ASA Staffing Connect: East Session Descriptions

Look in the Mirror—Are We Preparing Ourselves for the Future of Work?

Teresa Carroll, public board member and former president, Kelly Services

As leaders we’re entering a new decade marked by massive skill shortages, the rise of virtual teams, and the most diverse, demanding workforce in history. You’re already encouraging your clients to adapt to changing labor dynamics—but what are you doing to leverage the link between fully engaged talent, customer experience, and financial performance within your own organization? With 84% of employees just “coming to work” rather than giving their best, Teresa Carroll argues it’s time for our industry to practice what we preach and apply our talent expertise within our internal teams. In doing so, staffing leaders can drive growth and gain a competitive edge with customers and candidates alike. As a former president at Kelly Services, Carroll led diverse teams that not only consistently outperformed global engagement scores but also delivered breakthrough financial results and record-setting profit growth for her $2B+ operating segment. In this thought-provoking session, she will share how she created a highly engaged team, challenge leaders to embrace authenticity, and call on our industry to advocate for talent engagement and solutions across all labor categories.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Breakout Sessions by Learning Track

Executive Track
Current Legal Landscape—Executive Level Discussion
Craig Hopewell, president, Hopewell Law

Get up-to-the-minute employment law updates tailored to the staffing and recruiting industry in North Carolina and its surrounding states—including bills that passed this legislative session. Understand how complex state and federal laws such as wage theft, paid leave, and others will affect the industry and your business. This presentation will address best practices to maintain legal compliance and avoid common pitfalls.

Producers Track
Current Legal Landscape—Producer Level Discussion
Alex Maultsby, partner, Fox Rothschild LLP

Employment legal matters are complicated and inescapable. In this session you will navigate the complex landscape of discrimination, overtime, family leave, and co-employment laws, as well as other issues that affect staffing companies.

Walk away from this workshop with the confidence to manage employment matters—and use this confidence to continue your studies toward earning an ASA credential.

1:45–3 p.m.

Breakout Sessions by Learning Track

Executive Track
How to Empower Your Employees to be Brand Advocates
Jessica Schaeffer, senior director, marketing and communications, LaSalle Network

In today’s tight labor market, it’s harder than ever before for companies to attract and retain top talent, especially staffing and recruiting firms. However, there’s one resource that companies fail to tap into that can be instrumentally useful: their employees. Jessica Schaeffer will outline how staffing and recruiting firms can empower their employees to be brand advocates so they can refer top talent to their organization.

Producers Track
Improve the Efficiency and Quality of Your Recruitment Process
Dee Williams, chief executive officer, Identifize Consulting

It’s estimated that, on average, it takes 36 days to fill a position, which makes improving the efficiency and effectiveness of your recruitment process more vital than ever. In this session, we’ll review the Recruitment Automation Process, which automates three areas of your recruitment process:

• People Automation
• Email Automation
• ATS Automation

We will define your candidate journey and your team journey to create the perfect PEA recruitment automation. If you’re ready to level up by improving the efficiency and quality of your recruitment process, this is a must-attend session.

3:30–4:45 p.m.

Breakout Sessions by Learning Track

Executive Track
CEO Speed Talks—Executive Insights
Teresa Carroll, public board member and former president, Kelly Services; Jeff Harris, co-founder, former CEO, and chairman, ettain group; Leo Sheridan, president and CEO, Advanced Group

Join industry executives for brief, insightful, TED-Talk style discussions. Successes, challenges, opportunities, and perspectives are a few of the themes you will encounter during this high-level, fast-paced session.

Producers Track
From Pain to Gain: Proven Tactics to Re-Invigorate Your Sales Process
Shad Tidler, consultant, Lushin and Associates

It may not look like it, but no high-performing sales person just wings it. To ratchet up the performance of your front-line sales team, you need to implement a system. In this session, you’ll learn how to get ahead of the buyer—to not just anticipate and pre-empt objections, but shift the buyer mindset in your favor. Learn the process, tools, and system that will help your team sell more effectively and more easily, and then continuously replicate that success. You’ll leave this session with a foundation for building a sales system tailored for your business that’s effective, self-evaluating, easy to execute, and repeatable.

Breakout Sessions by Learning Track

9─10 a.m.
Executive Track
Scaling Your Business: Preparing for Growth
Jeff Harris, co-founder, former CEO, and chairman, ettain group

Scaling a business to the next level requires every organization to break through glass ceilings to get to the next stage of growth. Having started his company from a bedroom in Charlotte, Harris will lead an interactive session and share his own personal experience leading ettain group through the various stages of growth, two private equity transactions, and his thinking behind his personal exit. No charts and no PowerPoint decks—just real talk. Whether you're in the start-up "hustle and grit" phase, the growth and scale phase, or you're thinking about various options for succession and exit, you will leave this session with insight on how to prepare for your next phase of growth.
 
10─11 a.m.
Executive Track
Confidence & The Self Promotion Gap
Carol Sankar, founder, The Confidence Factor for Women

Sixty-nine percent of women leaders avoid promoting & celebrating their achievements, according to a recent study published by Forbes. Instead, women have been conditioned to admire and promote the successes of other women to diminish the spotlight of their own. The self-promotion gap creates a negative effect when women attempt to seek a promotion, start a business, land a new client or contract, or move into the c-suite. In a recent op-ed entitled Brag More, Carol Sankar discusses the double standard of modesty. The premise of the article is to help women become more confident and take pride in their accomplishments. During this session Sankar will share why self-promotion is essential in your career, how to eliminate the stigma around “arrogance,” how self-promotion builds your confidence & increases your value in the workplace, and how to use your achievements to negotiate for more & increase your value.
 
9─11 a.m.
Producers Track
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling—Rebuilding Relationships
Rachel Modrak, Staffing E-Trainer

The motivational speaker Tony Robbins says, “Do what you did in the beginning of a relationship and there won’t be an end.” This workshop examines the parallels of our behavior in our personal relationships to those with our relationships with clients and candidates. Attendees will work in groups to brainstorm, solve problems, and role-play.

Attendees will learn:

• Client and candidate retention strategies
• Effective communication tactics
• Reducing turnover and retaining high-quality candidates
• Creating partnerships with clients and candidates

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Put a Cherry on Top: Generosity in Life & Leadership

Joyce Russell, president of the Adecco Group US Foundation

Russell sparks a new social movement to bring generosity, optimism, and personal courage into our work and life. From selling her family farm’s tomatoes with her tacklebox cash register to serving as president of Adecco Staffing US, her story is inspiring, humorous, and energizing. Her passion for motivating and rewarding people is contagious. Join Russell as she shares helpful information and skills that are easily transferable to our daily challenges—focusing on building strong relationships and inspiring loyalty by creating memorable experiences.