Welcome and ASA Industry Update
Jason Schafer, CSP, regional director, BelFlex Staffing Network; North Carolina Council chairman
Karenjo Goodwin, CEO, Exact Staff, chairman of the ASA Board of Directors (via video)
Steve Berchem, CSP, chief operating officer, American Staffing Association
9:45–11:15 a.m.
The New Language of Staffing
Steve Berchem, CSP, chief operating officer, American Staffing Association
Adam Bleibtreu, chief marketing officer, ASGN and Creative Circle; chairman, ASA industry marketing committee
It’s not what you say—it’s what they hear. How can you woo job seekers to fill your talent pipeline? Learn what to say (and what to avoid), as well as how to say it, to become a valued first choice for job seekers. This new language of staffing is based on extensive research querying U.S. job seekers and their influencers to determine their needs, and how staffing companies can be valued partners by addressing job seeker challenges. This workshop will be especially beneficial for anyone who is involved in communications and marketing, sales, and recruiting. Walk away with a handbook that includes the right words and phrasing to attract top candidates in the competitive talent marketplace.
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Breakout Sessions by Learning Track
Executive Track
Building a Strong Foundation for Growth
Shawn W. Poole, co-founder of Employbridge, board member, and executive in residence
This session focuses on the process of establishing purpose, core values, and a value creation plan for your company. To facilitate this strategic planning exercise, we also examine the key steps of building a high-functioning team at your company to execute the plan. We will use tools from various organizational development groups to support each step. Poole will help you establish a “north star” for your company and create a 100-day plan to put your team and value creation steps in motion.
NOTE: In advance of the session we ask each participant to prepare and bring the following:
- Identify the key members of your team
- Note if you are missing any key participants
- Have a draft purpose for your company
- Be prepared to discuss your ultimate goal for your company
Producer Track
Bringing Your ‘A’ Game to Critical Relationships
Kelly Irons, chief executive officer, developUs
Style, approach, values, competencies, backgrounds, and principles all vary, but there is one universally held truth in leadership-relationships that matter. This paradigm-shifting course is critical for anyone in a relationship-driven role or business, and for staffing professionals looking to develop great relationship building skills. This course is based on a proprietary developUs model that sits firmly on the belief that duration and proximity determine neither strength nor depth of relationship. You will learn the 4 components of grade “A” relationships and be challenged to rethink your approach in this highly transformative workshop.
1:45–3 p.m.
Breakout Sessions by Learning Track
Executive Track
Everyday Marketing Strategies to Maximize Results
Adam Bleibtreu, chief marketing officer, ASGN and Creative Circle, chairman, ASA industry marketing committee
Marketing is not an exact science, so how do you use it help grow your business? This session will discuss in practical terms how to guide and manage your marketing team to deliver the best results. It will address your three primary audiences: clients, talent acquisition and internal applicants.
By putting together some simple marketing strategies, you can increase job seekers’ and clients’ interest in your firm. Learn the strategies that marketers use every day to maximize your staffing activities, from email campaigns to social media marketing to Google search results. No matter your company’s size, you’ll come away with enough of an understanding of marketing concepts to be able to communicate with your marketing team to develop a plan. With this plan, you can revive old leads and secure new business without constant maintenance and attention.
Producer Track
Why Attracting Millennial Talent Is Different
Claudette Cunitz, TSC, CSP, staffing industry consultant, CC Advisors Group LLC
According to Gallup, an actively disengaged millennial employee costs their organization $3,400 for every $10,000 of salary, or 34%. It’s time we change how we attract and engage millennials for our clients. When we do, we uncover the tremendous power we can draw on when we align staffing firms with where the millennial generation is already heading. In this workshop, Cunitz explores the important role millennials play as decoders of the key changes that are happening in the business world today and how we can use that as an opportunity to drive business and improve talent engagement and retention for our clients. This interactive 75-minute program will provide staffing professionals an understanding of millennials in the workplace, including behavioral traits and how they differ, needs and wants in the workplace, the keys to recruiting and placing top talent, and how to communicate all they have to offer to the businesses where they are being placed.
3:30–4:45 p.m.
Breakout Sessions by Learning Track
Executive Track
Technology Evaluation and Adoption—Understanding the Cycle of Innovation
Facilitated by John Thomas, professional staffing field consultant, Express Employment Professionals
Vendor selection and solution implementation is key to your business’ efficiency and success. This session describes a framework to help companies looking for technology solutions do so with improved effectiveness. Understanding the cycle of innovation and a company’s placement on that cycle will shed new light on the best practices to use in evaluating and implementing new technologies. In a video presentation, Brian Delle Donne, president, Talent Tech Labs, will share insights on how to save time and expenses when evaluating and adopting technology.
In addition, we’ll highlight some of the newest technology tools for client attraction and engagement, and candidate attraction and screening. Attendees will view and discuss a video presentation featuring Kevin Delaski, vice president and chief information officer, the TemPositions Group of Cos. You’ll gain actionable ideas to increase applicant flow and improve efficiency in onboarding and screening.
Producer Track
Driving Relationships to Improve Performance (D.R.I.P.)
Kelly Irons, chief executive officer, developUs
In this session you will build skills around three key concepts (diagnosing employee needs, giving & receiving feedback and coaching for performance) to help them get the best out of their teams. Highly interactive, intuitive and introspective, this session is a must for producers looking to strengthen their ability to develop their direct reports and cultivate a high-performance culture.
Breakout Sessions by Learning Track
Executive Track
Employment Law and Regional Legislative Update
Jill White, attorney, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
Jill White will provide up-to-the-minute employment law updates tailored specifically to the staffing and recruiting industry in North Carolina and surrounding states. Understand how complex state and federal laws such as wage theft, paid leave, health care, and more will affect the industry and your business. White will address best practices to maintain legal compliance and avoid common pitfalls.
Producer Track
Trending Topics in Employment Law
Brittany Sakata, associate general counsel, American Staffing Association
Employment legal matters are complicated and inescapable in the staffing context. In this interactive session Sakata will navigate the complex and sometimes confusing 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.
10:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Breakout Sessions by Learning Track
Executive Track
Manage What Matters: Identifying Key Performance Metrics
Claudette Cunitz, TSC, CSP, Staffing Industry Consultant, CC Advisors Group, LLC
Being constantly aware of the financial goals of your company is an obvious key to success, but not so easy to maintain. Are you and your management team tracking the key metrics that truly matter? Explore ways to identify high-performers and develop a coaching and mentoring plan. Discuss how you are working with your advisory board if you have one, and if not how to develop one to its full potential. In this workshop, Cunitz explores the necessary steps of managing your team, your systems, and internal processes for ultimate outcomes. This interactive, two-hour program created exclusively for staffing executives will show you the importance of managing what matters to immediately improve your company’s performance.
10:45–11:45 a.m.
Producer Track
Behavior-Based Interviewing: Uncover Hidden Talents
John Thomas, professional staffing field consultant, Express Employment Professionals
Uncovering a candidate’s hidden talent takes more than just cyber watching and social media stalking. It takes a thorough interview process to get inside the candidate and find out who they really are as a person. In this session you’ll hear about:
- What companies are looking for in a candidate
- The four primary types of interviews
- Taking a job order for a better interview
- Conducting the interview
- Sample behavioral-based questions
Thomas will share the top-notch templates that he uses—walk away with these templates to act on immediately.
11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Producer Track
Charting a Better Course: Strategy for Effective Client Development
Scott Love, professional speaker and trainer, Scott Love’s Great Recruiter Training
You can have the strongest ladder in the world, but if it is leaning against the wrong wall, then you will never reach your goals. Many staffing firms employ effective sales tactics with a weak strategy and will never reach their full potential. In this presentation, industry adviser and trainer Scott Love will show attendees how to create a strategy based on effective principles of business development. He’ll share tactical ideas on how to take first steps to get more and better business from clients.
Walk-away from this session with immediate takeaways, including how to:
- Avoid the one rut that nearly all staffing firms fall into
- Build intense loyalty from strategic contacts
- Discover niche markets based on your unique value
- Create a one-page strategy document
- Make first contact with high level prospects without making cold sales calls
12:45–1 p.m.
Takeaways from the Conference and Prize Drawings
Jason Schafer, CSP, regional director, BelFlex Staffing Network; North Carolina Council Chairman
