such as The Hiring Site by Careerbuilder and Career Realism.

At That's Good HR, it is a fine balance to please our customers and our candidates while providing important information about local workplace and employment trends. We do our very best to be honest and forthcoming with what we are seeing and hearing out there in the Indianapolis job market so we can provide a service that goes above and beyond the simple of matching of a need to a candidate. I know that we always appreciate it when our customers and candidates are honest with us and it is our goal to provide the same service to them, even when it means we have to enter the danger.

Not sure if you knew about the recent week of appreciation devoted to our staffing employees, deemed "National Staffing Employee Week" for the Staffing Industry. At That's Good HR in Indianapolis we dedicated the week to recognizing all of our  temporary and contract employees that work very hard for us and more specifically, fill all kinds of Indianapolis job openings for our clients. Our temporary employees specialize in accounting, finance, HR, administrative, clerical, customer service and medical positions in Central Indiana.

Looking back on the week, it was probably one of the best investments in both time and money that we have made this year.  Saying "thank you" to those without whom we would not be here today, is so important.  It also goes to show that at the end of the day, everyone likes to be appreciated and noticed as a contributor every now and then.
 
Throughout the week we have received emails and thank you's. That's right, people are saying "thank you" for saying "thank you"...how great is that?!  Here is an example of a thank you we received....

"WOW!  What a great surprise!  Can’t thank you all enough for the bag full of goodies.  All things that I can use and especially like the idea that they will sit on my desk and remind me of the wonderful company that employs me!!  And the candy was great, too!!  That I didn’t need, but can I tell you it’s gone already?!

 

Seriously, it’s a pleasure to know and work with such pleasant, thoughtful and professional people."

 
In this industry, there is sometimes the perception that staffing companies work only for the client company because they ultimately pay the bill and that we do not care as much about our candidates. I am sure there have been instances in our industry where that has been the case and it is unfortunate. My belief is that we could have more job orders than we know what to do with but if we do not have good employees to place in the positions our company ultimately would not be successful.

Our lifeblood in the staffing industry is placing quality people in the right jobs at the right time, but the most important part of that equation is the "people" part and it is important that we treat our "people" with the respect that they deserve as loyal and hard working extensions of our company.  I am sure that I have fallen short on that in the past but after last week's reminder of how important our temporary employees and contractors are to That's Good HR, I will not be forgetting again anytime soon.

So, in case you did not hear us say it last week, let me be clear when I say to you, our employees...THANK YOU!!!! 


 

It's that time of year again for Indianapolis companies to gear up for some serious campus and college recruiting.  Already this week, That's Good HR has participated in many local campus events.  I went to Indiana University - Indianapolis to speak to their recruiting class, conducted mock interviews for the Kelley School of Business and today I will be attending the collegiate career fair.  Yes, it's a busy life for Indianapolis staffing companies, recruiters and headhunters.

There is something great about being back on campus in the springtime and remembering what it was like trying to decide what to do for the summer.  Ahhh, the good ol'days that seemed so carefree!  It's true that most Indianapolis based professional staffing firms attend the college career fairs in the fall but most students are narrowly focused on their companies of choice for internships or employment after graduation at that time.  The spring recruiting events are great for Indianapolis based staffing firms because now is the time that students will stop by to discuss how we can assist them in their job search.  What is it that we can do for them, you ask??

1.  Share our network with them.  We have network connections with over 250 Indianapolis based companies with whom we regularly meet with and hear about what's going on in their business, their industries and current hiring trends.  This can be a huge advantage to college students just based on the wealth of information we have at our fingertips about indianapolis job openings.  We might be able to suggest companies to look into that they haven't heard of but we know that they are currently seeking summer and fall interns. 

2.  Offer summer employment opportunities in their fields of study.  We can help those college students that weren't fortunate enough to land an internship for the summer but are staying in Indianapolis by presenting them with temporary employment opportunities in the areas of accounting, finance, HR, and administration.  Keep in mind that when graduation day arrives some work history looks better on a resume than none at all. 

3.  Help them find a full-time permanent or temp to hire opportunity here in Indianapolis with one of our clients.  When graduation day comes and goes and they are still searching for a full-time position (which, as discussed in an earlier blog posted by Mary Springer, unfortunately can happen as we emerge from the recession) we can assist them in their Indianapolis job search.  Our clients frequently hire new grads that have worked for us in the summer months.  They feel it shows ambition and they trust that we know their skill level due to the assignments they completed for us.  It never hurts to have headhunters considering you for their clients during your job search whether you are a college student or an experienced veteran!  After all it's a free service for you!  

Tell your college friends, co-workers or children to stop by to introduce themselves at one of our upcoming career fairs:

• Collegiate Career Fair at the Convention Center on Thursday, February 18, 2010
• Butler University Networking Fair at Butler's Campus on Tuesday, March 23, 2010
• IUPUI 'Just in Time' Career Fair at IUPUI on April 1, 2010 

 We look forward to meeting you! 

I thought twice when blogging about this article as I didn't want to be the "Debbie Downer" of our blog.  However, I really encourage you to read it.  While it is a little depressing chronicling Michael Blattman's, a former Sallie Mae executive, job search, it is very insightful as to the realities of our current employment market.  And it brings up a few really good points.  Regardless of whether you want to call it age discrimination, workers over the age of 45 are facing the unemployed ranks for longer periods of time than their younger counterparts. 

Just based on reading the article (I obviously don't know the intricate details of Mr. Blattman's job search), it appears there are some things he could be doing to improve the effectiveness of his search.  Here are my thoughts:

• Network - Mr Blattman has applied for 600 jobs online.  I talk to many candidates everyday who literally sit at home and apply for jobs on Monster, Careerbuilder and corporate recruiting websites all day.  While these sites can be great to find out who is hiring and hiring trends, focusing your search only on these job postings if very limiting.  Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a job.  Re-connect with former colleagues.  Attend networking lunches.  
• Have Confidence - Even if you have taken an emotional beating during the course of a job search, don't let potential employers know it.  Mr Blattman describes telling an interviewer that he would take any job.  While that may be the case, who wants to hire someone who is desperate or has no self-confidence?  Not to sound harsh, but think about it from the employer's perspective.
• Consider contract work - While a permanent position is ideal for many, consider a contract or temporary position.  It can be a great way to get back into the work force and keep your skills sharp.  That's Good HR  has a temporary services division and works with many job seekers who are in between positions. 

Last, at That's Good HR, my focus is to provide assistance to individuals engaged in an Indianapolis job search.   Please contact me if you are looking for Central Indiana jobs or would like additional information regarding the above topics.