Nashville-Based CEO Testifies Before U.S. Congress on Skills Gap Challenge

Outlined Measures Company Is Undertaking to Assess, Train Its Temporary Workforce

Kelly McCreight, president and chief executive officer of Hamilton-Ryker, a staffing and recruiting agency headquartered in Nashville, TN, this morning testified on behalf of the American Staffing Association during a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access. The hearing examined the current small business workforce and provided an opportunity for small business owners to offer their companies’ innovative solutions to lessen the nation’s skills gap.

McCreight, the 2018 chairman of the ASA board of directors, briefed the subcommittee members on the measures Hamilton-Ryker is undertaking to upskill its existing workforce to offset the skills gap challenge. In particular, he outlined the company’s use of virtual reality to assess and train temporary employees. Hamilton-Ryker is one of the first staffing and recruiting agencies in the U.S. to use VR in this manner.

Hamilton-Ryker is using VR to test and train forklift drivers for a manufacturing client in Tupelo, MS. Since installing the VR forklift earlier this year, the agency is “better able to assess applicants’ skills using VR prior to sending them to our clients—resulting in a 70% pass rate for our applicants versus less than 50% for 2017,” McCreight testified. The company plans on expanding the VR training program to other markets in the near future.

Hamilton-Ryker has also “instituted ‘soft skill’ orientations [for temporary employees] that address issues like conflict resolution, workplace violence, and even basic workplace practices such as on-time arrival to work, call-in procedures, and how to deal with differing workplace cultures,” McCreight said.

In addition to McCreight, the other witnesses appearing before the subcommittee were Todd Hitt, CEO of Kiddar Capital, and Angela Dine Schmeisser, president and CEO of St. Marys Foundry Inc.

McCreight’s full written testimony is available for download on the committee website.

View a short professional bio and download a high-resolution headshot of McCreight.

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About the American Staffing Association (ASA)

The American Staffing Association is the voice of the U.S. staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry. ASA and its state affiliates advance the interests of the industry across all sectors through advocacy, research, education, and the promotion of high standards of legal, ethical, and professional practices. For more information about ASA, visit americanstaffing.net.

About Hamilton-Ryker

Founded in 1971, Hamilton-Ryker is a multi-faceted company and industry leader for the provision of industrial, administrative, and information technology staffing, as well as recruiting, management consulting, and information technology solutions. For more information about Hamilton- Ryker, visit hamilton-ryker.com.