“It’s easy to sit up and take notice, what is difficult is getting up and taking action”

I believe there is a position for everyone, and I love meeting people and getting to know their story to help them navigate their career. I’ve had a lot of mentors in my life – most influential were those in High School and College because it’s how I landed here where I am today. It makes sense then that I’m crazy passionate about working with students in high school or college that are exploring their future career path; particularly those that are willing to take action in their own future J

Tonight, I’m going to tell you about Emmanuel.

Emman was a referral from some other awesome students that went to Anoka Tech. I met with him for the first time on site at our customer and we started with a tour of the facility. I ran into the facilities manager and Fab group manager on the floor and introduced him – they asked what he was here for and I (with my big mouth) blurted out, “he’s your next rockstar welder on 3^rd shift!” and the follow up question asked was, “When does he start?”…to which I replied; “Well, I have to interview him first!” J

When our HR contact asked him in person to weld test the next day, I looked at Emman and he said “If it’s OK with you both, I’d like to wait until next week to make sure I don’t disappoint any expectations” …He was winning J

While interviewing with him I learned why he became a welder – He was working with his dad and they drove by a construction site. He saw sparks flying and didn’t know what it was. So he literally googled ‘sparks flying at construction site” and learned about welding. He enrolled in school while working FT on 2^nd shift as a lead at a medical device company and he finished top in his class. He also placed in a weld competition because of his skill!  Once he passed the weld test, he got started and has not looked back! We continue to hear how great of an employee he is and we’re proud to hear that he is “The best welder I have” and “he has the best attitude, great skill level, polite, everything you want in an employee” and the supervisor even noted, “I’d give him 3 raises if I could!”

Emman is one student of many student’s stories I could tell. I hope he is as much of an inspiration to you as he is to me – because like the quote above à noticing is easy, but getting up and taking action in our own lives is what is difficult.

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Heather

8 Days until Christmas!

Today was our team potluck, Secret Santa, and Christmas luncheon. I look forward to it every year and love the time we spend together as we head into the final weeks of the year and as we prepare for a big week ahead. It’s important to me to identify with the work I’m doing – and I want everyone to feel that connection and real life difference. So, when cool things happen we share them with one another. When someone says something that makes us feel special, we celebrate it. We ring a cowbell and we shout it from the rooftops. This one is for us, these little wins get us through the tough days and put smiles on our faces. Below are just a few that have come across my desk…

• Our customer called us and asked if it was possible to give an employee a Christmas Bonus – yes, absolutely it is! Then they asked if it was possible to cut it the same day and get it delivered to them the same day so that when their CEO was in town the following day, he could personally deliver it! YES, indeed we can. We’d LOVE to!
• We sent an email blast out to candidates that were inactive that said, “Remember us?” and Susanne replied, “How could I not? And smile J”
• While on site meeting with a 3^rd shift supervisor for performance feedback, the leader said “I can tell you coach and connect with your employees…of all the agencies I’ve ever worked with, you guys are easily the best!”
• A customer had a volunteer event during the work day and we were there. While talking to our employee, Jeff, he said “There are so many people who hate who they work for…I don’t! Vision is the best and so awesome! I refer anyone I know that is looking for work!”
• Another employee who called us after getting placed said: “You are so much more business savvy and personable. Thank you for helping me find this job!”
• Tyler came in and waited in our lobby for orientation to start, while waiting he struck up a conversation with Jackie on our team: “You guys are so professional. You’re so different from most agencies; they just shuffle you around  – ‘here, do this and this then and off you go.’ But you guys do things professionally.”

#teamwork  #dreamwork #dowhatyoulove #lovewhatyoudo #peoplematter #visionrockstars #visionmagic

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Heather

I spent a good part of my day today with a group of girlfriends I’ve had for over 20 years. There’s something special about these gals; a unique authenticity and vulnerability is present that you can’t force or create on your own. There’s a sense of community that’s formed – regardless of the frequency in which we see one another or in our location relative to one another.

A few more stories:

• We had an employee that was making $15/hr and was offered a position for $24 and he didn’t leave – when we asked why? He said “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s real good pay…but I don’t think I could give up my people over the pay – they treat me so awesome!”
• Someone called and he had interviewed with us previously but we never placed him anywhere and now he is back at his old company…long story long his current company is looking for welders and he referred them to us to help them find people! We asked, “why us?” and he said “because you were very professional, had great follow up and even though you couldn’t find me a position, you were honest and communicated with me in the process!”
• We met Steve in January. He’s the kind of guy that when you look at his resume you’re impressed and also super curious about what his story really is. Then you meet in person and you’re asking really vague questions in hopes that he’ll stumble and you can find the ‘truth’ behind the resume. But instead of stumbling, he fully acknowledges and owns it with a degree of integrity you don’t find often…and then you realize he’s quizzing you as much as you’re quizzing him. And you high five it out because you walk away fully committed to one another’s success. Interviews with the client are next and then back and forth on a job offer and suddenly you’re just as invested as he is and asking all the right and tough questions on his behalf to make things work, and he’s asking everyone in his personal network for advice to make the best decision. Then he accepts, but you see – that’s not where it ends. That’s just where it begins. 6 months into the role we got an email with a high five gif attached (attached to this email), and in the email is a note from a General Manager in a different facility – 3 levels above Steve and in reference to a project he was working: “Every day I have the privilege of working alongside the best and brightest…it’s our amazing people that make [Customer] great, and I’m proud to work alongside you” à when you get emails like that you jump out of your seat and shout it out and ring the cowbell J

Community is a funny thing, it’s everything around us if we look for it. The feeling and sense of community can come in all shapes and sizes and can deeply influence our decisions, our future path, our successes and our failures. We put a diligent focus on our Vision Family & Community both internally and externally through our engagement with candidates and customers and we encourage you to do the same. Join us this week at our annual Appreciation Event – family, friends, employees, customers, neighbors, members of the community; everyone is welcome to join us in celebration! We kick it off tomorrow as an internal team over lunch, and then the big parties begin on Tuesday in Bloomington, Wednesday in Blaine, and Thursday in Rogers. See you there J

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Heather

Today would have been my father-in-law’s 64^th birthday. He became an angel before I was around.

Today we celebrated Christmas with family & Grandma, his mom.

The day was filled with togetherness, craziness, memories shared, memories made, sweet treats, good eats, and plenty of stories. J

A few more stories to keep us going:

• Cleo came to us from a shelter, he was homeless, he had no transportation, and he wanted a chance. We meet with a LOT of people every day, week, month, and year. It’s simply not feasible that we will be that connection or next step for everyone we meet with. But we believed in him, we believed his story, we believed he would be different. We partnered with a client that was on the bus line and arranged a meeting. We made sure he was coached and ready to rock his interview – and he did. He was recently hired on at our customer and is in a role where he has benefits and stability! Way to go Cleo!
• Matt came to us with 25 years of experience at his previous employer! We went back and forth with him about several opportunities when finally, the right position was in front of us. He sent a note:
  • “…I had to write you this thank you note for finding me this job at [Customer]. It is a perfect fit for both of us. They really like me and it is the same for me with them!”
• Mario worked for us several years ago. He found his way back to us when he was looking for some part time work to make some extra money. We sent him to a customer where he was working 20 hours a week on top of his 40 hour a week job! He had some home remodeling projects he was eager to save for. Within a matter of weeks, he was outpacing some full time employees and we were hearing rave reviews. Then, one day we heard he was accepting full time work with our client and leaving his other job! He said he was loving it so much he couldn’t refuse! So when we called to congratulate him he said, “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now so thank you, thank you, and thank you!”

 Sometimes life is crazy.

Sometimes things don’t work out the way we plan them to.

Laugh with the craziness. Roll with the changes. Embrace the good. Look for the good. Spend energy thinking about the highlight reel. Hold on to the memories that will carry you through, and pause to appreciate the small moments – because when you begin to string them together they become significant.

Perhaps that doesn’t come naturally for you, so hang on to your hat because I’ll be back with more for 9 days J

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Heather

We are 11 days out from Christmas and I’m still just getting started on telling stories and sharing some of the good in this world J

Every day we are inundated with messages, information, news, stories, our own voices and more. Today, Bri shared this quote from Brenè Brown and it has stuck with me:

“You can choose courage or you can choose comfort. You cannot have both”

 I thought about this related to what we do every day – we’re in HR, we’re in the people business! We talk to active and passive job seekers. We talk to friends and family. We talk to people with courage, some without. We talk to people who are comfortable and some who are not. It brought me back to working with Sarah this year…

Sarah was working at the University of MN, and had been in her role for 14 years; she was looking for a change. At that time, we didn’t have a position for her. Months later, we connected with Sarah about an opportunity. There was something special about that connection – it made sense. It felt right. It fit. So we moved forward and she interviewed with our client. No harm in interviewing while still employed, right? The interview was a slam dunk. The customer LOVED her, she LOVED them! The challenge? Her current role was comfortable, she was safe and had been there for 14 years. Imagine being in her seat, working with a staffing agency (who, as an industry I might add – sometimes doesn’t have the best reputation – hey – we’re aware of it!) for a temp-to-hire position. Would you be skeptical? What would your family say? Would you be nervous? Sarah was, and we were there beside her every step of the way. We are humbled and grateful that Sarah put her trust in us to be an advocate for her and with her, and she trusted herself when she took a leap of faith and accepted this new role.  Talk about choosing courage!

We were so proud to recognize her as a Star Performer this year and we’ll forever remember her surprise and her follow up when she said that she felt like her recruiter was an angel sent from above.

Sarah, if you’re reading this – Thank you for choosing courage, and reminding us all that we can do the same. We’re excited to see you next week for our annual appreciation event to remind you how grateful we are for putting your trust in us. You’ll forever be a part of our Vision Family.

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Heather