1st Call BNI

Hey blog readers welcome back to another edition of the Posideon BNI blog. Its been a busy week and so I am a little behind but I finally found my notes from group president Kristy's keynote and wanted to make sure I brought you all up to date on the goings on here in beautiful South County.

Kristy as I mentioned above is our fearless leader in Posideon BNI and she brings a unique set of skills to our group. Kristy really sets the tone at our meetings and I'll tell you why. More so than some of the other groups of business professionals I have been around (including other BNI groups) ours can be quite lively...to put it mildly. It is one of the things that attracted me to this group as I immediately felt a genuine level of care for each other that the members exhibit through the, at times, loose and friendly atmosphere. As someone who has never been a "schmoozer" I could feel comfortable right away here because people treated each other like old friends or family members and not just a stale group of business associates. I say Kristy sets this tone because more than anyone else she has the ability to be light and easy going (often self deprecating in her sense of humor) and at the same time she has the ability to be the consummate professional when called upon. And we need that side of her otherwise I wonder if we would ever stop mingling before meetings. Having dealt with her professionally at "Strategic Staffing" and socially as captain of our co-ed softball team I can say without a doubt that her ability to be both professional and personable make her a joy to be around.

Kristy's keynote was focused on the reasons that using a staffing agency makes perfect sense for the business that is looking to hire a quality employee. "Strategic Staffing" is a family owned and operated staffing agency specializing in temporary, temp to full time, and full time placement. With a location in San Clemente they have the ability to serve the Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego areas with ease. They work with all kinds of businesses but specialize in corporate services and IT / Telecommunications (including setting up new offices with computer and telecommunication networks).

So you ask why use a staffing agency? Don't they cost too much? Why can't we just pull 10-15 resumes off monster and be done with it for free? These are things we tend to think when it comes to hiring employees. There are some fundamental flaws in that line of thought as Kristy pointed out. First sites like monster and careerbuilder don't fact check each resume. There really is no way of knowing by looking at a resume online if it is truthful without checking on each reference and qualification personally (often times after an initial interview). There is also the time and resources required to physically interview those 10-15 (or more) applicants. Strategic does this all for you. Their goal is to speak with you about your needs and then send you one applicant who is right for the job because they have spent the time checking resumes and interviewing applicants including putting them through evaluations that make sure they are experts in the areas they claim to be. With this in mind the savings in time and energy are already apparent, but as anyone who has done hiring can tell you there is so much more that goes into hiring each new employee.

There is also the issues of payroll taxes, work comp, and unemployment liability. And what about if its just not working out? With Strategic they handle it all. When your employee is temporary or temp to full time their payroll is with Strategic and therefore the liability is theirs. Another huge advantage come when things aren't working with an employee and you need to let them go. Instead of being back at square one a 30 second phone call can get you a replacement there tomorrow.

Still don't believe that a staffing agency is right for you? Still want to ignore what large Fortune 500 companies already know. Kristy and the staff at Strategic Staffing will sit down with you and show you the savings in 15 minutes. Once again it has really been eye opening to see that things we may have seen as cost cutting acts (like not hiring the interior designer or the staffing agency) really have cost savings built into them when seen with the right perspective.

Thanks Kristy for the informative keynote and for your "Stellar" leadership.

Visit Strategic Staffing Online @ www.jobs-staff.com