We’ve filled this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog to the rim . . . with the rich taste of Brim!

No, wait a minute. That’s not right. That’s a decaffeinated coffee commercial from the 1980s. Okay, I have it now.

We’ve filled this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog to the rim . . . with the sweet taste of success!  AND the rich taste of more money!

And we’re not going to stop now! Oh, no.  This blog post alone is so rich I needed to drink a glass of milk while I wrote it.  That’s because this blog post contains both the #1 and #3 recruiters in the Network for 2012, and they didn’t even make the most impressive placement in the post (even though it was their seventh overall).

No, the most impressive placement in this blog post involves a picture-perfect example of how a “true partnership” results in split placements dollars and more revenue for your recruiting firm.  It involves all Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network (Quality, Communication, Trust, and Active Participation), not to mention enthusiasm, expertise, and professionalism.

And there might have been some coffee involved, too, decaffeinated or otherwise.  What of it?  The point is that there are recruiters leveraging the valuable resources available in Top Echelon Network (the software, the training, and the people) every day of every year, and that’s why they continue to make split placements and enjoy wildly successful, highly profitable, and very satisfying years on their desks!

I need another glass of milk.

If you’d like to compliment one of your Trading Partners for a recent split placement (and mention chocolate AND/OR peanut butter in the process), send your comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com, and they’ll appear in a future issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

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“This placement was all about a true partnership with Jim Folger.  He assisted me from the beginning by supplying me with tools to assist in making a good hire.  Then he was excited about the chance to partner with me on such a GREAT opportunity.  Jim supplied a candidate that blew everyone else out of the water.  This is a GREAT TE story that we will be telling for years to come.  Thank you, Jim, for your partnership and assistance!”

Submitted by Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC regarding her split placement with Jim Folger of ONESource Technical, Inc.

Position Title—CORPORATE CONTROLLER
Fee Percentage—27.5%

(Editor’s note: this is the second split placement that Hemminger and Folger have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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“A split with Trey on my birthday!  Happy to split this one with Trey.  Happy to split all of them with Trey.  Just HAPPY to do splits!”

Submitted by Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC regarding her split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: this is the seventh split placement that Hemminger and Cameron have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

There is NO way I’m stopping at half a cup!

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We’re just passing out awards left and right in this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  (Well, we’re just announcing them . . . we’re not actually passing anything out yet.  We’ll do that later.)

Along that similar vein, something which has won a Network award year after year after year is “Regular communication with Trading Partners.”  Why?  Because it continues to be the number-one way in which split placements happen in Top Echelon Network!

If the split placement evidence below isn’t enough to convince you, consider that 64.9% of all the split placements made in the Network in 2012 were the result of “Regular communication with Trading Partners.”  In second place was “Hiring Hook websites” at 13.0%.  (Which reminds me, if you don’t have a Hiring Hook staffing website design, get one!  This number keeps going up every year.)

In addition, “Searching the split databases” was in third place at 8.6%.  So search the databases, post your job orders and candidates, communicate as much as you can . . . and get a Hiring Hook website!  Do everything you can to make more placements!  Go, go, go!

Why are you still sitting there?

THIS WEEK’S COMPLETED SPLIT PLACEMENTS!

Job order recruiter: John Wharton of The Garret Group

Candidate recruiter: Alex Roberts of Joseph Michaels International

Job title: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

Fee percentage—23%

Action causing split placement: Regular communication with another Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter

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Job order recruiter: Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates

Candidate recruiter: Chuck Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, Inc.

Job title: MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR

Fee percentage—20%

Action causing split placement: Regular communication with another Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter

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Job order recruiter: Paula Seward of The Williams Company

Candidate recruiter: Jeff Tuholski of Career Transitions, LLC

Job title: MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR

Fee percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: The candidate experessed interest in [one job], and I ended up placing [them] in another open position.

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Job order recruiter: Chris Shoulet of Top Dog Recruiting

Candidate recruiter: Rich Harrold of Front Line Solutions, LLC

Job title: SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ARCHITECT

Fee percentage—20%

Action causing split placement: Regular communication with another Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter

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Job order recruiter: Larry Baker of Computer Careers

Candidate recruiter: Ram Kola of Stewart Cooper & Coon

Job title: NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR

Fee percentage—Flat

Action causing split placement: Regular communication with another Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter

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Job order recruiter: Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Jim Folger of ONESource Technical, Inc.

Job title: CORPORATE CONTROLLER

Fee percentage—27.5%

Action causing split placement: Regular communication with another Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter

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Now that we’ve announced the Top 10 recruiters in Top Echelon Network for 2012, let’s move on to the Regional Award winners.  (Awards are fun, are they not?)

For the purposes of this award, we break the country up into nine different regions, and the Regional Awards are based upon the Frequent Placer Program (FPP) points that Preferred Member recruiters earn during the course of the calendar year.

Members can earn FPP points in a variety of ways, starting with making split placements.  They can also earn them for telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and meeting other Preferred Member recruiters in person.

Below are the winners of five of the nine regions within Top Echelon Network for 2012.  The top five recruiters in each region are listed, along with the number of FPP points they earned.  The top recruiter in each region will receive an award at the 2013 National Convention in St. Petersburg, Fla. in April.

Which reminds me . . . have you registered for the convention yet?  Sign up now during Early Bird Registration.  (This is our 25th anniversary convention, so you can believe it will be one of our best events ever.)

Below are the winners in five of the Network’s nine regions for 2012.  The winners of the other four regions will be announced next week:

Pacific

101,839—Gail Williams of Williams Recruiting, Inc.

83,648—David Wood of The David Wood Company

71,365—Debbie Winkelbauer of Apple & Assoc. Inc.

53,450—Hani Mussa of KnowPeople, Inc.

35,802—Bob Moore of Computer Recruiters, Inc.

West North Central

115,167—Matt Scheihing of J. Miles Personnel Services

100,636—Bob Ferris of Ferris & Associates, LLC

62,386—Larry Baker of Computer Careers

57,645—Justin Bidwell of Bidwell & Associates, LLC

52,871—Twanda DeBorde of CMD and Associates Executive Search

East North Central

314,216—Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

140,834—Chuck Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, LLC

134,032—David M. Sgro of True North Consultants, Inc.

127,258—Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, Inc.

126,870—Karen Akbal-Sturgeon of KLA Industries

New England

120,858—Richard Connors of Vista Technology

90,933—Eric Berg of JN Adams & Associates, Inc.

61,375—Joe Miglizzi, CPC of Perspective

49,826—Rob Spaulding of Spaulding Associates

45,228—John Barry of ITech Consulting Partners, LLC

Middle Atlantic

78,017—Wendy Johnson of Professionals Incorporated

73,130—Denise Milano Sprung of JA Pharma, Inc.

69,714—Larry Radzely of Adel-Lawrence Associates, Inc.

69,647—Lawrence T. Ploscowe of EXEK Recruiters, Ltd.

64,529—Kerry Boehner of KOB Solutions, Inc.

Be sure to check next week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog for the rest of our Regional Award winners for 2012!

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MDemaree@TopEchelon.com
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Welcome to perhaps the least-surprising blog post in this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  (Or perhaps so far this year.  Or maybe ever.)

That’s because Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group has won the “Recruiter of the Month” numerous times during 2012, and he also won three of the four “Recruiter of the Quarter” awards (he was second in the fourth quarter).

So it should come as NO surprise that he was the Top-Producing Recruiter in Top Echelon Network during 2012.  (Cameron was also the Network’s Top-Producing Recruiter in 2011, and here’s the proof.)

However, there are some new names in the Top 10, as well as some familiar ones.  Besides Cameron, repeat performances were turned in by Sean Napoles, Jim Strickland, and Judy Kaplan.  Those recruiters in the Top 10 for 2012 who were not there the previous year include Maria Hemminger, Georgette Sandifer, Marc Tappis, David Kersey, Richard Connors, and Chuck Szajkovics.

Congratulations to all of these recruiters on a great 2012 to even more awards, accolades, and placements in 2013!

Below is the complete list of the Top 10 Producers Overall for 2012:

1st—Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

2nd—Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

3rd—Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

4th—Georgette Sandifer of Gallman Consulting

5th—Jim Strickland of BioSource International

6th—Marc Tappis of Opportunity Search

7th—David Kersey of Kersey & Associates, Inc.

8th—Richard Connors of Vista Technology

9th—Chuck Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, Inc.

10th—Judy Kaplan of Prof’l Recruiting Consultants

We’d like to congratulate all of these recruiters and thank them for their hard work and dedication as Preferred Members of our Network.  Their efforts are greatly appreciated, and we certainly wish them even more success in the future.

We’ll be publishing the winners of other 2012 awards in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  (In fact, we have other award winners in THIS issue!  We don’t like to waste any time.)

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MDemaree@TopEchelon.com
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We’ve compared Preferred Membership in Top Echelon Network to quite a few things.  Some of them had nothing to do with recruiting (not directly, anyway).  Some of them were, quite frankly, confusing.

We’ve managed to combine both of those in this week’s installment of “Comments and Compliments.”

In our defense, we had plenty of help this time.  Namely, we had help from the job order recruiter in one of the split placement situations listed below.  How did he help us?  He basically gave us the idea for this blog post’s title . . . and for that, we’re very grateful.

Because when you’re a Preferred Member of Top Echelon Network, “split placement magic” can happen anytime and any place.  However, when and where isn’t nearly as important as HOW—how these job placement recruiters continually make placement after placement together.  (In this particular case, the recruiters involved have now made six split placements.)

They make these split placements the way they should be made, mainly with the Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network: Quality, Communication, Trust, and Active Participation.

So buckle up and get ready to enjoy this week’s “Magic Pooh Ride”!

If you’d like to thank another recruiter for their efforts in a split placement situation, send your information to marketing@topechelon.com.  Your comments might be included in an upcoming issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!

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“Sean, once again you came through.  There is nothing like standing in lne for the Pooh Ride at Disney with my kids and getting an offer email from a client.  That is the magic of Top Echelon!”

Submitted by Patrick Staudacher, CPC of Talsco, Inc. regarding his split placement with Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

Position Title—SAP ANALYST SD
Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: this is the sixth split placement that Staudacher and Napoles have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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“Dave and I have had multiple splits together, and I really enjoy working with him.  Thanks again, Dave, and I hope some of our other activity we have going results in additional success!”

Submitted by Ed Keil, CPC of Reliance Recruiting, LLC regarding his split placement with David Wick, CPC of Career Center of Cincinnati, Inc.

Position Title—DESIGN ENGINEER
Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: this is the second split placement that Keil and Wick have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

Everyone who is anyone is offering their predictions for what the biggest trends in recruiting and hiring will be in 2013, so we figured we might as well throw our hat in the ring.  Based on what we have read and discussions we’ve had with recruiters over the past year, here are our predictions for 2013:

1. Employers will remain cautious about hiring.  Although the “fiscal cliff” has been resolved, there is still a lot of economic uncertainty out there that is reining hiring in. CNNMoney.com has reported that there are still more “fiscal cliffs” to watch out for as Congress continues its partisan ways, and consumer confidence is down.  And while some experts predict that hiring will be up, most agree that the growth won’t be as strong as it could be.
2. Obamacare will have a major impact on hiring. Perhaps one of the biggest economic question marks is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), better known as Obamacare.  There is a lot of uncertainty among employers regarding how to comply – or if they even should. We are hearing that this is already causing an impact on hiring. Since employers with less than 50 employees don’t have to comply, those near that threshold are simply choosing not to hire so they can avoid it all together. Others are considering reducing employees’ hours to lower their costs under the law.  As a recruiter, you will want to be sure to know the basics of the law and be able to help come up with creative ways to help your clients keep their costs down while still getting the work done.
3. More workers will join “Gig Economy.”  As we discussed in a previous blog post, there is a growing trend toward a  “gig economy” where workers shun full-time traditional employment and instead work on a contract basis jumping from project to project.  This is driven by a number of factors, including the need for more work-life balance and workers’ distrust of employers born out of the layoffs of the recession. The emergence of technology, such as mobile phones and the Internet, has also allowed workers to work more remotely, which fits in well with the project-based work.
4. Record-breaking contract staffing growth. Based on these first three trends, it’s no surprise that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is expecting contract staffing to reach a record high by the summer of 2013. Contract staffing provides a risk-free way for companies to remain productive without committing to a direct hire or taking on the benefits costs that come with them.
5. Debates about skills shortages will continue. Is there a skills shortage? It depends on who you ask. Some say the skills shortage will be a major challenge, especially in the manufacturing and IT sectors. Others say the impact has been overestimated (see USAToday article “Study says shortage of skilled workers not that severe”).  And still others, most notably Peter Cappelli of the Wharton School, claim that the real problem is employers that are too picky and not willing to train.  Whether or not the so-called skills shortages have a real impact on hiring and recruiting in 2013 remains to be seen, but we are willing to bet that the discussion is far from over.

Please feel free to provide some of your own predictions in our comments section!

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