I asked someone from the Avionté Implementation Team to give me a few details of the recent river trip Avionté sent them on as a reward for all their hard work and the busy months ahead.  You may soon realize there is one thing everyone on the implementation team has in common…and I’m not referring to the joy of a smooth staffing software conversion or implementation.  There is also an omission of my suggested topics on team building, bonding, relaxation and rejuvenation…but I guess that all goes without saying.  Thank you to the entire implementation team for all your hard work and long hours! 

FYI- I took the liberty of bolding a few words. If you’re in a rush, skim the bolded words and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what this trip was all about.  

by Kevin Cunningham 

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship.” I was boarding the houseboat for Avionte’s implementation team river extravaganza, so I was a little concerned that the theme from “Gilligan’s Island” was stuck in the back of my head, and could not be silenced. Sure several of us had boating experience but this was a 50 ft houseboat on the Mississippi River which we had to cross lock and dam, and the crew seemed far more interested in swimming, diving and drinking, than in navigating. If the SS Minnow had set sail for 3 days not to return for years, what chance did the twelve of us have? 

The first night we travelled a distance of about 300 yards and then decide to take shelter in a cove. Going further up river with delays from the lock could have caused us to be on the river within the prescribed “one hour before sunset”, apparently a Bozo no-no. Doug at the helm, grounded the boat perfectly, we set our anchors, ate dinner and proceeded to play. I believe chicken, brats and burgers were on the menu the first night, things started to get a little fuzzy after we pulled out of port. Jim, our corporate trainer’s husband, cooked all the meals and did an outstanding job. Laura and Jim had done all the shopping and did a great job of estimating the food, and underestimating what lushes they were traveling with. Before the first day was over, we had to make an emergency call for more beer. 

The first rule we unknowingly broke was “no jumping off the upper deck“, but come on what did they expect, putting that thing up there that looked like a diving board. Because the slide on the back of the boat was obviously not enough, people began swimming across the pond to use the slip and slide that was resting on the opposite shore. So slipping, sliding and falling down went on till somewhere around 11 PM just in time for a some drinking games (Bizz Buzz and Tippy Cup). 

Most of the crew was out by 2 AM when the wind kicked up and started blowing cans and boxes all over the place. We scrambled to put them in the boat and then sat back to watch a wild electrical storm which surrounded us, and looked like fireworks. It was awesome! 

Second day has us steaming upstream after breakfast, Laura remarks that she heard what must have been a grizzly bear the night before with loud roaring sounds, more than likely due to Laura’s drinking too much. We met up with John and Brenda further upstream, they had brought with them, via John’s boat, necessary replenishments (more beer). We spent the day in the channel swimming and diving, and we had a blast. Later we pulled up on a beach where we had seen a volleyball net and joined in with the local natives playing volleyball. Near sunset has John and Brenda returning, and us settling down for a peaceful night’s sleep, not a chance. I think it was around 10 PM when someone decided it would be a good idea to race up the sand bank we were beached on. It was about 200 yards uphill at about a 65 degree angle.  About a half dozen or so started up, and fell down in various places on the hill. Sandeep and Scott decided to roll back down, a decision I think they still both regret. Sandeep spent the remainder of the night trying to get the sand out of his bathing suit. I wonder if that is how he got his name. 

Third day left us dropping off more of the crew, now there were only six of us left. We cruised back down to the cove where we spent the first night and relaxed. We waited overnight and returned the boat in the morning. 

So what did we learn from this experience? 

• 12 motivated people can drink a lot of beer in a short time.
• It is really not a good idea to have an uphill race in the sand after drinking all that beer.
• Kevin can snore louder than a jet engine.
• But by far the best discovery of the weekend was the name of Doug’s first pet, DC. “DC”, what does that stand for we all wondered? “Doug’s cat”. You have to love the simplicity.

by Briana Morgan

One of our original employees, Katie is an integral and vital team member; not only within her department, but throughout the whole organization.  Since Katie started out as our first corporate trainer, many of our clients know her as upbeat, cheery and the person with the answers!  We appreciate her commitment and can’t express enough how much her positive outlook affects each one of us.

Role at Avionté: Staffing Software Support Manager – Maintaining all aspects of the support department and support team including their career development and efficiency; from trouble-shooting to implementing and creating new and improved processes.  Katie is also the main point for all external communication to clients and often our go-to contact of our internal issues as well.

 
Outside of Work: Katie enjoys spending time up north at the cabin, hanging with her hubby and spending time with their friends and family.

On the Lighter Side…

Who is the most famous person you have met? – Josh Campbell www.joshuajamescampbell.com

The next place I travel to will be:  Germany – To visit a friend who lives there.

What was your favorite music group in junior high? – New Kids on the Block

Do you have any phobias?  L.A.R.P.ing

Only the staff at Avionté knows… Katie never yells, what are you talking about support?!

One of my favorite books is John Maxwell’s “Talent is Never Enough”.  I was introduced to him several years ago and have enjoyed going back to his theories time after time.  Yesterday my daughter and I had a discussion during a car ride on perseverance.  I happened to have the book with me and had her read some of the Principles of Perseverance (Maxwell, 2007) out loud as we drove.  I can’t say that she greatly enjoyed it, nor was she thrilled about reading (she would rather be texting) but we did end up having a good talk about her upcoming sophomore year and what she needed to expect from herself.

These same principles apply not only to our personal lives, but our business lives as well.  I am surprised how many new start up staffing companies have contacted Avionté recently.  Logically you would not think this was the best time to start a staffing service.  However, those with a little fire and vision see this IS the perfect time to get things going.  Whether it’s a brand new company, a new division or just changing things up a bit.. you are going to need some perseverance!

1. Perseverance Means Succeeding Because Your Are Determined to, Not Destined To

We discussed her soccer “career”.  Last year as a freshman she made the JV team, so naturally she is hoping this year she will make the Varsity team.  We talked about what she has done in the past few months to prepare herself for this and why she thinks she deserves a spot on the team.  She didn’t tell me about all the hours she has practiced or the drills she has done, it was simply because she deserved it.

Many of us feel that we “deserve” a lot of things, but forget the thought, actions and determination it takes to get us there.  Vince Lombardi said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of determination.”  The greatest achievers don’t sit back and wait for success because they think they deserve it. (Maxwell, 2007)

2. Perseverance Recognizes Life is Not a Long Race, but Many Short Ones in Succession

I would love to tell you that my daughter is one of those children that knows exactly what she wants in life and is always pointed in the right direction, she is not.  She is full of life and spirit and changes her mind as the wind blows her in a new direction.  It’s hard for her to think about what she wants to do 3 years from now, let alone what she wants to do in 10 years.  To a 15 year old, three years is forever!   We talked about what she needs to be doing now to prepare for college, what classes she needs to take and how she needs to work on self discipline.  All of these things are small steps towards the bigger one.  By keeping herself in motion she will get to where she needs to go.

This theory works well in staffing as well.  As the recent economy has shown us, we don’t always have control of the external situation, but we ALWAYS have control of the internal situation.  To be successful you need to just keep plugging away. (Maxwell, 2007)

3. Perseverance Is Needed to Release Most of Life’s Rewards

At a sales convention, the corporate sales manager got up in front of all two thousand of his firm’s salespeople and asked, “Did the Wright brothers ever quit?”

“No!” the sales force shouted.

“Did Charles Lindbergh ever quit?” he asked.

“No!” the salespeople shouted again.

“Did Lance Armstrong ever quit?”

“No!”

He bellowed for a fourth time, “Did Thorndike McKester ever quite?”

“Who in the world is McKester?” they asked.

“Of course you have never heard of him—because he quit!” (Maxwell, 2007)

My daughter spent several minutes telling me how hard school was for her and how she wanted to take some easier classes this year (avoiding as much math and science as possible).  I asked her how she would prepare for the classes she would need to take in college that required math and science.  She didn’t know.  All she knew is that she wanted to quit before it got too hard.

It is tempting to look for the path of least resistance, but the outcome will not be the same.  Rise up to the challenges ahead and enjoy the opportunity for some growth and development!

4. Perseverance Draws Sweetness Out of Adversity

Years ago my mom and I had a discussion about raising children and how they need a little adversity in order to make them grow.  She gave the example of a tomato that is grown in a greenhouse.  It is given everything it needs to grow and thrive; food, water and light.  The tomato plant does very well while in its greenhouse environment.  However, if you take that plant and put it outside chances are the weather and elements will kill it.  We need challenges and experiences to grow and continue to strengthen ourselves.  Many will look at the recent turn in our economy as an unfortunate turn of events that hurt their business and caused them pain.  While others will look at it as an opportunity to become better and come out the other side stronger and more successful than before!

5. Perseverance Has a Compounding Effect on Life

Author Napoleon Hill says, “Every successful person finds that great success lies just beyond the point when they’re convinced their idea is not going to work.” (Maxwell, 2007)  When we do the right things, make the right choices and keep moving forward we will see ourselves getting closer to the goal.  By practicing perseverance in one area of our life, it will spill into other areas as well.

My daughter and I continued talking about school and how it was a bit difficult for her, and how other kids just seem to “get it” right away.  She expressed several times how much she wished that was her.  I asked her about soccer and how she got to be so good at it?  She told me that she practiced.  When I asked her if practice was always easy she told me how hard they had to run and how tired she got and sometimes she didn’t really like it, but loved playing games.  We talked a bit more that school was just like soccer; you have to practice to get good at it.  It’s not always going to be fun or easy, but you just have to keep the end goal in mind.

If you can apply perseverance to one area of your life, it gets a little easier each time to add it to other areas of your life.

6. Perseverance Means Stopping Not Because You’re Tired but Because the Task is Done.

“Success is a little like wresting a gorilla.  You don’t quit when you’re tired – you quit when the gorilla is tired.” Robert Strauss

7. Perseverance Doesn’t Demand More Than We Have but All That We Have

Perseverance is an investment.  It is a willingness to bind oneself emotionally, intellectually, physically, and spiritually to an idea or task until it has been completed.  Perseverance demands a lot, but here’s the good news; everything you give is an investment in yourself. (Maxwell, 2007)  I love those two sentences!  However, I think my daughter loved them even more, knowing the chapter was done and she could get back to her texting!

My hope is that one day (hopefully not too far in the future) she will think about our discussion one summer day in the car and realize that everything she wants is within her grasp, if only she is willing to persevere!  It’s a tough concept and it’s even more difficult to live it day after day; but it truly is an investment in one’s self, one that will pay back time after time.

ST. PAUL, MN, July 14, 2010 – Avionté, a provider of staffing and recruiting technology solutions, announced a recent upgrade release to v2010.  The new release includes many key improvements, enhancements and innovative new features focused on driving efficiencies throughout staffing and recruiting organizations across the country.

“The whole premise of v2010 is enabling staffing firms to do more with less as the economy returns to full swing.  Companies that manage to maintain a lean staff while utilizing technology and automation to handle increases in business will be the first to see profits climb,” says John Long, CEO at Avionté. 

The Group and Marketing management tools are among the many new development features expected to drive high value and greater reach for Avionté clients.    These elements are designed to enable staffing firms to take a job order or candidate and turn it into a full blown marketing campaign within a matter of minutes.  The auto-match feature quickly identifies and targets candidates who are the best fit for a particular job order or companies who may be looking for particular skills.  Placing these individuals or companies into relevant groups allows for easy management and tracking of all activity taking place.  Mass emailing allows users to get the word out quickly to a targeted group utilizing email templates, mail merge and Outlook integration functionality. 

Among the list of additional features the company announced are applicant on-boarding, direct hire, document management, calendar sharing, rosters, quick place and advanced search.

Other significant features and enhancements also available in the latest staffing software release include an entirely new suite of web portals and third-party integrations.  

Avionté is releasing a fresh new suite of dynamic web portals utilizing the latest .net framework.  The portals which include employee, client, vendor, timeclock, online application and job board now offer data driven configurations that are controlled by the client through a new user-friendly administrator portal.  The admin portal provides Avionté clients the ability to access and modify configurations, views, workflow and data on the fly without any intervention from a programmer or Avionté staff.  

“We are excited to give our clients what they have been asking for, which is greater control over their web presence.  Clients now have a tool that simplifies the deployment of the modifications and configurations they wish to make such as adjusting required fields, changing applicant interview questions and the overall look of the portal sites,” states Phi Ngo, CTO at Avionté.

Additional third-party integrations are also available in v2010 allowing staffing firms to deliver business value to clients while continuing to decrease costs.  Seamless integrations to leading providers of tax credit processing, pay cards, job boards and background screenings are among those included in the new release.

About Avionté Staffing Software
Creating a fully synchronized staffing experience, Avionté provides the industry an all-in-one front and back office software solution that allows staffing firms to do more, in one system and in less time.  Rich and innovative functionality designed for the rapid pace and demands of today’s generation of staffing.  For more information, please visit Software for Staffing: www.avionte.com

Staffing Software Press Release

Many Avionté clients have already taken advantage of a seamless integration between the Avionté staffing software system and the Global Cash Card Solution.   If you are seeking a 100% paperless payroll, you can now pay employees instantly with a prepaid ATM card or prepaid Visa or MasterCard debit card.  On top of the reduction of paper and processing costs, Avionté now offers clients the efficiency and time savings of having it integrated with your staffing software system.   If you have ever considered a paycard solutions, we’d like to introduce you to our industry partner – Global Cash Card.   “In comparison to our prior card and software system, working with Global Cash Card and Avionté is a vast improvement both in terms of system improvement and the overall benefit a paycard should provide. We are so pleased with the process that we are transitioning all of our pay process to the Global Cash Card.” Al Bacon, CFO of LaborWorks Industrial Staffing Global Cash Card and Avionté will be hosting a special educational Webinar for Avionté clients on July 20th, 2010 @ 11:00 am CST.

• Understand the benefits of using paycards
• See an overview of the Global Cash Card solution
• Learn more about how the GCC and Avionté integration works.

If you are interested in learning more about the Global Cash Card solution and integration or to register for this free informational webinar, please email Brenda Long at brenda@avionte.com

I have written a good deal about evaluating your processes and procedures over the last few months.  I think this is something that as an owner, manager or even a staff member you should be doing on a regular basis.  I’m not talking about once or twice a year, but on a weekly basis.  The landscape of staffing is an ever changing one.  New challenges, problems and issues arise on a daily basis.  So sit back and take a few minutes to think about the following scenarios; what are your current processes and procedures and could you make them more efficient?

How much time are you spending between different software programs?  As Avionté users you should be spending the majority of your time within the Avionté program.  Take a minute to think about a process that you leave the software for.. could it be done in Avionté?  A few weeks ago I worked with a client that wanted to assign tasks to various staff members.  Instead of using their Outlook (like they had in the past) they started using the Message section.  This not only allowed them to task other users, but kept a record of it in the Customer/Employee/Order.

Reports – No need to create hodgepodge reports in Excel.   All the information you enter into Avionté can be pulled back out to create a report.  Our software comes with over 50 standard reports.  Chances are you will find the info you are looking for.  If not, let us know.  We can talk about creating a custom report for you.

E-mail Communication – By sending your e-mails through your Avionté system you are able to keep documentation of who, what and when.  Other users will also have access to seeing the same information in the message section.  Coming Soon!  Group and marketing management features.  This is a big new CRM enhancement.   You will now be able to put Employees, Contacts and Customers into groups and manage those groups.   From within the groups section, you can log messages, add or remove people from the group, create follow-up tasks and appointments, send mass emails and generate form letters.  This feature works in conjunction with Favorites.  This feature also allows users to send email without using Outlook.

Documents- Keep all your documents within Avionté.

Resume Generator- Supply your Customers with the information they need.

Maps- Use Show Map in Actions to auto populate information.

Web Portals- Are you still asking applicants to fill out paper applications?  Consider the resources for just one application?  The printing costs, wage/time of the person entering it, and then someone to file it.  How about timecards?  If you are not already using our portals to allow your Employees and Customers to manage online timecards.. now would be a good time to think about it.

Are there other functions that you or your staff is leaving your current software to do?  Shoot us a message, we would be happy to evaluate and let you know if you can save time and work more efficiently by incorporating the process within you staffing software.

View full post of Staffing Software Tip of the Week

It’s back office tip time!  Although the front office and back office have equally important jobs, the back office is ultimately responsible for cutting checks and making sure the invoices are processed correctly.   In addition, many of the back office functions also drive the reporting functions.  And as if that is not a job big enough on its own, throw in a few temps or customers that procrastinate on sending in timecards or providing information on additional items like mileage or bonuses.

Temps forget to turn in timecards.  Although we all often wonder why they don’t care about getting paid on time, it happens.  Next time you have a temp that turns in a late time card, don’t fret.  Right click on Sheet View , Copy Transaction and apply it to the previous week worked (or the proper week) so that it appears correct on the paycheck and the invoice.  Plus it will pull the correct numbers in for your reporting.

This same concept applies if you have a customer that calls after the fact and wants to pay mileage, bonus or other additional transaction.  But this time, you will choose whatever transaction that you want to use (bonus, mileage, ect) choose the proper accounting period, and then enter the units on Sheet View.

How many times do you have an employee turn in a time card after the assignment has already been closed?  Hopefully it doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen.  You don’t have to go back and change the end date to get it to pull into your Transactions for that pay period.  Simply click the Actions button on the homepage in Time Entry, select the Employee and Assignment and then the correct week worked.  When you click back into Sheet View you will now see that is it ready for you to enter hours!

View the full post

Congratulations to Samar and Sunny Basnet on the first addition to their family. 

Baby Arza arrived this morning at 10:03 am.  

Weighing in at 7lbs 9 oz.  If you’ve ever seen Sunny, that’s very impressive! 

Arza in Sanskrit means Divine…and that she is!

by John Long

Father’s Day weekend – reminded me of another of life’s lessons:  Seize the day and appreciate the little things

In today’s society, with all the events of our lives, the hectic schedules and relative focus on material things – it is so important to appreciate the little things of life.   Life is Journey, not a destination, right?  I struggle with this concept – as do most of you, I bet.  

The Journey analogy rang true for me recently.  Father’s day weekend, we drove 2 hours each way to attend a distant, barely-related, they-won’t-remember-us-next-week wedding reception.  Most of the way, although it was a beautiful drive along the river,  I was focused on getting there as opposed to really taking in the cool sites and great scenery passing by. 

After this day – I’ll never get it back.  Time is inescapable.  I lost my mother unexpectedly last year, which really puts mortality on a person’s mind.  There are any number of things that can shorten a life unexpectedly.  What makes it worse, though, is that I find myself thinking “If only I can get past next month” or “if I get that payment paid off, then…” or “I’ll start doing that activity when…”.  I struggle with remembering that today is today – and tomorrow it will be gone.  I’m not talking about spending yourself to oblivion (unless it is on a really great staffing software system I know of   ) or doing crazy, death-defying feats just to prove you can.  I’m talking about enjoying today for what it is.  And if you can’t – maybe you should change it.

Tips to help you make the most of every day you have… 

• Enjoy today. Carpe Diem or any other slogan meaning the same thing.  Even a nice walk with your significant other is a great thing
• Appreciate what you do have.  Borrowing a song verse from Sheryl Crow – “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got” – or something close to that.  I believe dreams and goals are great – see previous posts.  But, there is a limit. 
• No excuses.  Arguably one of my biggest pet peeves is people that just make excuses.  Anything that comes up, they are QUICK to figure out rationalizations as to what happened, why something didn’t happen, whatever.  UGH!  A line from Invictus and the poem for Mandela:  “….I am the master of my fate”.  Folks – no excuses.  If you don’t get out of life what you want, it’s primarily on you. 
• No regrets.  Yesterday is past – use those experiences to do tomorrow better.
• Reflect.  Spend a few minutes at night, reflecting on the day.  Did you make the most of it?  Did you do what you wanted? 
• Plan.  Spend a few minutes in the morning thinking about the day ahead.  How do you want the day to go, what do you want to accomplish.

I don’t believe in destiny.  I don’t believe my time on earth is pre-determined.  I believe thoroughly that I’m extremely lucky, with regards to my health, body and mind.  But, at some point, my time on earth will end.  From right now until that point, there is X number of days.  Unless something goofy goes on – or cryogenics works <ahem> – that number is less than 50 years (18,250 days ish). 

Folks – we all have the gift of life.  Appreciate it.  Appreciate it today.