As CEOs and executive leaders, we all know our strengths/weaknesses. It is our goal to hire talent that rounds out and compliments those strengths/weaknesses. As your organization grows, if your recruitment department/recruiter is doing their job well, you’ll have a variety of strengths and weaknesses that complement each other and reinforce the culture of your organization. It is then that you need to ensure that employees within the same department and/or with comparable skill-sets are cross-trained. That way, you’re not caught with your pants down – in a desperate situation where you’ve lost a key player and have no one internally who can perform the same job duties until a new hire is made.
Per the Dictionary: “The key players in a particular organization, event, or situation are the most important people or things involved in it.” I couldn’t agree more! Now, what is one of your key players leaves? How do you determine the cost of losing such a player? Well, that all depends on how well you have prepared.
Cross training is smart business.
As the cost to you losing a key player, if you have prepared, will be significantly less detrimental to your pocketbook and to your organization’s day-to-day activities. Don’t have your people cross-trained? No need to panic! Take action. Get started right away – don’t delay! Here’s how you can get started:
1) Have your key player make a manual in case of absence. This should include relevant company passwords, login credentials, and any intricate details pertaining to their day-to-day duties.
2) Have the person directly below your key player (in title) sit with your key player for a week. Have them take notes on anything additional (beyond the manual already created) that are pertinent to that particular role.
3) Have your key player update their manual using the notes from the person they cross-trained. Make sure they update weekly to ensure the manual stays up to date.
Hire without time constraints
Hiring out of desperation, is risky because you are increasing the possibility of needing to spend resources on filling the need again in the near future. Rather, if you focused the resources and time on the front-end in ensuring key talent was cross-trained and ensuring you’re working with a Recruiting Firm/Recruiter whose focus is on the right fit and not the right now fit. Strong onboarding processes improve new-hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by over 70 percent, according to Brandon Hall Group research. Additionally, the research shows that companies with weak onboarding programs are more likely to lose these people in the first year.
Making hiring decisions out of desperation is never somewhere you want to be. First, you might not be hiring the best talent for the role. Instead, the focus is on patching the hole. Second, candidates can sense desperation and that raises concern about the stability of your organization or of your decision-making skills.In those moments, the mentality is “just find me someone who can do this” rather than “find me the RIGHT someone who can do this and fit the culture of our organization”.
Hiring quickly versus hiring the most qualified is risky because you are increasing the possibility of needing to spend resources on filling the need again in the near future. Rather, if you focused the resources and time on the front-end in ensuring key talent was cross-trained and ensuring you’re working with a knowledgeable Recruiting Firm/Recruiter whose focus is on the right fit and not the right now fit, you’re setting yourself up for success.
Problem Solving: Retaining the Right Employees
/in STR Blog /by Kim KleemanFacilities Coordinator
/in Full-Time /by Kim KleemanLocation: Skokie, IL
Status: Full Time
Travel: Minimal
SUMMARY
Responsible for maintaining the buildings and grounds, directing staff, and overseeing the upkeep of equipment and supplies. Also responsible for the budget, as it relates to equipment and supplies – must negotiate with outside vendors for supplies, repairs and other measures.
Responsible for assisting the Leadership Team in operational projects and overseee office openings, closings, and build outs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Florida.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
High School Diploma, or equivalent, and three-plus years of commercial real estate build-out experience OR three-plus years of experience managing construction projects are required.
A Bachelor’s Degree, or equivalent, and five-plus years of commercial real estate build-out experience OR three-plus years of experience managing construction projects are preferred.
The ideal candidate must have a demonstrated ability to problem solve with minimal direction and supervision; solution focused. High attention to detail, strong organizational skills, strong written and verbal communication skills, ability to manage time effectively, and ability to compile information and create reports on an as needed basis are a must. Additionally, the ideal candidate must have the ability to work under strict timelines and be able to manage large amounts of data in an organized fashion.
Real estate background and/or experience working in a sales environment is extremely preferred.
Project Manager (Consulting)
/in Full-Time /by Kim KleemanLocation: Chicago, IL
Status: Full Time (non-exempt)
Travel: Up to 25%
SUMMARY
Responsible for making the project successful. The Project Manager is expected to blend traditional project management principles with Agile development practices to motivate team members, manage client expectations, maintain project contracts, and ensure all project timelines, deliverables, and budgets are met. Responsible for managing several concurrent, complex, enterprise-level projects that may cross multiple business divisions. Additionally, the Project Manager is responsible for being the primary point of contact for clients and to work closely in tandem with Product Owners, Developers, and Designers to successfully deliver products that provide exceptional business value to clients and their users.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
High School Diploma, or equivalent and a minimum of one-plus year of experience communicating/managing budget expectations are required. Three-plus years of recent Project Manager consulting experience is also required.
A Bachelor’s Degree is preferred. The ideal candidate will have previous programmer experience and/or an understanding of computer programming. A PMP Certification is a plus. PMI-ACP, CSM, or equivalent is preferred. CSPO or ScrumMaster Certification is strongly preferred. An interest in mentoring, coaching, collaborating, and team building is ideal. Additionally, a passion for agile project management practices, open source values, collaboration, and satisfied clients is desired.
Additionally, the candidate will be an autonomous problem solver. It is ideal for a candidate to have ability to set team and client expectations around what is reasonable and acceptable and to be able to communicate those accordingly. It is ideal that the candidate is a self-starter who is proficient in SCRUM/Agile methodologies with past experience implementing them on enterprise-level application development projects. The ideal candidate will have a proficient understanding of software development life cycle models. Competency working with project management tools designed to support software and applications development like JIRA, Codebase, Rally, VersionOne or equivalent is desired. Additionally, competency working with basic business support applications and products like: Google Home & Office products is preferred.
A preferred candidate will have a strong dedication to teamwork centered strategies that value group success over individual accolades and personal performance metrics as well as a genuine desire for continual learning and professional growth. A candidate who has strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills along with an ability to balance competing demands and focus on multiple, varied topics at a time that can use a creative approach to problem solving is ideal. A strongly preferred candidate will have innovative ideas and solutions for new and old quandaries, and have strong interpersonal skills as well as excellent oral and written skills. Additionally, this candidate will have the ability to easily interact with both business and IT individuals at all levels is desired. Actively participating in relevant communities and support networks is also preferred.
Team Leader
/in Full-Time, Job Board /by Kim KleemanLocation: Mundelein, IL
Status: Full Time (non-exempt)
Travel: Minimal
SUMMARY
Responsible for managing all day-to-day operations of assigned office(s) within jurisdiction. Also responsible for managing independent Realtor contractors as well as administrative office staff.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
High School diploma or equivalent and a valid managing broker’s license are a must. Two-plus years experience in a leadership role is required. A proficiency in Microsoft Office applications is also required.
The ideal candidate must have a demonstrated ability to problem solve with minimal direction and supervision; solution focused. A candidate with high energy, strong multi-tasking skills, and excellent communication skills (written and oral) is also preferred. High attention to detail, strong organizational skills, ability to manage time effectively, and ability to organize information and create reports on an as-needed basis are a must. A self-motivated and proactive candidate with a strong sense of collaboration is highly preferred.
Real estate background and experience working in a sales environment are extremely preferred.
Client Facing Bookkeeper
/in Full-Time, Job Board /by Kim KleemanLocation: Skokie, IL
Status: Full Time
Travel: Up to 25%
SUMMARY
Responsible for creating and maintaining records of financial transactions for multiple clients, using QuickBooks.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE
High School Diploma, or equivalent and a minimum of five-plus years of bookkeeping experience are required. QuickBooks ProAdvisor Certification, as well as a proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, are required.
The ideal candidate will be self-motivated and possess highly attentive and proactive customer service abilities. Additionally, the ideal candidate will have the ability to work independently and as part of a team. Demonstrated ability to problem solve with minimal direction and supervision is preferred; solution focused. The ability to compile information and create timely reports on an as-needed basis as well as the ability to manage large amounts of data in an organized fashion is preferred. High attention to detail, strong written and verbal communication skills, strong analytical skills are ideal. The ability to manage time effectively while working under strict timelines is strongly preferred.
Additionally, the ideal candidate will have the desire to work in a small firm that offers a good balance of highly professional standards and a collegial style.
Client Support IT Helpdesk
/in Full-Time, Job Board /by Kim KleemanLocation: Arlington Heights, IL
Status: Full Time
Travel: Up to 25%
SUMMARY
Responsible for assisting assigned customers with technical issues via phone or onsite visits.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE
High School Diploma, or equivalent and a minimum of three-plus years of IT experience is required. Hardware troubleshooting skills are also required.
An ideal candidate with a two or four-year degree is preferred. Experience in/with the following is strongly preferred: Windows 7/8/10 troubleshooting, Windows Server troubleshooting and configuration, Active Directory (group policies, etc.), networking, hubs/switches/routers, RAID technologies, Sonicwall, VPN (site-to-site and client, NAT, and/or RDP), and/or AirWatch. The ability to explain DHCP and DNS as well as the ability to repair and upgrade PC’s, including Servers, are extremely preferred. Certifications such as: A+, Network+, Microsoft, and/or CCNA are highly preferred.
The ideal candidate will also be self-motivated and possess highly attentive and proactive customer service abilities. Additionally, the ideal candidate will have the ability to work independently and as part of a team. Demonstrated ability to problem solve with minimal direction and supervision is preferred; solution focused. The ability to manage large amounts of data in an organized fashion is preferred. High attention to detail and strong written and verbal communication skills are ideal. The ability to manage time effectively while working under strict timelines is strongly preferred. An ability to multitask along with a strong aptitude to learn new technology is wanted. An ideal candidate will also possess the ability to maintain a positive and professional demeanor along with an ability troubleshoot and resolve IT issues.
Account Executive
/in Full-Time, Job Board /by Kim KleemanLocation: Minneapolis, Minnesota (Metro)
Status: Full Time
Travel: Up to 75%
SUMMARY
Responsible for driving company’s growth within a designated region through new customer acquisition and by uncovering growth opportunities with existing customer accounts.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE
High School Diploma, or equivalent and a minimum of three-plus years of sales experience in the ingredient industry and/or specialty chemicals are required. A proficiency in Microsoft Office applications is also required.
The ideal candidate will have a professional demeanor and be self-motivated and results driven with excellent sales and/or presentation skills. Additionally, tenacious follow-up, and strong relationship management skills are preferred. The ideal candidate will also be able to understand, retain, and utilize technical knowledge. A proven attention to detail with the ability to multi-task are also preferred abilities in the ideal candidate.
A Bachelors Degree and/or CRM experience are also strongly preferred.
Inside Look Into Glassdoor
/in STR Blog /by Kim KleemanHave you heard of Glassdoor? If you answered no, you would be in the majority. I was baffled to find out that in a group of peers when quickly surveyed, more than half had no idea what Glassdoor even was. You NEED to know what this is and I am here to help!
Glassdoor is a website where that was created so employees can post about their experiences with things like compensation, culture, management, etc. and YOUR Company. Go ahead, check it out: https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm (click on Companies and Reviews to start your search).
As you can see, they can post anonymously and can even provide direct comments regarding your organization (which are viewable to ALL). Let’s just call it the Yelp for offices and instead of customer comments, you have employee/former employee comments/evaluations and “grades” for your company, overall.
To have a website like Glassdoor out there COULD be problematic to some, and beneficial to others. To companies that have culture and employee satisfaction figured out, Glassdoor isn’t a four-letter word to you. To others, poor employee reviews on Glassdoor could be detrimental to your organization for several reasons:
Cautiously advising other candidates not to apply within – thus creating a cycle of hiring “secondary talent” by settling for candidates that aren’t the best match (skill-wise, professionally, etc.) simply because no one else has interest/has applied.
Broadcasting to your competition how to poach your most valued employees – your competition can see why disgruntled employees left your organization and use that as leverage to poach your top talent right out from under your feet.
Advertising to your existing clientele that you may be having “problems internally” – fostering a sense of internal turmoil could prevent your clients to continue to do business with you and/or prevent NEW prospects to go to another organization where the employees are less focused on internal turmoil and more focused on the end product/results.
Alright, so you know there is this site out there, so how do you protect yourself from current and future defamatory posts/comments about your Company? There are several unethical ways of changing your score (much like a business owner would do with a bad Yelp review) but ultimately everyone knows it was out there, and you do too – so why not work on a plan to make the changes necessary to ensure a positive employee experience during their tenure with your Company? Working with HR Professionals that are focused on best practices and company culture are great first steps in “getting to work”. It may seem like you have to make some giant leaps, but if you’re working with the right HR team, they can guide you through some small strides that can make a big difference quickly. You’ve got this!
Costly Mistake: Losing a Key Player
/in STR Blog /by Kim KleemanAs CEOs and executive leaders, we all know our strengths/weaknesses. It is our goal to hire talent that rounds out and compliments those strengths/weaknesses. As your organization grows, if your recruitment department/recruiter is doing their job well, you’ll have a variety of strengths and weaknesses that complement each other and reinforce the culture of your organization. It is then that you need to ensure that employees within the same department and/or with comparable skill-sets are cross-trained. That way, you’re not caught with your pants down – in a desperate situation where you’ve lost a key player and have no one internally who can perform the same job duties until a new hire is made.
Per the Dictionary: “The key players in a particular organization, event, or situation are the most important people or things involved in it.” I couldn’t agree more! Now, what is one of your key players leaves? How do you determine the cost of losing such a player? Well, that all depends on how well you have prepared.
Cross training is smart business.
As the cost to you losing a key player, if you have prepared, will be significantly less detrimental to your pocketbook and to your organization’s day-to-day activities. Don’t have your people cross-trained? No need to panic! Take action. Get started right away – don’t delay! Here’s how you can get started:
1) Have your key player make a manual in case of absence. This should include relevant company passwords, login credentials, and any intricate details pertaining to their day-to-day duties.
2) Have the person directly below your key player (in title) sit with your key player for a week. Have them take notes on anything additional (beyond the manual already created) that are pertinent to that particular role.
3) Have your key player update their manual using the notes from the person they cross-trained. Make sure they update weekly to ensure the manual stays up to date.
Hire without time constraints
Hiring out of desperation, is risky because you are increasing the possibility of needing to spend resources on filling the need again in the near future. Rather, if you focused the resources and time on the front-end in ensuring key talent was cross-trained and ensuring you’re working with a Recruiting Firm/Recruiter whose focus is on the right fit and not the right now fit. Strong onboarding processes improve new-hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by over 70 percent, according to Brandon Hall Group research. Additionally, the research shows that companies with weak onboarding programs are more likely to lose these people in the first year.
Making hiring decisions out of desperation is never somewhere you want to be. First, you might not be hiring the best talent for the role. Instead, the focus is on patching the hole. Second, candidates can sense desperation and that raises concern about the stability of your organization or of your decision-making skills.In those moments, the mentality is “just find me someone who can do this” rather than “find me the RIGHT someone who can do this and fit the culture of our organization”.
Hiring quickly versus hiring the most qualified is risky because you are increasing the possibility of needing to spend resources on filling the need again in the near future. Rather, if you focused the resources and time on the front-end in ensuring key talent was cross-trained and ensuring you’re working with a knowledgeable Recruiting Firm/Recruiter whose focus is on the right fit and not the right now fit, you’re setting yourself up for success.
Sales Director | Chicago
/in Full-Time, Job Board /by Kim KleemanLocation: Chicago, IL
Status: Full Time
Travel: Up to 75%
SUMMARY
Responsible for building the business and brand presence while driving company’s growth in the designated region through strategic new customer acquisition. Focused on targeting new business opportunities within multiple channels: institutional foodservice, restaurants, hospitality, higher-end institutional foodservice, café/specialty coffee, and specialty gourmet/natural grocery. This position will proactively prospect and close new business on a direct basis and through the company’s network of vendor partners, while also managing those relationships on the business development side. This position will also be responsible for developing and maintaining long-term relationships with new and existing customers.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
High School Diploma, or equivalent and a minimum of three-plus years of 3rd wave coffee and/or coffee equipment sales experience are required. Three-plus years of leadership and/or management experience is also required.
The ideal candidate will have five-plus years of 3rd wave coffee and/or coffee equipment sales experience. Proven experience in food-services and/or hospitality and/or wholesale coffee is preferred. In addition, being able to bring over a solid client base/existing book of business is desired. A self-motivated and proactive candidate with high emotional intelligence, relationship management skills, and an openness to feedback is preferred. A Bachelor’s degree is a plus.
Additionally, excellent selling, prioritizing, communication, and negotiation skills are extremely preferred. The ideal candidate would also have a growth mindset (not fixed) and the ability to think disruptively (i.e. – not a status quo thinker). Ideally looking for a candidate with the ability to pull and analyze sales reports from cloud-based CRMs (like Salesforce). Additionally, the ability to read financial statements and tie strategy/actions to financial performance, and the ability to create and deliver presentation tailored to the audience’s needs are also preferred. Finally, a candidate with experience and proven success working in an entrepreneurial environment, who is highly attentive and with proactive customer service abilities, and possesses the ability to work independently and part of team is desired.