There are two main topics society says we shouldn’t talk about – politics and religion.  Since I’ve been talking about Politics already on previous posts, I figure I might as well hit the religion side

While this topic did come out of the sermon this week (I go to Eaglebrook Church, Bob Merritt Sr Pastor, deliverer of this sermon), it is VERY practical advice.  The concept in this 8 part series is how to build a great life.  This week (#2), the topic was about Discipline.  Not necessarily in ‘disciplining someone’, but more of having discipline.  He quoted someone famous, as saying Discipline is the thing we want the least but need the most.  Bob broke it down to having 3 main points to follow, in order to have a disciplined life:

1)       Get out of the Entitlement mindset:  I’ve seen this myself, especially in the younger generations.  As a society, we have this entitlement perspective that things should be handed to us.  Yes, this does dovetail in with my political views as well.  Americans just aren’t working as hard, being as innovative or creating new things.  We expect that just because we were born here, then it is society’s job to give us a good life.  Working hard and being independent is even biblical.

2)      Practice Delayed Gratification:  The notion of working hard for something – or saving money for something – has been trampled in today’s mindset.  Think of credit cards – people want to buy that widget and they want it now.  Since they don’t have the cash at the moment, let’s just charge it.  Also – the mindset becomes if I have to work for something hard, maybe it isn’t that great.  At Avionte, we’ve always tried to look for the right people instead of the right experience/knowledge.  We can teach SQL, we can’t teach attitude.  We’ve looked at energy level and problem solving more than degrees or past experience.  During the sermon, Bob quoted a study saying that self-discipline is twice as important as intelligence in predicting success.  Read that one to yourself again.  LITERALLY, an average person with high discipline is twice as likely to have success as a really smart person with average discipline.

3)      Make Advanced Decisions:  Bob had made 6 life decisions early in his life (Spiritually strong, Financially stable, physically fit, sexually pure, strong family and good leader) and lived his life according to this principles.  I relate it a little differently – if your current lifestyle/habits are not producing the results you want – make a decision to change.  If you are sick of being poor, not having enough money to do what you want to do – change something.  You either need to increase your earnings (new job, 2^nd job, marry a rich person?) or decrease spending (eliminating interest, cutting bills, buying less, divorcing a rich person?).  If you don’t have a plan for your future, your life will look much the same as it does now in the future.

If you are interested, you can see the video at http://www.eaglebrookchurch.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=38656 .  Bob quotes Bill Gates as well.

Quoting a great philosopher of the recent era, Larry the Cable Guy, Get ‘er done!

I am privileged to have the opportunity to talk to staffing companies from across the country, representing businesses of all sizes and staffing service lines.  With some exceptions, the consensus is that the staffing industry is experiencing a recession.   So, the question becomes – how do you survive in an economic downturn?  Moreover, can you leverage it to get ahead?

Following are fundamental practices that all businesses should implement during market downturns.  They have helped my staffing software company and I believe they can help your firm, as well.

1)      Be lean:  Use this opportunity to review all of your expenses.  Donald Trump himself suggests that as an owner or manager, you should be involved in every detail of your business.  Look at every item from office rent down to paper and printing costs.  This is a great practice in general, but in downturns it becomes more critical.  With margins razor thin for the staffing industry, every opportunity for savings could make the difference between healthy profits and no profit. 

2)      Track your expenses:  Slow times are a great time to institute better, more efficient procedures to track your expenses.  As an owner/manager, it’s essential to know:  when to expect the expenses, a break-down of each cost, and most importantly, how they affect Gross Profit.  Remember, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

3)      Refine your sales and marketing strategy:  Good times mask bad sales and marketing procedures.  When customers are knocking down your door, you may not need a great sales staff to sell.  But in bad times, you need every advantage you can get to find the nuggets of business.  Assess each of your sales people to determine effectiveness.  How are your marketing initiatives doing?  How many leads (and consequent sales) are you generating?  If the numbers don’t justify themselves, make adjustments.

4)      Trim staff:  The worst aspect of being an owner/manager is letting people go.  I believe that at the end of the day, we are judged for the positive impact we had on OTHER people’s lives.  To let someone go is devastating.  However, as the leader of your company, you are required to make difficult decisions.  You need to consider the rest of your employees and understand that you owe it to them to make the right choices for long term success.  If your entire company suffers, you will have hurt more than the few.  Employees fall into three types of categories:  the good, the bad and the in-between.  I know it sounds obvious, but here is the rub:  most companies and managers can effectively identify the bad.  They are the individuals that don’t perform even close to expectations.  The trouble is dealing with the in-between employees.  They are the employees that do OK – not great, but not bad, either.  Just OK.  The hidden cost here is in the opportunity cost; if you didn’t have that OK person, couldn’t you hire another employee that has the potential to be a great?  Compared to the great employee, how much does the OK employee cost you?  In any healthy organization, there should be turnover.  In a down market, use this opportunity to trim staff and eliminate those that are not bringing results.

5)      Review operational procedures:  I believe a down market is an excellent time to re-evaluate the workings of your company.  What’s working and what’s not?  Take the time to determine where your inefficiencies lie and make the necessary changes to fix it.   Evaluating your technology is a key component of operational procedures.  If you’re one of the many who are convinced that an up market is a better time for a technology upgrade, consider the following.  If your business is busier in a good market, isn’t your staff busier as well?  If that indeed is the case, how will you allocate the extra time required to implement a new software system, implement new procedures, train staff and perform adequate testing?  Take advantage of the slow period to finally get your systems and procedures right.   During this transition, you can apply the previous practice to trim your staff based on your new operational procedures.  It will become clear which employees are accepting of change, which ones contribute to creating better methods, and which ones can easily learn a new system.   

Putting a new software system in place, coupled with a stronger staff and increased operational efficiencies during a down market, will prepare you to stand above the rest and flourish as the market turns.

John Long is the founding Partner and CEO of Avionté, a customer-focused provider of staffing software solutions.  He has extensive knowledge of the staffing industry that began with four years at Paychex, where he developed an in-depth understanding of back-office functions, specifically with payroll software processes.  Over the next several years, John worked for established staffing software firms in advanced roles that included President, Vice President of Sales and Chief Revenue Officer.   John’s ability to empathize with staffing software users and fully comprehend their needs is a direct result of his hands-on involvement at every level. John holds degrees from St. Olaf College in Math, Computer Science, and Statistics.  John Long can be contacted at 651.556.2121, or by email at jlong@avionte.com.  Visit Avionté online at www.avionte.com.

If there’s one thing you can count on from me, it’s that I’ll always give it to you straight.

Although this character trait has certainly gotten me into some trouble, I’ve found that most people appreciate an honest answer.  The same goes when staffing firms ask me what they should be looking for when they buy staffing software.  I never hesitate to refer them to fellow software vendors if I believe it will be a good fit for them.

But, in my experience, the staffing firm that makes its technology selection based on its confidence in the COMPANY will end up the happiest – today and in the long-run. 

So, why do I believe the company is more important than the software product itself?

1)      You’re not buying software for today; you’re buying it for five years from now.   A provider that will be there for your business down the road is even more important than what they do today.  Similarly, your staffing buyers hope to partner with you for their long-term procurement needs.  In the example of software, the COMPANY is responsible for keeping up with:

• new market technologies
• industry and technology trends
• solutions for the demands of the marketplace

2)      Conflict will inevitably occur.  Even the most fine-tuned firms will experience issues with their clients from time to time.  Your own staffing company may be service-oriented, but you’ve likely encountered difficult situations with clients.  How you handled those situations impacted the quality of your relationships. The key is to align with a partner you feel confident will respect your interests and that you can productively work through issues with.   

3)      Development Influence.   The staffing market changes quickly, and your firm evolves just as fast.  Even after you have implemented a software solution, your needs may change.  You want to look for a firm that you trust will welcome your input and that will respond with product upgrades that match your needs.  Likewise, your clients will experience business changes over time, and they depend on your firm to adapt quickly to these transformations.

4)      Support.  No product is self-sustaining.  And it’s when an issue arises that you call the COMPANY for support.  If there is an issue with your product (staffing talent) – such as an employee didn’t show up for an assignment – your clients look to you to effectively respond with a solution.  The people that represent a company have a direct impact on the quality of the service delivered.  If you’re not comfortable with its people, you’ll eventually become dissatisfied with a company’s product.

5)      Look for Integrity.  If the company and its people don’t exude integrity you can respect, they may not be the vendor you want to form a relationship with.   

Although the company behind the product ultimately dictates what that product will become, it is of course important to evaluate the merits of the software product itself.  The following are some additional guidelines for staffing software buyers to follow:

1)      Know what is important to you before you begin the evaluations.  Factors to rank might include: 

• System price.  Establish a budget and be informed of all potential expenses: What will the implementation cost?  Does the firm charge support fees?  Do they charge for upgrades?  
• System scalability.  If growth is in your business plan, be sure the software you select can accommodate it.
• System cohesion.  Check for integration between the front office, back office, web portals and email applications. 
• Business size.  In my opinion, the size of your firm can dictate the evaluation factors:
  • For smaller firms:  price and ease of use. 
  • For high-growth, technology-driven firms:  a vendor that will keep-up with new technologies, a flexible system architecture, software scalability, and easy feature customization. 
  • For larger firms:  consistent stability, breadth of functionality, and scalability. 

2)      Get to know the system – before you buy.  First, ask the vendor for client references – hear what your staffing firm colleagues have to say.  Then, test drive the system – working in the application is the only way to fully discover what the software can do.

Still, the number one factor is the answer to the question in this article’s title:  What’s more important, the company or its products?  Reflect on your own business practices; your long-term customers stay loyal because of the service and partnership you provide them.  Not because you have better talent than your competitors.

So my answer to the question is this:   the COMPANY behind the product is more important than the product itself.