ASA Staffing Success - November

try continues to grow. Continuing to create and add value for clients with shrinking margins and commoditization will be a big challenge in 2015. Tying social and mobile technology to true recruitment and retention efficiency will also be an ongoing challenge. I believe that more clients will begin using [temporary and contract] labor in a more strategic way than they used to—and we are already seeing this.

Office–Administrative: Become ACA-compliant and stay ahead of the competition Jim Bruno, managing partner, Midwest Professional Staffing

In central Iowa we are blessed with an active market but too many unknowns related to the Affordable Care Act. We are in the process of becoming ACA-compliant with a minimum essential coverage product and a minimum value plan that includes hospitalization, but we are uncertain how receptive our clients will be to absorbing some of the costs. We view this as an opportunity to be ACA-compliant and to be ahead of the curve with our competition, which should result in increased market share but tighter margins in the short run.

Professional: Recruit internal and external talent to fill specific job needs Ed Simpson, vice president, business development, the Forum Group

Recruiting talent continues to be an
increasing challenge due to clients’ spe-
cific job needs and a shrinking talent pool
(due to demand). Coaching our clients on
realistic expectations based on the talent
pool that is available will be integral to our
growth and success next year. Addition-
ally, finding qualified internal staff has also
become much more challenging.

Search and Placement: Expand recruitment staff to keep pace with demands William Emerson, CSP, president, Emerson Group

I foresee significant growth in our direct hire services in 2015. Our clients are experiencing a shortage of available talent in key areas of their business, and they are realizing that their efforts alone are not enough. Additionally, candidates are in a better position today to leave their current jobs for new opportunities.

An internal challenge for us will be expanding our recruitment team to keep up with demands—a nice problem to have.

Technical, IT, and Scientific: Keep
software compliant with the ACA
David Du Pont, president and chief execu-
tive officer, HEPCO

The start of 2015 reminds me of Jan. 1, 2000, with the big unknown being how well our software accounting systems will actually handle the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements. Just as at the start of 2000, we think we have all of our required bases covered, but only time will tell if the reporting software works as advertised.

To a lesser extent, the second challenge is related to the recently held elections. As a company that does a great deal of work with tier one vendors to the U.S. Department of Defense, how will the Republican majority in the Senate affect those vendors and thus HEPCO? n