ProRecruiters

Happy December!  I hope that this is a joyous time for you all.  Over the past few weeks, I have been knee-deep in setting goals for next year. It can be difficult to remain positive while setting goals. As a business owner, you must strive to create a game plan while knowing to “expect the unexpected.” This month, I want to touch on three actions that helped me stay focused on setting goals: (1) anticipate the unexpected; (2) make decisions after weighing all options, and (3) move forward (don’t dwell on the past). When setting goals, you must take time to consider what might go wrong in order to have flexible goals in place. People pass away, the market crashes, oil prices continue to plummet, home prices go down, and employees resign.  All of these things can affect your company’s performance.  Don’t set goals that cannot work around the unexpected twists and turns that will arise throughout the year. On the other hand, people who face a lot of difficult decisions at once w

Happy November! This month is always a month of thankfulness for me.   As I enter the holiday season and hit the final stretch of the year, I am always reminded of what is really important to me. As I  reflect on this year, I am grateful not only for the chance to  own a business but also for the journey that owning a business has taken me on.  Being a small business owner is tough, but it has taught me so much over the last 8 years about myself and about others.  We have put over  three thousand people to work since inception and I am truly grateful for the chance to help so many. I recently had the chance to catch up with a friend and I shared with him how blessed I feel that we have been in business for 8 years, I also talked about how hard it has been.   We talked about the journey of owning and running  a business.  While the journey is what I am most grateful for, it is what has been the most challenging.  In the beginning, I  adopted the mindset that failure was not an opti

A few days ago I was talking to another small business owner about how we never had trouble sleeping until we started our own companies. Now we sometimes find ourselves awakened, much like a child having a bad dream, 2:00-3:00 a.m..  We wondered why this happened. One word kept coming back into our conversation: fear .  Since this is the month of spooky things and ghouls and goblins, I thought it appropriate to discuss fear in the workplace. Fear might crop into our minds when we sense responsibility for others, when we experience uncertainty, or when we deal with many “unknowns.”  Whether trying to grow a company, making changes, or simply making payroll, running and managing a company or department is scary and hard.  It entails making hard decisions. But while may overwhelm us, it sometimes can help. Fear is the mind’s way of telling us that danger is lurking ahead.  But even though it may be justified, it can halt imagination and choke ambition.  It can sometimes make simp

Happy Fall! I love this time of year (except all that ragweed). This month I would like to discuss knowing and promoting your personal brand. I recently gave a key note speech (my first!) called “The Power of Perception”. In my presentation, I discuss the power of perception as well as the importance of being able to recognize and promote one’s personal brand. Perception is reality and your personal brand shapes how people perceive you. It does not take long for others to perceive you in a certain way… but you do have some power to shape that perception. Here are a few tips in doing that: 1.     Don’t assume that your boss, co-workers, or close friends know exactly what you do… and don’t assume that they know exactly what you do. You never know that your weakness could be a friend’s biggest strength unless you ask. Here’s an example: I reached out to a friend of mine to help me with my presentation and when I asked her, she said “Carey, of course I can help with that, I do tha

Happy August!  It is hard to believe that summer has come to an end and schools are back in session. The lazy days of summer have become a thing of the past! As some of my close friends and clients know, I take some time off each summer to get away. While I’m not in the office, I do not stop working.  I use this time away from the office to focus on my girls as well as the development and continual growth of our business. It gives me a chance to reflect on the year to date- challenges, successes, failures and think about things in a different way.  I believe that if you are not changing, you become stagnant. This year was the first time in 8 years since starting the company that I was truly at peace with getting away.  In years past, I would worry constantly about whether things would get done and check in frequently to make sure they were getting done correctly.  This year was different and I think a large part of why it was different was because I knew I needed it.  I needed to re

Quitting With Class Happy April!  This month’s newsletter is about how to quit a job with class.  Some of you might think it is odd that I am writing about quitting a job when you have come to ProRecruiters seeking employment opportunities but many of you are working, so here is some advice. One week ago we had a day when two candidates, who I will remain anonymous, called our office.  Both were on assignment through us in temporary positions.  Both candidates received offers from companies for full-time employment.  We were thrilled for them, but it was how they handled informing us that really set them apart, and was a true display of their professionalism.  The first told us he had been offered a job and his last day on the assignment would be Friday (which happened to be the next day).  We asked if he could give us more time so that we could find a replacement and he said “no, the company wanted him to start Monday the following week.”  This put my recruiter and ProRecruit

Flexible Schedules During a Talent War Happy spring! Regardless of good or tough economic times, companies always need highly qualified, skilled professionals. But the tides are turning - the work climate is evolving. More people are placing value on flexible schedules and a work-life balance.  It is now among the top 5 most important attributes job seekers look for in an employer, and with unemployment so low why would you not want to figure out a way to attract top talent? Flexible schedules and shift work are slowly replacing the 9 to 5 workday. According to USA Today, nine out of 10 workers cite work fulfillment and work-life balance as their top career priorities. In addition, a CNN Money survey reported 51% of GenXers said they would jump ship for the chance to telecommute and 61% of GenX women would leave their current jobs if they were offered more flexible hours elsewhere. It’s not just the GenXers or Millennials valuing workplace flexibility.  Another market tren

Habits of Happy People Whether it be coworkers or customers, sometimes certain folks are simply unpleasant .  We all know him or her – the work grump, the person in your office who is similar to a black cloud that blocks the sun.  Sometimes you encounter customers who are determined to make themselves feel better by treating you badly.  Those individuals who are intent on spread their negativity around are difficult to help.  It is always easier to assist those that are grateful for the help given to them.  As an example, while our Office Manager, Kourtni, was on her lunch break, one of our Recruiters, Roslyn, filled in on her behalf and answered phone calls coming to our direct line.  What Roslyn took from that experience was that those who called to speak with Roslyn were much less polite when they thought they were speaking to “just a receptionist,” as opposed to someone who they felt could directly help with their search for a job. Here at ProRecruiters we assist all job see

Happy March!  I have written before about how much luck goes into play when running and owning a business.  ProRecruiters is now 7 years old and I find myself still wondering how much luck as opposed to hard work has played into our success.  However, I feel more strongly now than ever that hard work, solid processes, and a solid team have played a much greater role in growing and sustaining our business.  That brings me to my topic for this month – how many members of your team do you think you found, hired, and have retained from “luck” or was it by actually working hard, following a particular process, and continuing to manage effectively?  If you think a lot of it is luck I would urge you to create some stronger hiring processes because the cost of turnover can be devastating for any business - large or small! Over the course of the last 6 months we were exploring some ideas for expanding our services and subsequently engaged in partnerships to explore additional offerings.  T

“Hide not your talents.  They for use were made.  What’s a sundial in the shade?” – Benjamin Franklin Happy February!  I hope that your year is off to a great start.  This month I am going to talk about staff development.  Having a diverse but solid team is so vital for the success of a small business.  However, you cannot take a one size fits all approach to managing a team. Oftentimes business owners or hiring managers fail to realize this and subsequently they drive away great talent.  At the end of last year my team participated in the StrengthsFinder survey from the popular book by Tim Rath.  It was a fun exercise for all of us and I think, speaking on behalf of the whole team, we all learned more about ourselves and our team members by going through it.  We also learned the common strengths that bind us all together.  To that end, it was an invaluable exercise for me and my management team to go through because we became more aware of how we need to manage our team. As an ex