As I continue to share stories, I am excited to share this one that came straight from our customer in June 2013…an oldie but a goodie!

I believe you already heard about our night shift temp from Vision Staffing who received the “Star Performer of the Month” (by the way, he has now hired on with us).  Well, what you         probably didn’t hear the “rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say.

Vision brought over 3 of their staffing personnel yesterday afternoon to present Daniel with his award.  The recipients don’t know that they are receiving the award until the Vision Staff shows up to give it to them – generally – they have no clue. 

We gathered the whole night crew in the break room and the Vision Staff proceeded to present the award to Dan, quoting both Craig and their staff on the positive things they’ve heard about his work, etc. leading up to the award.  Dan was visibly “emotional” about the whole ordeal as I think this may have been something he hadn’t experienced in life before. (They also brought chips and cookies for the whole warehouse staff.)

The rest of the story – Dan rides his bicycle – yes, that’s right – bicycle to work every day.  He figures he’s put close to 1000 miles on his bike since he started with us in February.   Vision was told about Dan having to ride his bicycle to work so as part of the reward that Dan received in addition to his name engraved clock and having his name on the Vision company plaque, was an odometer/computer for his bicycle.  Dan was elated as he related to the Vision staff that he had talked with his wife about always wanting an odometer for his bicycle.  He lives close to a Wal-Mart so he walks there for his groceries, etc. and had looked at odometers there before.

Here’s a man who has taken lemons and turned them into lemonade.  His comment on all the miles he puts on just to get to work and back was that it allows him to be in the best shape he’s ever been in.

After the awards, I talked with Jaclyn from Vision who first interviewed Dan for a position at their staffing agency.  She mentioned how they really didn’t have anything available for him at the time and how Dan pleaded with her and let her know that he would make them proud, he would be a dedicated employee, and that he would work as hard as he could no matter where they placed him.  Jaclyn said there was something about his sincerity that made her want to find him something sooner than later.  He was unemployed and desperate to support himself and family.  As Dan stated to Jaclyn after receiving his award and thanking them for the opportunity, “I’ve come a long way since last time you saw me, I had nothing and now I have a good job” and he thanked everyone for the opportunity – pretty cool stuff!!!

I’d have to say, we’re lucky to have him. 

If you find yourself in the warehouse after 3:30PM, please feel free to congratulate Dan on his “Star” performance!!     

~Kurt: Vision Client

The opportunities we have to make a difference go well beyond ‘just’ securing a job for someone. It’s the little moments, the seemingly repetitive moments in our every days that add up to powerful differences.

Happy Friday everyone!

Heather Farr

I really wanted to share this story as it is one near and dear to my heart. I do however, want to respect the privacy of those involved so I kept them nameless.

On April 2nd, 2015 a longtime friend of mine emailed me and said…”My son is interviewing for an internship with your company…I saw your face and started to connect the dots.”

So mid-summer this year, I had lunch with my friend. She sat across from me and told me a story of her son and how he had his life planned out – “he was in the military and received top recognition. I mean, he was going places Heather and all of his school was paid for! Then there was a hiccup, a misunderstanding, and it derailed everything he had worked for. I was devastated. He wasn’t. He said he’d figure something out. I tried thinking of everything I could do to ‘clear it up’ and ‘fix it’ for him and he told me to stop. Then he worked hard to find opportunities that he’d be interested in and in that time he found Vision and this internship. Heather, I’ve always thought you were absolutely crazy to do what you do (though I never wanted to tell you that) and I never understood the value or purpose you talked about and I only looked at the Staffing Industry one sided. I was so wrong. My son’s life is forever changed in the direction he belongs and it’s because he was given this opportunity. I’m embarrassed to admit it took me this long to ‘get it’ and I just want you all to know how truly grateful I am”

Her son, our employee, worked as an intern this past summer at a fortune 200 company and did a fantastic job!  He attends Gustavus Adolphus University and his only prior work experience was concrete/pavement work

Our recruiter Dan recruited him, qualified him, and pushed for him to get the position and continued to follow up and support him through his entire summer all the way until the final presentation when he was blown away.

Thank you Dan, for ‘connecting the dots’ for my friend. One person at a time, can make a powerful difference.

Now you know The Rest of the Story…

~Written by Heather Farr~

I had to share another..this is a supervisor at one of our clients who we placed there, here is what he had to say…

“I’m forever grateful to April – she found me this job you know. I had been talking with her on and off for a long time. I was unemployed for almost a year you know. I told her I didn’t have any printing experience and she said, ‘just go down there and talk to them, OK?’ and I did and it was good but then she called me a week later and said ‘You’re meeting with  the owner tomorrow’ and I said, ‘well I can’t, I have an interview tomorrow’ and she said, ‘No, you need to figure out how to meet with him tomorrow’ and so, I just did what she told me to do and I met with him. I called her and told her it went fine but I don’t think it’s going to turn into anything and she laughed and said, ‘well, I’m writing up an offer letter right now so it is something’ and then she told me I had to start on July 1^st or something and I said ‘what the heck am I going to do for 2 days before the holiday?!’ and so, well, I started and I basically hung out for two days with the the owner and now look – here I am. This is the best job. Very stressful but very fun. When I hit 90 days everyone came out and gave me a round of applause and congratulated me. This is a family show around here, I really enjoy it and it’s been a helluva ride!”

What a great placement, he sat telling me about all of the transformations that have happened since he started and the difference he’s been able to make in the culture – we talk about “Fit” often, and this is a GREAT success story of finding the right “Fit”!

Happy Happy Friday!

Heather Farr,  Managing Partner – Story Lover

I was inspired by Christmas Wish on the radio and Mom’s favorite Paul Harvey, so I decided every Friday this month – I’m going to share a story. Anyone who knows me well, surely knows that I LOVE stories and I’m basically a professional story seeker (ha! ha!) Today’s story is twofold, this is part I…

Dan (a recruiter) was being super helpful and talked with an employee and passed along the note that he wishes to get a raise. So I started emailing his supervisor…then decided that I’d learn more CALLING him. SO I did, and boy did I learn a lot. I had to share it..this is what happened:

The employee started with this customer on 11/21/2014 on a short term assignment doing packaging. He’s also has worked some short term stuff for us and interviewed several places without getting the job. He is a shy guy, a quiet fellow, found his way to us through Indeed, looking for $12/hr, needing the bus line, and after interviewing with us, we thought he was a GREAT REP! So he was placed at a client of ours on short terms jobs in hopes to land a long term position soon. He always returned to our client without missing a beat whenever they needed him.

Today, I checked in on his performance again, to which his supervisor said:

“He’s doing great – He is dynamite! in fact I’d like to get him hired! He’s stepped up to the plate. He has leadership qualities – you can’t even imagine. During this last 6 weeks of working 7 days a week, 12-14 hour days, I saw it come out in him. He’s dynamite! Stays on task, you can put him in with a group of people and he’ll lead the pack, he’s tremendous! I don’t know why I didn’t see it  before. He’s really stepped up to the plate, I am really impressed by it. He has really opened up my eyes. People get their switches turned on at different times. Maybe it was confidence, I don’t know. That’s what you like to see in people you like to see people succeed!”

 I’d like to introduce you to who I’m talking about – HE is just one of our RockStaR employees we get to work with every day. HE feels the difference in what we do, and HE is Willie G!

Now YOU know, the REST of the story :)!

Happy Friday!

Heather Farr, Managing Partner & Story Lover!