I experienced the best introduction to Avionté Staffing Software. I have been with Avionté for about a month, and much discussion concerned the Year End Party. “Katherine make sure you are free January 21, you do not want to miss this!”  The stories I heard about the past year’s party only added to my anticipation and excitement; hypnotists, dancing, coveted prizes, tigers (only kidding) and lots of dancing.

I am the sales and marketing assistant and part of my responsibilities include event planning and party prep. So the couple of weeks before the big event were spent covering every aspect of the Year End party in great detail. We needed prizes, games, munchies, transportation, name tags, booze (and lots of it), music (the Avionte band debut), and surprises! After all that planning and buying we pulled it off.

We held our gathering at the Dakota Lodge in West St Paul. The Dakota Lodge was a quintessential place to host a party. The night started off with a cocktail hour and many introductions. Just to put it in perspective, Avionte hired about 25 employees in the past year. Our Year End party guest list was double that of the previous year. After some initial mingling, everyone took their seats for dinner and a short presentation by our CEO, John Long. One of the best surprises of the night was the revealing of Operation See-A-Need, which was the launch of our Charitable Arm, The Avionté Hope Foundation. That topic deserves a blog all to itself!

We catered in dinner, enjoyed cocktails, played some highly competitive yet socially awkward team games, raffled prizes, listened to the Avionté band (New Order Wizard and the Worker Comp Claims), danced and sang.  While all of that made for a great party, it was really the amazing group of people that came together to celebrate what they had accomplished as a team over the past year that really made the night special.  There was camaraderie within this company that I had never experienced before in my previous positions and it was truly amazing to be a part of it.   Here’s to an amazing 2011 and looking forward to all that 2012 has to bring!

If you would like to learn more about Employer Health Reporting through Avionté, please join us for an Webinar on Wednesday January 25  from 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Central time. Register now.

Setting up Employer Health Reporting in Avionté.

As many of you know, my background is in staffing and recruiting.  I still love the thrill of a new job order/requisition and thinking about how to fill it.  What networking opportunities can I leverage? Where is the best place to post? Could the perfect candidate be in my own database?  I’m sure these are some of the same thoughts that go through your head each time, you start working a new order.  Many times I’ve thought about asking the flight attendant to announce a job opportunity in a particular place I was flying to or coming back to.  Nothing is out of the question!

I was recently with a recruiter that showed an incredible knack for capturing talent right off the street!  Needless to say I was in awe, and inspired  to share the experience with all of you.

After a business lunch a group of us were walking back to the office.  It was a drizzly winter day, making us walk a little faster to stay as dry as possible.  As we approached the entrance of the building a well-dressed gentleman asked for directions to a business.  My first thought was to duck inside the door to keep my hair from going completely flat.   I was not familiar with this particular business, but my lunch companion was.  He knew it to be one of their customers, and knew that someone interested in finding them must have some kind of experience in development.  Instead of simply giving the directions he told them they were a client and he had their address in his office and invited him in.  During the walk he asked about his work finding out he didn’t have an appointment, but wanted to drop off his resume in hopes of an interview My companion asked him about his specific skills and what he was interested in doing.  He took the time to find out about this person, making him feel important and possibly interesting him in working with his firm..  He quickly told him of a couple other clients he worked with that looked for similar skill sets.  You could see the excitement on the gentleman’s face; he felt that is was his lucky day he stumbled upon us!  The address of the business was still provided, but a resume was also acquired.

I have not followed up since to find out the end of the story, but the beginning was plenty for me!  What is your team doing to recruit top talent?  Are they willing to literally walk up  to people on the street?  Although the crunch for talent isn’t as tight as it was a few years ago, it’s still tough to find those great candidates!

Next time I’m asking the flight attendant to announce my job opening.. at least I know I have tried!  Do you have a great recruiting story?  We would love to hear it.

Section 179 Deduction limit increased to $500,000 for the 2011 tax year

Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment (including staffing software) purchased or financed during the tax year. This means if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income.

So, if you’ve been thinking of making a change, you won’t want to miss out on this significant tax savings.

Simplify your Year End Process- Online printing and reprinting of W2′s
What is it costing you in resources and product to print, mail, re-print and in many cases re-print W2′s? Allowing your employees to access and print their own paystubs and W2′s, not to mention the ability to re-print those W2′s for years to come, equates to an enormous cost savings for staffing firms.

Set the stage for the company you want to have in 2012
Have you already started thinking about what you want to change for 2012? How you want to improve your business, become more profitable, change processes to be more efficient, be more competitive and set the stage to become a leader in your market? Does your current software provide you the tools needed to make all of that happen and truly make a change in the right direction for 2012? If not, it could be time to re-evaluate. 

To learn more about Avionte Staffing Software, please give us a call at 651-556-2121 or send an email to info@avionte.com

MNRSA is dedicated to giving back to the communities in which our members own and operate their businesses. This winter we are collecting clean, gently used coats as part of the One Warm Coat community service project, and we need your help!

All of the coats collected will be donated to local individuals in need to ensure that nobody in the communities where we work has to go without such a basic necessity as a warm coat this winter.  Coats of all sizes are welcome, and coats for elementary aged children and men were identified as a specific need in our community this year. Hats, mittens and scarves are also needed and gratefully accepted.

Avionté Staffing Software has set up a drop box in our office to collect donations through January 6, 2012.  

Please stop in to drop off a coat to help keep another person warm this winter.
1270  Eagan Industrial Road  Suite 150  Eagan, MN 55121

Is it possible to create a report that will not only help your staffing company improve sales and service, but save you nearly $100,000 a year at the same time?  The answer is yes!  BONNEY Staffing Center is Maine and New Hampshire’s largest independently owned and operated staffing company.  One of the many ways it maintains the high level of service the company is so well known for is through ongoing follow-up and onsite visits that keep them connected with current clients. 

Read about how BONNEY took advantage of the Avionte Staffing Software reporting features to save the company a substantial amount of money each year while continuing to provide top quality service to its clients and employees.  FULL CASE STUDY

Well that might be a little bit of an overreaction since they do have some use like leaving funny notes for your co-workers.  They are pretty good for brainstorming new ideas too.  However, they have lost their place at the table when it comes to tracking job orders.

It doesn’t surprise or even amaze me to hear that very successful staffing and recruiting companies are still using whiteboards to monitor jobs, candidates and statuses.  What does surprise me is the inability to even think about letting it go!  A few months back I was onsite with a company and spotted the whiteboard.  I had to fight the urge to walk over and erase the board with all of its detailed information.  Each of the staffing specialists and recruiters could find the exact same information on their computer screen.  So why is it so hard to let go?

Staffing, as any other industry has processes, procedures or even tools that have worked well in the past.  If something is working why change it?  Well how about productivity and profitability?  Yes I have touted both of these in many of my ramblings, but how productive is it for you or your staff to write or change information about a job order or a candidate on a board?    And how profitable is it for you to not know exactly what is going on with each order?  Can you track time to fill or sources methods from a board?  How about the dollars lost on duplication of work?  Unless you have an amazing white board that is linked to your staffing software, the information is going nowhere.  Just because it used to work does not mean there is a better way to do something.  Companies that have the ability to quickly change and adapt to new technology are generally the ones still standing during tough times because they have learned how to do more with less.

Cons of using a whiteboard:

• Double work.  Writing it on a board and then entering it into your staffing software.
• Time for someone to write it all out. (If you are still using this method, do a time study for one week how much time is being spent writing, erasing, adding, etc.)
• Who else can see this information?  I certainly would not want my name being broadcast to everyone who walked into the office (most of the whiteboards I have seen are in plain view)
• Divulging who your job orders are for.  I’ve mentioned before that applicants are smart, if they think they can go directly to the source, they will.
• Difficult to get metrics and reports from a whiteboard.
• No audit trail.

I could go on and on with the cons of using a whiteboard, but I think you get my point.  It’s a lot of work for something that really isn’t going to offer much in return.

Pros of using a whiteboard:

• Everyone can see what orders you have, and I mean everyone.

I’m sure there are a few more pros, but I think our time will be better served talking about making the switch.

The biggest opposition that I have heard about letting go of the whiteboard is the motivation factor.  Many of the supporters state the whiteboard motivates them and it’s fun to get up and erase a job order that has been filled.  Or it’s exciting to see how many orders have come in during the day.  My response – dashboard.  With Avionté each user has counters to see new orders that have come in, new applicants or even applicants who are available today.  Want a little more information?  An integration with Qlikview offers a higher level dashboard to see in real time what is happening in each location.  Even better, reports can be generated in real time to fully understand what is going on with a specific branch or even customer.  Can your whiteboard do that?

Although I would like to see everyone who is reading this article jump up and remove their whiteboard, that simply is not going to happen.  When it comes to change management, baby steps are always best.  Talk with your staff as to why they are continuing to duplicate work.  You will then need to address their need to see a visual on the wall of this information.  Often times it is a lack of understanding of their software.  In the case of Avionté

it is very easy to see all the open job orders and who is available to fill them.  When a job order is filled, it simply drops off the list.  No need to get up and erase it (and risk getting marker on the side of your hand!)

One of the biggest hurdles will be the level of comfort.  Very few people embrace change quickly.  If they have worked in staffing for many years, this is comfortable to them.  Offer to have a push report created so each day at 4pm everyone in the branch or company receives an email with the key metrics for the day ie: new orders, new fills, resumes sent, interviews scheduled, etc.

Good luck to all in making the change! As always, I like to hear what is going on in your world.  Feel free to add a comment as to how you make the change over.

-Angela

by  Brenda Long

When you’re looking for a new technology solution that will essentially run the operations of your entire staffing business, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and caught up in the small details of it all.  What companies often lose sight of and many vendors are glad they do, is ask the very important big picture questions.

There are many more questions that need to be asked when making a staffing software purchase, but these 10 definitely shouldn’t be forgotten.

1. Upgrades: How often does your average client upgrade?  How long does it take to complete the upgrade?
2. Versions: How many different version of your software are in live use?  When was your last platform change for a major release?
3. Upgrade Costs: What costs are involved in upgrading?
4. Clients: How many clients have you lost in the last 12 months?  Why?  Who are they?
5. Data: If we are hosted, how difficult will it be for me to get my data if I leave?
6. Features: What happens if we need a new feature added to the software?
7. Price Increases: How often do you raise your prices?  When was your last increase and how much?  How much warning do you give before an increase?
8. Support: When I call support, do I get a live person or voice mail system?
9. Support Costs: How do you charge for routine support calls?  What is the average ‘extra’  monthly cost to clients besides contracted license fees and maintenance fees?
10. Company: How involved are the owners in the daily operations of the company?  What type of financial backing (VC/Private) does the company have?

Finally, the most important thing to do after you have asked these 10 questions….ask their current and former customers too.

Thank you to all that participated in the 2011 Avionté Client Connection Forum.  If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend and are thinking about joining us next year, check out what some of our attendees had to say. ?

• “To all those at Avionté who helped to make last weeks Conference so productive, oh and so FUN too, thank you so much for your efforts to make us a better Company!!” – Lynda
• “Thank you so much for inviting me to attend your Client Connection Forum.  It was wonderful to watch your clients interact and how much love and respect that they have for all of Avionté.  It was really something special to see.” – John
• “It is very refreshing  to see how interested you are in what your customers think and how important it is for you to make changes to ease the process for us.  I am certain that we have chosen a vendor that we share the same values with and that is very satisfying.  This was by far the best software session that I have ever attended.” – Annette
• “I cannot begin to express what a great job you and John and the whole crew from Avionté did this past week. It is no wonder why you have such loyal clients. Yall did an awesome job and I hope to come back next year!” – Dee
• “Another great forum.  I have quite a bit of information to bring back to the staff” – Mark
• “The Client Connection forum was put together very nicely and it presented us with opportunities to hear from others and learn more about Avionté”  prospective customer
• “The networking events were great, it was nice to hear how other users are using the Avionté”  -Katie
• “Great experience!  Thank you for all your team’s hard work in putting this forum together and providing a great experience!” -John
• “Great job, very beneficial” -James
• “Very much appreciated the one-on-one opportunities with the Avionté folks throughout the forum” – Kristen
• “It was fabulous!  Enjoyed the content, food and entertainment” -Amber
• “Your team is warm, friendly, easily approachable and very helpful” -Lauren
• “Great conference!  Really informative and should help me to implement training strategies and refine employee use!” -Sheri

Corey joined the Avionté team in May of 2011 as Support Manager.  He brought with him a unique set of talents after serving as the Vice President/General Manager for CCI and The Merchandising Team, a reputable Twin Cities staffing and retail service firm, since 2002.  Having been on the client side for so long, Corey has an extraordinary perspective into the dynamic challenges and issues facing the staffing industry today.  As the new Support Manager for Avionté Staffing Software, he manages the client support team and is responsible for driving the highest levels of satisfaction and problem-solving capabilities for our clients. Corey attended the University of Minnesota and lives in Eagan with his wife and their three sons. In his little free time, he enjoys golfing and playing hockey.