Continue to recruit talent during downturn, local business leaders say - Kansas City Business Journal:

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“In the financial services world, you do your best recruitinbg in the worst saidPaul Purcell, chairman, president and CEO of Co., Milwaukee. “We grew our headcount four and a half percent last year when the industry was down20 We’ll probably grow another 5 perceng this year when the industry will be down another 15 percent.” Purcell was one of three panelists who took part in a panel discussion hostes by the . Jeffrey Joerres, president and CEO of Milwaukee-base globap staffing firm (NYSE: MAN), moderatex the discussion.
“When I’mk running around smiling when thingzsare tough, it’s because I know that we’rre adding to the strength of our firm,” Purcel l said. “I love downturns because you can actuallu manage the peoplethat you’ve got and managee the future much better than during an upturn.” Havintg a top-notch brand is a major benefit in recruiting qualit employees, said Peggy Troy, president and chied executive officer of , “We have such a strong brand presencre not only in the Milwaukee area but throughougt the state of Wisconsin and in the whole Midwesyt region,” Troy said.
“Our ability to attract talent is very Developing and retaining leaders from withi n an organization alsois crucial, she Children’s Hospital uses a talent managementr process to determine the level of leadershi skills for various positionsw within the system,” Troy said. “As we are trying to recruit and we know exactly what the jobrequirementds are,” she said. Recruitiny top-level talent to the Milwaukee canbe challenging, Purcelpl said. Baird has been successful in attractingb “homegrown” employees who were raised in the “You can only build a firm like Baird only so far with just Purcell said.
“Then you have to go and get peoplre in and you have to getthem You’ve got to get them in high schoool or right out of college. Once they get a little bit it’s a little bit of a harderr sell.” Recruiting during the gloomy winter monthzs tends to create additional challenges in recruiting employeesw from outsidethe area, Troy “You don’t want to bring people here in the but you’ve got to be honest abougt it,” she said. “But Milwaukee offers a lot of opportunitiesa in terms offamily life.
” Companies also need to be activer in demonstrating “inclusion” at work and in the community when it comees to attracting employees of diverse ethnic and raciao backgrounds, said David president of the building efficiencu group for Glendale-based (NYSE: JCI). “It’s really makee a big impact,” he said. Companies in the Milwauke have made major strides in embracing ethnic and gender diversit at the corporate board level andmanagement ranks, Joerresw said. “Progress has been made,” he said.