Leading Through Coronavirus Blog 4

Use This Time Wisely

We’re now in the fourth week of the Staffing & Recruiting Leaders Mastermind Group.  The focus of most people is to keep their teams and themselves upbeat and as productive as possible.    The average emotional state for the past week for the group was a 7 on a 10-point scale. Most people are finding ways to avoid sinking into a negative state despite external circumstances. This is a challenge that we all need to address.

We’re growing in size and welcoming new people to come together and help each other.  People shared the state of their businesses. Everyone has been impacted, though not to the same degree.  The consensus is that the perm placement business has dropped 50% or more. Those with temps/contactors out have been keeping most of these people on staff, typically working from home.  

 Most people are having some client interviewing activity.  Most placements have occurred on pre-COVID rather than post-COVID job orders.  Those with new job orders have experienced a significant drop in volume. Most people’s clients expect to fill new positions when a more normal environment resumes. Most companies with open positions are working through the issue of how to onboard new hires.  Also, many employed candidates who were actively looking have put their searches on hold until the situation stabilizes. Many people also find that it is more challenging to get ahold of clients now than during regular times due to the multitude of challenges they’re facing. 

This group is a useful forum to discuss business issues that apply to everyone in the industry.  Topics discussed included: 

• The payroll protection plan under the CARES Act.  It appears that people who take distribution rather than W-2 income can still qualify.  Some people indicated that it’s more difficult to acquire funding through large banks than through SBA preferred lenders such as Lendio and Smartbiz. If you’ve already applied through another bank, you’re not allowed to apply again through another lender. 

• Some people are taking advantage of this time to “work on their business” instead of “in their business”,  With a slowdown like this, most people have more time available to complete projects that they’ve been putting off.  Examples include shifting to a new ATS, researching and implementing new technologies, strategic planning, etc. There was an extensive discussion about different ATS options that were of interest to multiple people.

I’m honored to facilitate the “Leading Through Coronavirus Virtual Mastermind Group” for a growing community of staffing and recruiting industry leaders.   This group is open to other staffing industry owners who’d like to both give and receive help. It occurs every Tuesday from 12-1 pm EDT while we’re dealing with the coronavirus disruption. Just click on https://zoom.us/j/3571033654.  

There’s no invitation or sign-up. Put it on your calendar as a recurring item to hop on and participate.  This is a group of experienced people who have a great deal of collective wisdom and are glad to help each other with relevant advice, recruitment strategy, and encouragement. We hope to see you next Tuesday!