The Full Desk Experience

Kortney Harmon [00:00:00]:
Every single piece of technology in your stack needs to serve a clear strategic purpose. Do you know if your ATS has a sequencing tool, or do you know if there's an onboarding component? Or do you pay for multiple tools that do multiple things? Could you cut them out? It's really, truly time to be ruthless about eliminating redundancies and optimizing your tech ecosystem. Your teams don't have time to go and enter data into another system. They're here to have conversations. They're people people. They're not computer people. They're not administrative assistants, but it's a part of the job that they have to do. But for us as leaders, it's time to have a come to Jesus and a deep dive into our processes that we haven't looked at in years to know if our teams are actually using the tools and the capacity that we need them to, or we're just paying for something that sits on the shelf and collects dust.

Kortney Harmon [00:00:52]:
Hey guys. Kortney Harmon, host of FDE. We're bringing you a special series of episodes FDE Plus. Those are going to be highlights from a recent virtual conference where hundreds of you joined us for an incredible event focused on boosting revenue for 2025. Each of these sessions is packed with valuable insights, expert discussions, and actionable strategies to help you drive growth in your business. Whether you missed the live event or want to revisit each session, we've got you covered. We're going to drop each of these 10 live event to wrap up our year and kick off the new year, right? So let's dive into today's session and uncover the key takeaways that will propel your success in the coming year. Stay tuned and let's dive in.

Katie [00:01:46]:
Okay, guys. So up next we have Kortney Harmon. Kortney is a highly regarded thought leader and dynamic speaker in the staffing and recruiting industry. And she's just so happens to be my favorite speaker in the staffing and recruiting industry. She's the Director of Industry Relations here at Crelate and the host of the Full Desk Experience podcast. With over 15 years of experience, she has trained thousands of recruiters and collaborated with hundreds of business owners and executives to drive growth and overcome industry challenges. In her session today, how to Survive and thrive in 2025, Kortney will share her insights on navigating the evolving landscape of the staffing and recruiting industry. She will also provide strategies for adapting to market changes, leveraging technology, and optimizing processes to success in the coming years.

Katie [00:02:36]:
This session is designed to equip professionals with the knowledge and tools you'll need to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. So, without further ado, my colleague and the esteemed Ms. Kortney Harmon, I'm going to hop off stage and let you take from here.

Kortney Harmon [00:02:52]:
Amazing. Thanks, Katie. You're always so nice. You always say such nice things. I appreciate you. With that being said, there was a lot of takeaways today. I love how you guys are all still chatting in the comments that there was really takeaways from each one of the speakers today. My session is really a cheat code because a lot of these people were on the full desk experience throughout 2024.

Kortney Harmon [00:03:15]:
And we're today going to be exploring how staffing and recruiting firms can thrive in 2025. You heard probably at some point in time in 2024, we're going to survive till 2025. Now we need to thrive. We're past the surviving part, right as we end the end, near the end of 24, it's really the perfect time to reflect on the past year. Think about the challenges and the successes your firm has experienced. What worked well, what didn't. Often, as leaders, we look at those challenges in our organizations and really see them as isolated problems. But more often than not, the issues that you've seen and are trying to adapt and learn and have takeaways from, just like today, these are deeper issues, something underlying.

Kortney Harmon [00:03:58]:
Think about it as just that little itch that you gotta scratch. For example, you might think your firm is struggling because of lack of new clients or difficulty retaining top talent. But I wanna ask you, is that really the case? Is it possible that there's a root cause that lies in maybe an outdated process, in an ineffective technology, lack of planning? Today, we're gonna dive into some of the key lessons and strategies shared by industry experts throughout 2024 on the full desk experience. So we're going to examine the how behind all of these pieces that can set your organization up for success in the coming year. So with that being said, we're going to review key themes from all of our weekly drops, some from conferences. That's at least 45 episodes of our podcast that we're going to hone in on the biggest topics of 2024. These themes are essential for understanding how to navigate the complexities of our industry. So you might be thinking to yourself, all right, Kortney, what are these themes? Because you have no slides today.

Kortney Harmon [00:05:01]:
That's just me talking. It's you. Your time to sit back, relax. The good news is we're going to give you this in an ebook. There's a lot of information I'm going to give you, but Katie is ever so wonderful and taking all of this wonderful content and going to be providing it in an ebook. So stay tuned and beware that that is coming your way. I'm going to break our data down from the podcast from 2024 and four chapters. In each of those four chapters, they're going to be anywhere from two to six subtopics underneath.

Kortney Harmon [00:05:30]:
Now the good news is I know it is 3:45 Eastern Standard Time. Lauren, you're welcome. It is 3:45 Eastern Standard Time and your brains are probably a little toasty. We're going to drop a bunch of ebooks from this year because I know there's actually quite a few of you I've connected with at least 3030 of you on this call that I've not even been connected with. So I know you probably didn't get a chance to see some of the content that we released. And these ebooks are able for you to take back to your office or your desk and really apply some of these things. We're giving you ebooks today as well as a big mama jama of an ebook of all of this at the end. So no need to frantically take notes, but I would love for you to download some ebooks that I'm giving you.

Kortney Harmon [00:06:14]:
So these four topics first, we're going to talk about embracing technological advancements. We've been talking about AI. There's so many pieces parts to that. That's so many industry speakers have talked about. We're going to dive into that. We're going to talk about processes and operations. That's truly the underlying thing to how to get our organizations to scale. Whether it's your marketing outreach that's driving your leads or if it's your sales process like Tom Erb talked about.

Kortney Harmon [00:06:40]:
So we're going to also talk about those internal teams and people. It's who you're following into battle. And last but not least, we're going to look forward. I'm going to highlight at least six to eight things that leaders were telling me that they were adjusting for 2025. So as we go through these insights, I do want you to reflect on your own organization. Think about if any of these scenarios sound familiar to you. Are there areas where you can make an impactful changes? Let's take stock of where we are today and look ahead how we can make 2025 even better. So let's not just uncover the strategies that'll help your firm survive, but thrive.

Kortney Harmon [00:07:20]:
So first off we're talking tech. It's the only obvious topic of 2024 with the rise of AI. You heard it from Ben, so many pieces and tools that he had given us, but man, is it an ever changing world out there. You heard about new tools and new topics and AI and it has been a constant change. But it's not just about the tech revolution that's currently happening in our industry. From new tech stacks to lessons learned and buzzword of the century AI, we're talking about major upgrades. We're not just talking about major upgrades. We hear about the complete game, changing strategies that separate the innovators from the stragglers.

Kortney Harmon [00:08:02]:
Right. This is an evolution of where we are. So throughout the Full Desk Experience podcast, we've really uncovered three critical areas that are going to reshape how staffing and recruiting firms operate in the space of technology. So you may be going through some of these pieces now. First is replatforming technology. Conducting a strategic tech purge is second in artificial intelligence, integrating it to the mix. Now, maybe that order should be a little reversed. Maybe the tech purge first.

Kortney Harmon [00:08:31]:
Just maybe. But I'm going to start and talk about replatforming your technology because this was a big talk of the town for quite a few episodes. And I'm not just saying this as a topic, since I work for Curl8 here, it's something that where people were seriously taking a microscope to. I want you to take a hard look at your current systems. How much time are your recruiters wasting wrestling with outdated, fragmented platforms? I really dove into this on one of my favorite podcasts with one of my coworkers and it was really the idea that there are a lot of things that need to happen as you migrate old systems to modern, unified platforms. It isn't just a nice to have, it's a must for survival. We're talking about more than just efficiencies here. When you truly get the right platform, it's about liberation.

Kortney Harmon [00:09:25]:
Chris Hessen, he's the coworker I was talking about. He is on our PS team and he has also. We've actually worked in quite a few offices together. You can really differentiate yourself and free your recruiters from those administrative quicksand things to focus on what truly matters. Right. We've been talking about AI, but automation is something that helps us get there faster. I know that was one of the things that you guys have been super interested in, what automation tools, what AI tools. But it's about focusing on what matters and that's building and creating relationships, understanding Your motivators of your candidates and clients and making those strategic placements.

Kortney Harmon [00:10:04]:
The benefits are massive. It's about streamlining your processes in a way that you probably didn't imagine, or, let's face it, you probably haven't revisited in so long. It's really about reducing the administrative task. Improving your team's collaboration and profitability is definitely key. So as you think about that, when you think about implementing a new system, or do you need to implement a new system, or how is your current system working? You need to have a complete inventory of your current process. What's working? What's holding you back? Economic uncertainties, like potential market slowdowns are actually perfect opportunities to revamp your tech infrastructure. We've heard that from quite a few people, like Jen Meyer from Govig. If you're in a position like that today where you want to look at your own systems and processes in your tech, we do actually have an rfi, that RFI template.

Kortney Harmon [00:10:57]:
It's a request for information. This is probably your starting point where you can actually take an honest assessment of what your process looks like today. How would that apply to somewhere else? So that is giveaway number one. But as we hone in and we talk about that honest assessment of what you have and what's working and what's not, this dives into one of the top things I hear about this year, which is the great tech purge. Let's buckle up, because this is where it gets real. A lot of this talk about this tech purge this year has been about cost savings. Let's face it. Maybe some of our offices didn't have as great of a year as we anticipated, and that's okay.

Kortney Harmon [00:11:36]:
But this is where the cost savings come in. Now, we've all been guilty of it nonetheless. How many of you have collected tech tools like their collectible trading cards or creating a digital mess that's more complicated than helpful. The most successful firms are really taking a surgical approach to this. It's not just about adding. It's about being strategic and consolidating. So many of us have tools that overlap in abilities. Every single piece of technology in your stack needs to serve a clear strategic purpose.

Kortney Harmon [00:12:09]:
Do you know if your ATS has a sequencing tool? Or do you know if there's an onboarding component? Or do you pay for multiple tools that do multiple things? Could you cut them out? It's really truly time to be ruthless about eliminating redundancies and optimizing your tech ecosystem. Your teams don't have time to go and enter data into another system. They're here to have conversations. They're people people. They're not computer people, they're not administrative assistants, but it's a part of the job that they have to do. But for us as leaders, it's time to have a come to Jesus and a deep dive into our processes that we haven't looked at in years to know if our teams are actually using the tools and the capacity that we need them to, or we're just paying for something that sits on the shelf and collects dust. Again, this was literally one of the biggest talks this year and we actually did an ebook on this as well. So the Great Tech Purge.

Kortney Harmon [00:13:02]:
This is actually your honest assessment to go in to see if you have multiple systems doing the same thing that you can go dive into to see if you could have some cost savings. Obviously the next most talked about thing in tech is AI. We all learned about this. Artificial intelligence isn't some scary robot takeover. That's not the movie iRobot. Even though Tesla just introduced their new robot and I've seen them all over social media. It's about being a secret weapon. Tools like Crelate, Copilot, we have actually AI built in are game changers.

Kortney Harmon [00:13:37]:
They're designed to organize, amplify your automations, maintain relationships, get your recruiters to the conversations quicker. It's not about doing something at scale, but it's about getting us to the conversations faster. You guys all said it in Ben's talk. It was really about the human element. We're looking to complement the human expertise, not compete with it. This means developing a clear implementation strategy, whether it's investing in staff training because this is not something that everybody's going to be good at, or maintaining the laser focus on ethical concerns. Bias in AI is real and we can't ignore it. We must continually evaluate and adjust as those algorithms are going to adjust.

Kortney Harmon [00:14:22]:
Privacy and data security aren't just buzzwords. They're fundamental responsibilities for us as leaders in this organization. And we need to make sure our teams know the consequences. About putting PII into a generative chat component where sensitive information is getting out there. We're going to talk about obviously developing those robust policies protecting those that pii. But the future of recruiting is going to be mind blowing. We're in the middle of it. We're seeing AI chat bots that can handle initial screenings, virtual assistants providing immediate responses, predictive insights that can analyze massive amounts of data and identifying trends that we've never been able to see before.

Kortney Harmon [00:15:07]:
But remember, these tools are to support our human decision making, not replace it. I'm sure just like you or just like me, you're using these tools day in and day out. But as we move into 2025, the firms that will be absolutely crushing it are those that view technology as the enabler of human potential. Your technology strategy should empower your teams, create more meaningful interactions to set you light years ahead of your competition. It's not just set it and forget it and walk away and hope that all goes well. It's about finding that perfect balance between cutting edge efficiencies, amplified speed to include irreplaceable human touches. So find the balance with those touches and we got to figure that out. So now that you're thinking of these topics in your organization, I'm going to ask you are any of these topics these three things replatforming, attack, purge or AI something that your organization has been thinking about this year or are you looking at that into 2025 I want you to write in the chat, or are you letting AI and technology pave the way? It's time to start.

Kortney Harmon [00:16:16]:
If you haven't to put at the top of your mind now purge all the tech. Ben, you're still here. I love it. For those of you who love the idea of automations and don't know where to start or you love AI and you just want some prompts, I'm going to add two ebooks here as well. So we actually put the four Rs of automation of what you can start to download first to think about the idea of automating. Where do I start? What do I do? And then chat. GPT is the other piece. You all love prompts.

Kortney Harmon [00:16:50]:
These are 10 use cases that we actually shared earlier in the year that are applicable for staffing and recruiting desks. So you're welcome. Kim. For the RFI templates, I love it. All right, topic or theme number two. Processes and internal operations. This is the way to my heart. If you know me at all or you've been on any of my workshops, this now that we got tech out of the way and we've talked about it, all in all it was the most talked about topic.

Kortney Harmon [00:17:17]:
But operational operations is truly the backbone and it's going to make or break your firm in 2025. We're talking about something far more exciting than the bureaucratic paperwork. We're talking about creating a lean, mean talent acquisition machine. How corny does that sound? But I loved it. That could outmaneuver your competition at every turn. You have to think about your processes, you have to think about your operations. It's really the root cause at nearly every single problem your teams are facing. If not, it's pretty close to every single problem.

Kortney Harmon [00:17:51]:
Ops and systems will help you win. Yes, Ben, it truly will. So, so many people that I've interviewed over this past year have talked about the gap in processes in internal operations as something they need to refocus on the remainder of 2024 and 2025. You've probably heard the idea, it's getting back to the basics. You know as well as I do that this industry is not rocket science. But it's always a changing market, whether it's a candidate driven market or a client driven market. And those foundational processes are pretty much always the same. But how we get there is different.

Kortney Harmon [00:18:27]:
So as we talk about process optimization, it's not truly creating more red tape. It's about freeing up your recruiters to do what they do best. It's cutting through the administrative noise, giving your team more space to build killer relationships, to do more marketing, to be present where they need to be, where your candidates and clients are. Every minute saved on a mundane task is a minute invested in strategic magic that really drives your business forward. So here's the game plan. You have to start with ruthless process mapping. I know it sounds like you want to stick a fork in your eye. I mean, you really need to dig into, expose every single bottleneck and inefficiencies in your workflows because it's like that surgical procedure for your operational infrastructure.

Kortney Harmon [00:19:14]:
Standardization is good, but we don't want to sop everybody to death either. We need to keep it simple. Richard Rosner said it keep it simple stupid. And we need to do as much automation as we can. Now if you don't have a process, don't sweat it. It's honestly pretty common in the offices that I've worked with, but this is really the easiest hurdle to overcome. I did the same thing actually at my last organization that I was with as a director of learning and development and it paid dividends and was worth the time. We took an A level producer, we mimic their process and we applied it to our new hires and probably lower level producers that are our C level producers, creating revenue faster and more abundance.

Kortney Harmon [00:19:56]:
You may be asking in what kind of abundance? Kortney? Our new hires brought increased gross margin. 142% increased in the first three months. 87% increased in the first six months. 32% increased in nine months of the first year of production. Talk about impact. There was nothing prior to my arrival and those things matched. It was not only the methodology of how they should be doing their job, but the tech processes that applied and went with it. So just merely putting a process in place is your way to scale.

Kortney Harmon [00:20:33]:
It's your building blocks. You have to look at the data that accompanies your processes. You have to think data day in and day out is what you're entering into the system. Don't just have your teams follow a process and collect data if it has no purpose. I have seen it time and time again and we've seen it here at Crew Late where there's data from people that retired in the 80s and you are grasping onto that data and you don't want to get let go of it. We don't want that to happen.

Chris Hesson [00:21:01]:
Recruiting is complex. Sometimes you just need a hand, someone beside you to give you that nudge to keep you on course. Introducing the new Crelate copilot. Copilot is Crelate's AI assistant, but it's more than just artificial intelligence. Copilot brings you recruiter intelligence. Need a quick reminder to reply to a candidate's email? Or maybe you're stuck writing up that new job description. Need a nudge to send a follow up to that client who hasn't gotten back to you? Copilot is there to help you craft it effortlessly with over 30 skills at your fingertips. Creelate Copilot doesn't just keep you organized organized, it keeps you ahead of the game.

Chris Hesson [00:21:44]:
Because recruiting isn't just about filling roles, it's about building relationships. And Crelate Copilot is the partner you've been waiting for. Check us out and create the future of recruiting.

Kortney Harmon [00:22:05]:
Data management is the second piece and really where the magic happens. Chris Hassan. No surprise, he's my second favorite coworker. Katie is of course my first. I've worked with Chris quite a few times, but he nailed it in one of our podcast. It's not about drowning in data. It's about collecting purposeful information that actually moves the needle forward. In your business, we're talking about creating data systems so streamlined that it helps your team win.

Kortney Harmon [00:22:32]:
Not anyone running off. Because you as well as I have heard, if it's not in the system, it didn't happen. Right? We don't want to have to use that fight. We want to keep things as streamlined and as easy as possible. Now that maybe you say you have a new candidate, let's think about that. Let's say it's like having A new car. You have to maintenance this car. Like after you put that candidate in, you can't set it and forget it.

Kortney Harmon [00:22:56]:
You can't put that candidate into the system and put a few things like a phone number and an email and you're like, okay, the magic will happen. We'll find them. It's no different in your database, right? It's really about the regular cleanup. I think it was. Ben. Ben, I think you mentioned about regular database cleanup, using AI to help in that process. You should really have a cadence to make sure that your data is clean. And that really is going to give you a competitive advantage.

Kortney Harmon [00:23:23]:
I want to ask you in the chat, tell me if you're still awake, how often do your teams clean up data in your system? Is it every summer that you can task an intern with maybe checking outgoing records without email addresses or phone numbers? Is it a whole team effort at the close of the year, as the year gets slow, Maybe you have an ior, an inter office resource that you have someone dedicated to this process daily. It's time to think about it. Danielle, I appreciate you still being awake. That's amazing because your firm and agencies are only as good as the data that you collect. Both process and data are the future of your business. Future proofing isn't just a buzzword, it's your survival strategy. So we're building organizations that can pivot faster than a recruiting ninja. It's really the idea of how do we move faster And AI is some of the solution.

Kortney Harmon [00:24:14]:
But we have to think strategically about cross training programs, technology investments, proactive risk. The real magic is truly though, how your team uses all of this in tandem. It's like an orchestra. So adaptability is the name of the game. Can your process scale? Can they flex when the market shifts? Can your team step up into different roles seamlessly? Those are just some questions that you need to think about as your firms need to dominate 2025. So as we look ahead into 2025, remember, operational excellence isn't a destination. It's always a continued journey. Now, as we talked processes and things that you need to do, I'm going to give you two more ebooks.

Kortney Harmon [00:24:58]:
It's like Christmas over here, guys. Number one is one of my favorites. It's called key account development. This is actually one of the classes that I taught with mri with some tweaks and traveled the country. And the other one is a multi touchpoint strategy. So if you don't have a process in which your teams are reaching out to new business, here's a 12 point touch plan strategy that I implemented at my last organization. And there's actually some scripts and there is a form that you could use yourself to implement for your organization. Darrel, I love that you have a team member.

Kortney Harmon [00:25:30]:
You're like, we have a dedicated team member. Me. Congratulations on your role. Moving into our third theme, which is internal teams. Without the right people in the right seats, achieving our goals might be a very challenging journey. For those of you who don't know, I actually played Division 1 softball in college. And one year we actually had a very powerful team mantra. It was called are you on the bus? When our coach told us this, it was very like, are you serious? And she gave us a little bracelet with like a rubber tire.

Kortney Harmon [00:26:02]:
It was kind of corny, but I kind. I always love team motives and mantras. But it wasn't just a simple question. It was truly a deep call for self reflection and commitment. For us, the on the bus philosophy was more about than just being present. It wasn't just I'm here today a roll call. It was truly about an examination of each individual's dedication, our effort, our willingness to go above and beyond for our collective success. When the pressure was on and the stakes were high, we needed every team member fully invested mentally, emotionally, physically.

Kortney Harmon [00:26:38]:
And I've heard that same reflection a lot in my conversations this year. Does anybody had felt like that was the honest conversations in your offices this year? Like, are you on the bus? Just like in sports and in business and life, success isn't about having a perfect plan. It's about having a committed team that's willing to row in the same direction. It's about alignment, it's about trust. It's about a shared vision. It's all hands in the circle. I feel like I'm already in like back in college, like hands in to go for a huddle. Each person must not only understand your destination, but be willing to put in the work, face challenges, support one another.

Kortney Harmon [00:27:18]:
And being on the bus means embracing collective responsibility. When the rubber meets the road, you're not just thinking about yourself, but how your actions, attitude and effort impact the entire team. It's the mindset, unity, resilience and accountability. And I have heard that time and time again from the people that I interviewed in this industry. This year. As we approach 2025, the landscape of our industry is poised for significant transformation. The role of our internal teams within these firms are emerging as the critical component for ensuring growth and sustainability. AI is taking a lot of jobs, so we need to make sure that the right people are in the right seats doing the right things and we can believe and know everyone has positioned themselves for success in a rapidly evolving market.

Kortney Harmon [00:28:05]:
You have to understand the importance of these internal teams because driving growth is essential. It's not just about leadership. It's about the advice that we're giving our clients. It's about vp. The ebooks that I just talked about, they should be in the chat. The multi touch plan strategy and the channel or the other one. They're both in there if you didn't get them. Katie can help me out as I talk to a lot of people.

Kortney Harmon [00:28:30]:
Understanding the importance of these internal teams. Driving growth is not just about the internal teams. It's about clients. It's about candidates. It's not merely the sales support staff. They're pivotal players. In one of my conversations with Amy Yakowski, if you don't know her, she really is about having a strong foundational process before embarking on major projects, meaning the difference between success and failure. She talks about a very ground zero level concept we're going to talk about in a minute but other people I've.

Kortney Harmon [00:29:04]:
I've talked to Annette Worley, she is operational od. Tom Kosnik, another coach in our industry. Michelle Massaro, leading industry voice that actually is in a firm. I want to give you their practical advice. So they gave me five main areas to focus on when it comes to internal operations to focus on in 2025. Number one, build a strong foundation. A strong foundation is crucial for success. Amy emphasized that importance of phase zero work.

Kortney Harmon [00:29:33]:
Whenever you think of phase zero it's when you are preparing and refining for operational processes ahead of a new change. Right? Highlighting the need for the groundwork before the project even starts. Firms that fail any of the processes usually have poor data and risk transfer when it comes to what they need to do. Amy also shared where future focused strategies lead to better outcomes. Avoiding the inefficiencies. Preparing teams involves really equipping them with necessary skills and the mindset which Tom Erb talked about to handle the changes effectively that you're actually going into this year. Number two, change management. Even we have foundational building blocks.

Kortney Harmon [00:30:17]:
But change management is also different from change readiness. Amy also highlighted change management focuses on the post project activities like aligning the training while change readiness involves the preparatory work that ground zero effective change management all the time, it's continuous. It's a continuous conversation but it has to happen early. So when you're thinking about change because it happens often in our industry and in Our firms think about co creating co leadership to foster and own alignment to help that adaptability to get that buy in and really minimize disruptions. There are so many things in our industry that has the building blocks that just aren't game changing. But there are a lot of pivots in our industry depending on our market where we have to go back and forth. Number three is leadership and communication style. This might be a self reflection of you.

Kortney Harmon [00:31:10]:
Leadership is pivotal and driving growth and efficiency in our recruiting firms is truly something that that needs to be worked on. Oftentimes we promote within just because we have a good performer and we're like, congratulations, you've won. You get to go to the next level without any additional training. Annette Worley really highlighted in one of our episodes the need for leadership to possess qualities like courage, curiosity, adaptability, emotional intelligence. It's something that some of us kind of cringe at. But effective leadership requires clear, concise communication and not all of us are good at that. Being open about career progression of our teams to make sure that we have the retention that we need to have and really regular feedback loops. All of this is important for building strong teams with self components like self awareness that many of us don't have and relationship management being crucial.

Kortney Harmon [00:32:05]:
So think about investing in these skills for your teams and develop those into 2025. One of the talks that Tom Kosnik really emphasized was compensation and incentives. You know as well as I do the average tenure in this industry is three years. What can we do to keep them longer? So whenever we talk about money, this is important to people. Tom really emphasized the importance of comprehensive compensation plans. Whether it's including base salary, commissions to be competitive in the market. Is there additional bonuses? What are your benefits? It's really about being strategic on your goals and how collaborative approach. So this is something that you probably are assessing.

Kortney Harmon [00:32:45]:
But think about it in its whole package, regularly evaluating, adjusting comp plans ensures your competitiveness in the market. And he actually dove into this. I think Tom talked about for a solid hour about comp plans. If you haven't listened to that episode, go back to the podcast. Listen to it because it really plays a crucial role in motivating your employees as well as various levers to ensure rewards that matter most to the people on our team. Michelle Massaro, one of my favorites. I'm gonna take this twist. Flexible and inclusive work schedules.

Kortney Harmon [00:33:20]:
This isn't just for our internal teams. Covid changed the name of the game for us, right. But Michelle actually stressed a different importance, a little different way. She stressed the importance of creative solutions to accommodate diverse candidates and client needs. Innovative approaches like maybe part time schedules for sharing how to retain top talent for our clients. Think about that not only in our internal, but how we educate clients to be more proactive and sharing better solutions. So Michelle actually talked about those strategies that they're using in their office for engaging an underutilized workforce. Like moms that have to take kids to school and pick them up.

Kortney Harmon [00:34:00]:
Supporting that work life balance, attracting a broader talent pool. Because let's face it, we know that the workforce is getting smaller, people are retiring in record forms, people are only wanting to work in a gig economy. And we've already heard stat after stat that we're not going to have the workforce to fill the jobs that we have. So think about maximizing those potential opportunities. All right, what you're here for is the number four. That's where we can focus on for 2025. Throughout the podcast, several strategies have emerged beyond what I've already talked about. They're crucial for growth, but the main topics as we dive into them, these are where people are focusing as we go forward.

Kortney Harmon [00:34:45]:
Those are some things that were mentioned. But we really need to start and really assess what are we starting off 2025 with. And I have six themes within this one. So bear with me when we talk about growth and scale because let's face it, we're due for a year. Number one and probably where your mind is too, especially after we post election is is understanding the economic and market conditions for 2025. I'm not quite sure what you're feeling. I would love for you to tell me in your thoughts about how you think 2025 is going to hit and start. Feel free to enter it in the chat.

Kortney Harmon [00:35:19]:
But let's face it, the beginning of 2025 might just be more of the same in 2024, navigating through various economic shifts and market conditions, really thinking about new strategies for growth. Now I will tell you a lot of my conversations in the last month have been positive. I have talked to recruiting leaders that have had the best year of business this past year. I know that might surprise you. I've also talked to recruiting leaders who have maybe just been flat, but at the beginning of the year majority of people were saying that they were down 20 to 30%. We didn't end the year that way. So it is on a positive note. Adrian, I don't know if he's still here.

Kortney Harmon [00:35:58]:
He had joined us today. He really was on the podcast and he emphasized the importance of maintaining a positive mindset as a leader during these challenging times to prevent negative impacts within his team. The proactive approach really helps build resilience and adaptability among your team and essential for a fluctuating economy. Now I've also heard on companies not relying on a singular solution, but maybe focusing on multiple aspects such as maybe sales, candidate retention, business strategies, process planning, and maybe adding additional verticals. There are also firms that I've heard and we talked about in Diane Prince's session that maybe we're talking about either adding a contract arm or to their contingent model or they're focusing on retained or adding a direct hire arm. This is a multifaceted approach that really ensures that your firm can tackle challenges from different angles, thereby obviously improving your sustained growth. As companies build these teams, it becomes crucial to recognize opportunities and to pivot as necessary. I am going to actually drop one of Katie's ebooks that she wrote.

Kortney Harmon [00:37:10]:
Adrienne, I love that you're trying. Katie wrote a book on the Massive Guide to Executive Search, one of my favorite ebooks, as well as how to Break into staffing. It's a checklist. So here's two other resources that you could use. But I need you to think about your own industry, your own office that you're at. The staffing industry's futures is really going to be focusing on skills. That skills gap I had Joanne Bylly, I think all of you probably should know her. She was the ASA chair and also at Employee Bridge.

Kortney Harmon [00:37:47]:
She was on at the beginning of this year and she focused on how they are really addressing societal changes such as that decreased birth rate, increased lifespan. But they're addressing this in a very intentional way by anticipating and adapting to these shifts so they can make themselves as a differentiator in the market. So I guess my question to you is, have you thought about addressing the skill gap from your perspective? How are you upping the skills of your candidates that you have in play? Have you even thought about that? Again, go back to that episode with Joanne Biley from Employbridge. Truly amazing how intentional they are with this issue. Maybe you're a little different. Let's just talk about the executive search industry. Maybe you're in a contingent model and you want to take it one step further. You want to build a robust retained search model.

Kortney Harmon [00:38:41]:
I've actually had quite a few discussions around transitioning from contingent to retained and it's really had a significant impact on some firms bottom line, like Sharon Hulse. She's a titan in this space. Her Success story really provides a roadmap. She was also on the podcast. She gave her framework and exactly what she did from transitioning from contingent to retained. She talked about key challenges, transitions including she lost some initial clients in that necessary for her process to work. However, the benefits such as cultivating those long term relationships with committed clients really made it worthwhile. Sharon really talked about the focus of selling appointments, other staffing services and building emotional connections.

Kortney Harmon [00:39:26]:
She actually visited clients in person across the nation as she developed those relationships and her firm has managed to establish deep rooted relationships and ensure reoccurring business in the construction industry. Sharon actually and my conversation, she actually only tracks one metric in her entire organization. She only tracks sendouts to ensure candidates are being interviewed and placed. Thus she was simplifying that complex process of measuring success. So retained actually offers a different avenue, something to think about, but it does require courage and confidence. She explained by not offering concessions and demonstrating the value of being a talent partner, her firm gained momentum. She lost some people along the way, but as she successfully transitioned to retained, it was really about educating clients the benefit of maintaining that steadfast approach despite those initial setbacks. So another thing that I heard a lot of this year, number three, number three in this was branding.

Kortney Harmon [00:40:32]:
You heard a lot about it today. The Shark Donnie. It was a big part of 2024, but it's not just about the visual elements. It encompasses the entire emotional experience that a client or a candidate has with your firm. Better yet, the people in your firm. My partner in crime that introduced me, Katie, she did a podcast for us and she actually is the brand person for that. Started the full desk experience and she actually runs that with Creelate as well. She actually discussed the importance of creating a brand voice document to define the tone and emotions a brand should convey.

Kortney Harmon [00:41:09]:
This approach can really elevate an organization's presence by fostering deeper connections with both candidates and clients. She gave us a stat when she did our podcast or did the podcast. I don't know if you know this, but Katie told us that 70% of decisions are based on emotional factors. It's a pretty high percent. Leveraging this, she advises that staffing firms to tailor their brand messaging to invoke the right emotions. Personal stories. You heard that from the Shark. Experiences that can enhance the emotional brand, making the firm's brand more relatable and memorable consistently.

Kortney Harmon [00:41:43]:
Auditing though and reassessing your brand can improve client and candidate loyalty. Katie suggests monitoring industry specific review sites, conducting anonymous surveys to gauge how your brand is perceived. Because Just because you think it's perceived one way, it may be perceived other ways by other people. And let's face it, interviews are no longer the first impression of people anymore. But by continually evolving your brand strategies, you can stay ahead of your competitive advantage. This is not necessarily 100% that brand checklist that Katie did. Katie, I don't know if you did a checklist. I don't even know if you did chop it in.

Kortney Harmon [00:42:23]:
But here is a social selling ebook that we also have. My Christmas presents are slowly running out. With that being said, strategic marketing and networking is next. This is an area that is constantly evolving outside of those firms that just post and pray. Effective marketing and networking are really essential for recruiting firms. Covid kind of killed everything for a while, but this is really about meeting your audience where they are. Adrian shared that his business has achieved more with fewer staff by performing robust marketing strategies, capitalizing on network opportunities. Have you explored how to engage with maybe trade associations, getting involved with community activities, on how to build a network that can drive growth? It should be number one on your list for 2025.

Kortney Harmon [00:43:13]:
Be on the lookout of one of our future workshops, actually for January that Chris Hesson and I did at Staffing World, but we talked about sourcing strategies, really America's Got Talent, and everybody wants them. And you have to figure out how to be more strategic in getting the right people as our market shifts. Again, it's really truly about being intentional and meeting your candidates where they are. I did a consulting opportunity with a local government branch a few weeks ago, and they actually recruit rangers for the Ohio Department of Wildlife. And in that process, the question was, how do we get more people to be involved or want to apply for our jobs? They were at the level of officers, police officers, but they actually needed to possibly go one step further. They needed to be involved in the vocational schools, where people are a little bit sooner in that process, or get into the high schools where kids are starting to evaluate what they want to do and what they want to be. So one step, combining that brand and networking, you need to drive and build a strong online presence. Jay Brunetti also emphasized the need for intentional marketing strategies that go beyond the traditional methods like cold calling.

Kortney Harmon [00:44:22]:
Cold calling still has its time in its place. I never want to say that you shouldn't because that's one of my favorite things if it's used the right way. But if you can get that warm call like Donnie said, it's definitely something that you need to focus on. So use social media in industry forums. Heck, I don't necessarily know if you've ever gone to Reddit. There's a recruiting forum on Reddit that's actually very entertaining. You should check it out. In addition to all of this, you need to measure your online engagement, adapt your strategies accordingly, analyze communication patterns, whether it's in your ATS or your emails, and how everything's processed and read and opened.

Kortney Harmon [00:44:59]:
But a data driven approach really allows your firm to refine its processes. So how do you plan on doing this differently in 2025? Leadership and team Development this is something that's been put on the back burner honestly, and it's the first to stop thinking about and cut when it comes to budgeting, strong leadership is crucial in driving growth for your firms. It's important to maintain a positive mindset as a leader, especially during challenging times. A leader's approach can really change the impact of your team's morale and making very focused vision, casting and recognition. Have you ever thought of a leader that you could follow into battle no matter the circumstance? Do you? Have you ever worked for someone like that? Anyone a fan of the movie 300? I can legitimately say I've seen part of this movie no less than 50 to 100 times because my husband watches that and Hacksaw Ridge on repeat to go to sleep. This is really about focusing on leadership, being the leader you want to follow into battle. But it's not just leading by example. Jay Brunetti talked also about leaders should invest in their teams, invest in training and empowerment.

Kortney Harmon [00:46:07]:
By doing so you could really enhance the resilience, the competitiveness. Really they have the buy in that you believe in them as a leader and you're developing from the ground up because we only have so many leaders at the top before they filter out or they go away. So you need to promote these. Include continuous training programs to create that environment that encourages innovation and growth. We can't just reward the best performers and not prepare them with the training they need to succeed in their role. Great episodes to listen to on Leadership are Annette Worley and Julie Jones. Julie is actually my old college coach. She was amazing but they're can't miss.

Kortney Harmon [00:46:47]:
It's really about the mindset. Last but not least is about metrics and performance. Gosh, is this a talked about topic? Honestly, a point of contention with so many in our industry, Tracking the right metrics is vital for the success of any organization. Do you have your team on that KPI hamster wheel because you don't know how to manage like you should Again, Chris Hessen at one point in time on one of our podcasts said it perfectly, you need to focus on the ratios and understanding how they translate into revenue dollars. If you're just collecting data to collect it with nothing to do with your findings, did you truly need it in the first place? It's crucial to analyze the process that contribute to the revenue and have a plan in place to generate and understand what you're doing with these potential candidates and clients. He also suggested evaluating operation or organizational processes. We've talked about that, and this transparency helps in identifying what works and what needs improvement in your organizations. So as you look into 2025, focus on the right metrics and understand that you're holding your team to the right numbers and not just maybe time on the phone.

Kortney Harmon [00:48:01]:
So they're calling the White House or the Santa Claus hotline because you held them to a number that they needed to get numbers of minutes on the phone number versus meaningful conversations. So guys, that was a lot to cover. Thank you very much for joining us. Obviously, as we look at 2025, staffing and recruiting firms are going to have to focus on things to make them thrive, like those technological advancements such as AI platforms, modernizing their platforms, streamlining their operations, enhancing your human interactions, optimizing your processes, managing your data, and so much more. We hope you found today's session insightful and inspiring. Remember to stay tuned in the upcoming weeks as we'll be sharing all of this amazing content of our virtual conference. If you missed any part of it, don't forget to subscribe to our show so you don't miss anything upcoming. And if you like this valuable content.

Kortney Harmon [00:48:57]:
If you enjoyed this episode, please feel free to share it with your network and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Together we're building a community of growth and learning. Until next time.