By Jake Posey and Steve Koebele
TAPC External Lobbyists
Calendar year 2007 was a tremendous success for TAPC legislative advocacy and the good work of the TAPC advocacy team is once again laying the ground work for a successful session in 2009. Our priority: addressing important legislative planning in 2008 by developing a comprehensive strategy to deliver meaningful changes in 2009.
Monitoring Interim Legislative Activity. The Texas House and Senate have received Interim Charges for 2008 and are required to study and report on the issues in those charges prior to the 2009 legislative session. Issued by the respective leaders of each legislative chamber, Interim Charges provide the key topics to be researched and studied by the numerous committees during the interim period between sessions (basically, calendar year 2008). While the revised franchise tax (aka, the Texas Margins Tax) is not an expressly stated focus for either chamber in 2008, please anticipate and expect that it will remain a topic of debate during the interim and the 2009 legislative session. Several entities, including the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) and the TAB (Texas Association of Business), continue to push for deeper reductions in tax rates for Texas small businesses.
Steve and I are working closely with the appropriate staff, agency and policy stakeholders to ensure that your voice is heard as the representative of Texas staffing industry in the Interim Study process. We are doing this by attending House and Senate Interim Committee Hearings, visiting with member and staff offices, and working closely with relevant state agencies such as the Office of the Comptroller to prepare for possible legislative action in 2009.
Continuing Advocacy. The TAPC executive leadership and advocacy team previously met with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts executive staff to discuss TAPC member concerns with the implementation of new disclosure requirements applicable only to the staffing industry. This part of the law allows the clients of temporary employment firms to deduct the wages and benefits of the temporary employee assigned to the client company when calculating the client’s tax liability. However, in making such a deduction, the client may now statutorily – because of an amendment to HB 3928 that was not supported by the TAPC – rely on the temporary employment firm’s invoice or information that is provided by the firm to the client on a Form issued by the state Comptroller. Removing the above reporting requirement for temporary employment firms is a major priority for the TAPC advocacy team, looking ahead to the 2009 legislative session.
Minding Elections. Texas, as well as the rest of the nation, is experiencing a period of unprecedented voter turnout. This high level of turnout will likely have an effect on the current composition of the Texas Legislature. Also, several legislators decided not to run for office again. In the state House, for example, the current Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives has been under criticism from a small, but vocal group of Republican insurgents. If the balance of power in the Texas House of Representatives is altered, the TAPC advocacy team will need to reach out to new members on behalf of the TAPC, monitor new committee assignments, and evaluate the impact that any new balance of power might have on the staffing industry.
Building Bipartisan Branding. With legislative races ongoing, the TAPC advocacy team is working hard to appropriately build our bipartisan brand with as many members as possible, regardless of where their loyalties are pledged.
So What Does a Lobbyist Actually Do?
TAPC members are skilled recruiters, industry experts in the employment of others, and have their pulse on the job market of today’s economy but, do you know what the job of a lobbyist entails? Below, you’ll find a description of what your TAPC lobbyists do to support you and your association at the Texas Capitol.
Lobbyists are one of the staffing industry’s tools for protecting your interests at the Texas Capitol. Last year, over six thousand bills were introduced in the Texas Legislature. Many of these affect how business are treated in Texas and some can be directly targeted at the staffing industry. The primary job of your lobbyist’s during session is to monitor the introduction of legislation, assess its impact on Texas staffing industry and present to the association any bills that may be of interest to the industry. If the association needs clarification as to what a bill will do, the lobbyist will take several actions including contacting the author’s office, the committee clerk, and/or the sponsor.
If it is determined that a bill will hurt the staffing industry, the TAPC advocacy team must work to either defeat the bill or to have it amended. This requires lobbying the author and members of the Legislature, working with the author’s staff and committee consultant, negotiation with other stakeholder groups, and working with the association to coordinate effective grassroots lobbying, if necessary. A lobbyist must also monitor the budget process and lobby to protect the industry from additional fees and taxes. As many of you are aware, the Texas Revised Franchise Tax (a.k.a. The Margins Tax) was set to deal a crippling blow to the temporary staffing industry in Texas until the TAPC advocacy team passed key amendments to the Revised Margins Tax bill which effectively blunted theses negative effects. Lastly, if the industry needs a change in the law, the lobbyist attempts to obtain an author for a bill and lobbies it through the legislative process.
The highlights above are a sampling of activities that are directed for member benefits. We look forward to seeing you, the members, at the 2009 TAPC Day on the Hill in Austin. We always enjoy visiting with you about how we can work together in TAPC’s legislative growth and advocacy!
Thank you again for your genuine support and excitement about the TAPC. Your dues contributions help to defray the expenses associated with the commitment toward fighting legislation that is detrimental to our industry and to supporting issues which are favorable. As always, if you have any questions or ideas, please call Jake at (512) 646-0828 or Steve at (512) 646-7406.
by Scott Love
I asked my son’s dentist what motivated her to go into dentistry. “Because I see an immediate result at the end of the procedure,” she said. “I considered becoming a physician, but you have to wait months, even years, before you see the fruit of your efforts.” Makes sense to me, I thought.
I want things to happen faster, too. I wish I could close a deal everyday and see an immediate impact, the same way my son’s dentist does. Instead of filling teeth and going to bed satisfied, our industry is the high-end big-ticket sale which happens every once in a while when the deal gods smile on us, not the daily conclusion of efforts that a dentist might see.
I’ll never forget when my son was three years old and was passionate about fire trucks. He had fifteen toy fire trucks, he wore fire trucks on his shoes, fire trucks on his shirts, fire fighter hats, and posted stickers from the fire department all over the house. We were regular weekend visitors to the fire station, and all the firefighters knew us by name. Sometimes Dagsen would wake up in the middle of the night saying , “Fire truck! Fire truck!” in his sleep. We even had a toddler-friendly jigsaw puzzle (really big pieces) with a fire truck on it. “Dagsen,” I said to him one evening, “to put the puzzle together, we need to see the picture on the box.” I explained to him that we first start with the visual image of our goal, and break it down into individual pieces of the puzzle. By seeing the photo on the box, we know where all the pieces fall in to place.
If recruiters understand the whole puzzle and how all the pieces fit together, then they will be less likely to be frustrated with the ongoing daily routine even when the final outcome has yet to be in sight. When I first got into the business thirteen years ago, I couldn’t stand how long some deals would take. That’s probably why I never tried gardening. I would be tempted to pull the plants out of the ground to see how far the roots had grown. I just can’t help it. I’m part of the microwave generation. But when I started focusing on the action steps more than my production or billing goal, I was less frustrated and started billing more. In other words, I started focusing on each individual piece of the puzzle and made sure that each part of the puzzle was put in the right place. But I never kept my eye off of the photo on the box. I focused on the following three actions and always kept looking at the picture (monthly goals) of my desired outcome:
1. The number of conversations per hour. (hourly goal)
2. The number of candidates presented per month. (monthly goal)
3. The number of face-to-face interviews per month. (weekly and monthly goal)
Olympic-level athletes concentrate all of their energy only on that next foot placement when they’re on the ice in the middle of an event. They don’t focus on the fact that they’re competing in Olympics for a gold medal during their routine. Sure, that’s their ultimate goal; but while they are in mid-stream of their program, they are only focusing on the next action step in their event.
By keeping your eye on the “box cover” but focusing on the specific action steps of your placement, your desk will be impacted in the following way:
1. Less frustration. A major frustrating issue for rookies is not seeing things happen fast enough. Like my son’s dentist, we all need immediate gratification. Set daily and hourly goals. Your whole year is made up of a series of your hours, and if you make each hour your best hour, you’ll have your best year. Here’s a simple and easy effective hourly goal for you: set a goal for the number of people you wish to connect with each hour. Click on the link on my site called ‘free downloads’ and download the telephone discipline tool. You can see a video of how to use this tool on www.recruitingblogs.com at in the VIDEO section. Quit measuring how many times you dial the phone. Set goals only for connects. Connects make you money. Dials are just attempts. Connects count. Dials don’t. This telephone discipline tool can help each hour, each piece of the puzzle, to be your most effective hour ever.
2. More fun. My son would get a real rush when a puzzle piece fit in the jigsaw puzzle. Me, too! Even though we would have yet to complete the puzzle, we would see it coming together as each piece made our project visibly closer to the desired goal on the box. If you focus on each piece of the process and make that piece your goal, you will have more fun and feel more satisfied because you can start seeing everything come together.
3. More effective. I have studied sports psychology by reading several books, and this is the most important thing that I’ve learned: if an athlete does not focus on their specific action steps during their routine then they will choke. I have even seen this happen with recruiters when they have multiple deals closing. It’s almost too overwhelming for them, and they forget about having those tough conversations with candidates and clients that are necessary for the deal to close. They start looking at how large their potential fees could be and it’s almost too much for them to handle. So they choke and start subconsciously sabotaging deals. The same thing happened in the winter Olympics in Salt Lake in the women’s figure-skating competition. Two seasoned competitors choked on the ice while the underdog, a very young teenager, said “This is great. I’m at the Olympics and I never believed it could happen. Just being here is good enough for me. I’m going to skate my best program ever and be happy with it,” and won the gold. The other two were thinking, “Oh my. I’m at the Olympics. I’m at the Olympics. Billions of people are watching. This is what I have worked for my whole life and the next three minutes are what I spent the last thirteen years preparing for,” instead of thinking about each individual action step. And…CHOKE! The tears followed, and all of us empathized. We have all been there.
Focus on each action step, each puzzle piece and the efforts of each hour. Set hourly goals for connects, monthly goals of candidate presentations, and weekly and monthly goals for first face-to-face interviews; and like my son’s dentist you will feel satisfied regardless of how long your deals take to close because you will see the pieces of the puzzle bring everything together, one piece at a time. And when people ask you why you became a recruiter, you can tell them it’s because of the satisfaction of seeing the results of your efforts, each and every day.
Scott Love has been called ‘the industry’s only motivational speaker.’ He is a professional trainer and speaker, and improves recruiter performance by getting them to think at a higher level and showing them a step-by-step system that anyone can duplicate. Over 2,000 search firms have invested in his training products, seminars, videos, books and consulting services. Visit his website for free videos, training tools and articles at www.recruitingmastery.com.
Whether your business is focused on providing candidates for direct-hire placement, temporary assignment, or contract-to-hire, learning about the candidate is a key part of the services you offer. There are as many different styles of conducting an interview as there are people conducting interviews, but there is one ‘rule of the game’ that should be followed by everyone conducting interviews. So, as you prepare to interview candidates, make sure you know and follow the legal rules to avoid falling into any traps.
The interview process is a great time to confirm things included in the candidate’s resume and to get an idea of the candidate’s perspective on his or her next job. However, some questions that seem innocent can, in fact, land you in big trouble. The main rule to remember is to only ask questions that allow you to gather information that is relevant to the candidate’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job in question. Questions about the candidate’s work experience, compensation history, and level of responsibility at his prior job are great questions to ask because these types of questions fall clearly within the rules of the game. On the other hand, questions that are unrelated to the candidate’s ability to do the job pose potential risks. To help you understand the difference between a question that may be problematic, and a question that’s appropriate, following are some examples of acceptable questions, as compared to their unacceptable counterparts:
Acceptable: Do you have a reliable means to get to and from work?
Unacceptable: Do you have a car?
Acceptable: Are you authorized to work in the U.S.?
Unacceptable: Are you a U.S. citizen?
Acceptable: Will you be able to work a routine 40 hour work week?
Are you available to work overtime on occasion?
Are you available to travel [as often as job requires]?
Unacceptable: Do you have kids?
What is their daycare situation?
Acceptable: Are you over the age of 18?
Unacceptable: How old are you?
Acceptable: Have you been convicted of a crime in the last 7 years?
Unacceptable: Have you ever been arrested?
Although the interview is often used primarily as a fact gathering exercise, it also provides you with an opportunity to evaluate the candidate’s demeanor, attitude, ability to interact, and other attributes that may be important to the job and your client. Keep in mind the type of job that you are seeking to fill and observe (or, if it’s a phone interview, listen for) communication characteristics and personality characteristics that are important for the position. For example, companies often want their receptionists, sales people, or hospitality employees to be outgoing and good at managing conversation, while other positions may place less emphasis on communication skills.
If you take notes of the interviews you conduct, make sure that you are using useful descriptive terms that match up with what the job requires. Keep in mind that interview notes are one of the types of documents that are likely to get brought out of the company files and into the lawyer’s power point presentation at trial. If you would be embarrassed to have someone else look at your interview notes, consider changing your note-taking style.
The moral to the story: DON’T ask questions related to gender, marital status, race, ethnic background, disability and other personal characteristics that cannot legally be used as the basis for a hiring decision. DO use the interview as an opportunity to assess the candidate’s self-management skills: his ability to handle tough questions, to analyze facts and ideas quickly, and to think fast under pressure.
June 19, 2008 STAPC (Corpus Christi Area) Don’t miss this combination of a panel of experts and roundtable discussions addressing timely issues for the staffing/recruiting world! This is a unique format which will allow for lots of interaction. Your peers and a panel of experts will explore the following issues: “Prioritizing your desk and your office” and “How can you avoid burnout within yourself and your team?”! After this program, owners will gather together for a 30 minute roundtable to discuss expectations of their recruiters with regard to activity level, number of calls, client visits, job orders expected, and other production and expectation issues. If you’re an owner, plan to stay for 30 more minutes to participate in this bonus event.
Check in is at 11:30 at the OMNI Bayfront Glass Pavilion Restaurant; the program begins shortly after check in. Call Helene Cavanaugh at 1.888.974.2272 for more information.
JULY 2008
July 8, 2008 MAPC (DFW Area) Van Allen owner of Timeline Recruiting, Missouri presents “Recruiting in Today’s Market!” Call Kevin Burch at 972.960.1305 for more information.
July 15, 2008 Petro Club Tommy Oliphant, a well-known business advisor and wealth manager, will speak on wealth creation in a commission world. Lunch is included; the program runs from 11:30 -1:30.
AUGUST 2008
August 6, 2008 HAAPC (Houston Area) Bill Radin, a nationally recognized trainer, presents “Candidate Sourcing and Recruiting” 3:00-6:00 PM at the offices of Burnett Staffing 9800 Richmond Avenue – 8th floor. Call Helene Cavanaugh at 1.888.974.2272 for more information.
August 12, 2008 MAPC (DFW Area) Cathy Wodarski presents “Making your Goals Work for YOU!” Call Kevin Burch at 972.960.1305 for more information.
SEPTEMBER 2008
September 17, 2008 (Austin) Barb Bruno presents a morning program for Owner/Managers and an afternoon program for Consultants in Austin. The program is repeated in San Antonio on 9/18/08, Dallas on 9/19/08, Midland/Odessa on 9/22/08, and Houston on 9/23/08. ALL NEW MATERIAL!
Medrec, a family-owned employment search firm based in San Antonio, has expanded its services by opening an office in Houston this week. Medrec has provided job placement services for highly skilled Physical, Speech/Language, and Occupational Therapists for thirty-five years, and with a fully-staffed office in Houston, provides the largest pool of PRN Therapists in Texas.
“We’ve served the greater Houston area from afar since 1992,” says Peter Knight-Sheen, President of Medrec. “But now we’re on the move to expand our services.” With branch, staffing, and recruiting managers in the new branch office, the firm will be able to recruit and employ an ever greater pool of talent.
“Being right in Houston gives us that extra edge,” adds Crystal Pool, the Branch Manager for the Houston office. “At Medrec, the reason we are so successful is that we find out what is of value to our therapists and then look to see which opportunity makes the most sense for them.”
Medrec is poised to rapidly replicate its personalized Customer Service model and recruiting expertise in the greater Houston area, and plans to open branch offices in other locations, including Dallas in August of this year.
About Medrec: Medrec is a 30+ year old premier Therapy Staffing and Recruitment Firm that recruits and employs only the highest quality Physical, Occupational, Speech Therapists and Assistants at all types of healthcare facilities.
Contact:
MEDREC – Houston Office
10200 Richmond Avenue
Suite 155
Houston, TX 77042
T: 713-532-6600
F: 713-780-2093
MEDREC – Corporate Office
15600 San Pedro Avenue
Suite 307
San Antonio, TX 78232
T: 210-494-2343
F: 210-545-1657
Toll-free: (800) 437-7560
medrec-pt@medrec-pt.com
TAPC is working with United American Healthcare to provide a healthcare plan to TAPC member firms that will lower member costs and, in many cases, increase the scope of coverage members can receive. One of the best features of the new arrangement is that each firm will be treated separately and can select a plan from among most of the major carriers. This unique arrangement that allows our members to take advantage of a plan of their choice at a lower premium and a zero deductible for everyone enrolled in the plan.
The arrangement is based on choice: each firm can choose the plan that’s right for their employees. In many cases, members may keep their current carrier and plan, but United American will work with the firm to lower the plan premiums. In some cases, companies might choose to change their plan entirely to receive a lower premium and/or more comprehensive coverage. And because each firm is handled individually by United American, our members are not thrown into a pool with all other association members, thus allowing each company’s health issues (or lack thereof!) to be considered separately from other member firms.
To get more information, call Helene Cavanaugh at 888.974.2272.
For more information contact:
Helene Cavanaugh, CTS
Executive Director, Texas Association of Personnel Consultants (TAPC)
13121 Louetta Road, Suite 1175
Cypress, Texas 77429
Website: www.tapc.org
Email: tapc4u@sbcglobal.net
1.888.974.2272
• 7% discount off www.officedepot.com
• 97 Key Items on your “Best Buy List” including Paper!
• Ability to customize pricing on additional Core Items specific to your business needs.
• Free next day delivery*
• Excellent customer service support
• Deeply discounted items
• Significant time savings
• Store Purchasing Card
• Easy On-line order entry
TAPC Members also receive discounts on these items:
• Office supply products
• Furniture
• Ink/Toner
• Paper
• Computer Hardware Computer Software
• Copying & Printing
• Promotional Items
• Janitorial/Breakroom supplies
Peter Knight-Sheen, a TAPC member from Medrec, Inc. in San Antonio says, “When I opened my newest office, we needed a lot of supplies and often didn’t know what we needed until the day it was needed. So we went to the Office Depot store and got all our supplies. Because my credit card was tied to my TAPC/Office Depot account the prices were instantly reduced at the register to reflect our tremendous discount.” Though he orders most of the firm’s supplies online with Office Depot, when he needed to shop at the local Office Depot store, the retail savings were huge. He adds, “If we had a special purchase, such as headsets, one call to our rep got us the best deal – better than any Internet deal. We’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars on furniture, equipment, and office supplies through this program!”
It’s a simple and easy process to sign up to receive discounts up to 45% off retail pricing. If you are not registered with this program, to enroll please contact:
Rachel Hugenschmidt
rachel.hugenschmidt@officedepot.com
Cell Phone (210) 912-8850
If you are an existing Office Depot Customer and wish to register in this program, please email rachel.hugenschmidt@officedepot.com
Your account will take 4 business days to be setup/registered. At that time you will be contacted by Rachel or your local account manager and will be able to order under this program. All technology and furniture sales must be facilitated by Rachel to qualify for discounts under this program.
For more information contact:
Helene Cavanaugh, CTS
Executive Director, Texas Association of Personnel Consultants (TAPC)
13121 Louetta Road, Suite 1175
Cypress, Texas 77429
Website: www.tapc.org
Email: tapc4u@sbcglobal.net
1.888.974.2272
Hello friends,
I hope everyone has fully recovered from the great conference we had in Austin. This was the largest turnout we’ve had (at least in this decade) from a non-Houston conference site. This year 544 attendees from 17 states were entertained, educated and challenged by a great lineup of speakers and trainers. I think everyone agreed that Mac Fulfer, “The Amazing Face Reader”, was indeed amazing. Nancy Friedman, “The Telephone Doctor”, was extremely informative and Danny Cahill was…well, Danny. How he continues to evolve, grow and change as a trainer is, again, amazing. While I’m on this topic, be sure to save the date, April 2nd – 4th for the 2009 conference at the OMNI in Houston. Helene Cavanaugh, Sheila Crawford, Laura Shebay, and Lynne Von Villas have promised to improve on the great job they did on the ’08 conference. It should be our best conference ever.
I’ve been talking to a number of our members in the past few weeks asking them if they’re seeing any economic softening in their business. Although this represents a small sampling, what I’ve heard is: Clerical and Light Industrial Temps – somewhat softer than second quarter ’08, but still good; Direct Hire – depends upon niche, with Engineering and IT – still strong, Administrative/Clerical – strong, Accounting/Finance – still soft; Contract – still very strong, though some downturn in job order volume reported; Medical – still strong in all sectors. Clearly we’re all fortunate to be working in Texas. Our market overall seems much healthier than national norms.
This has also been a good business time for your Association. In ’06 we had 162 member firms. In ’07, with a tremendous effort from Helene Cavanaugh, we grew TAPC to 224 members and in ’08 that number has grown to 260. Along with that, your Association has moved from a decade of financial difficulties and limited services to expanded offerings, revitalized relationships in Austin via our lobbying efforts and a healthier bank balance.
In closing I would like to thank the people who got us here, the 2007-2008 Board of Directors, under the vision and the leadership of Rick Marshall (thank you Rick for two great years – you really made a difference!) and the day-to-day blood, sweat and tears of Helene Cavanaugh. Helene has really been fantastic! The TAPC is going to have a great ’08 – ’09 year; we hope you do too.
See ya,
Bruce Whitaker
