2024 MNRSA Symposium Recap

MNRSA, the Minnesota Chapter of the American Staffing Association, held its annual symposium on March 5^th. It was a packed agenda, and here are 3 top takeaways from the day.

Culture First Mindset

Our opening keynote by Joe Schmit, author, award-winning broadcaster, and community leader, was an impactful way to start the day. He spoke on “Culture First Mindset.” The first question he asked our group was, “If there was a going away party for someone at your place of work, who would the most people show up for?” What a thought-provoking question! Joe went on to say that the people who have this level of impact on those around them have three things in common.

A key message throughout Joe’s presentation is, “We often make our biggest impressions when we’re not trying to be impressive.” Joe also recently collaborated with former MN Twin Joe Mauer on a children’s book, “The Right Thing to Do,” which encompasses these three traits. Get the book HERE. Note: all proceeds from the book benefit local charities.

Building a Winning Team

Steve Yakesh, President of Direct Hire and Executive Leadership Search at Versique, guided the Leadership group to discuss “Building a Winning Team.”

Steve suggested that we build leadership teams based on business needs. If your agency is a “Lifestyle” agency and aims to maintain the revenue with modest growth, it requires a certain leadership team. On the other hand, if your goal is “Growth” or “Sell and Exit,” it requires different leadership styles and compensation packages.

He also encouraged owners to hire leaders with the proper alignment in 3 categories: organizational, experience, and motivation. They must fit in all 3 of those categories to be the best leadership match for your company.

Feel free to reach out to Steve on LinkedIn.

Keys to Building Trust and Leading Conversations

Most staffing agencies are looking for new clients right now, so what a relevant closing keynote by Jeff Pankoff of Sandler Training.

Jeff highlighted a book by David Maister, “The Trusted Advisor.”

Trustworthiness = (credibility + reliability + intimacy) / (self-orientation)

1. Credibility: Listen empathetically, help clients frame the problem, and then partner with them to craft a detailed solution with carefully managed expectations.
2. Reliability: Deliver consistently and excellently on projects. Do what you say you’re going to do.
3. Intimacy: Communicate as you would with a close family member or friend, sharing and working through professional and, where appropriate, personal issues.
4. The opposite of self-orientation is other-orientation: Always work (transparently) in your client’s best interest.

Jeff suggested we ask questions to get to the real pain, the real problem. For example, if a client tells you they are struggling with turnover, the Sandler Pain Funnel uses the sequential questioning technique to ask a series of questions:

Asking the right questions and listening in a genuine way is what develops trust.

Reach out to Jeff for additional tips and sales training.

Jeff.pankoff@sandler.com | www.salespro.sandler.com