A few months ago I found myself looking down on an incredible valley that almost 150+ years ago had been settled by one Brigham Young and new Mormon Pioneers whom had travelled 1000+ miles on their way to settling the Salt Lake Valley.  The place where I stood is known as Ensign Peak.  It is the same spot where 150+ years ago a small party of explorers led by Brigham Young first surveyed the wide expanse below and decided how to plan the city that would come to be known as Salt Lake City. The spot now marked with a marker and obelisk is a historical landmark.  As you can see below - the view is absolutely magnificent.  The day was August 11th, 2013.  I had completed a remarkable journey that led me to where my ancestors had years before carved out a place in the desert wilderness and made a home.  Burly and strong LDS Danish Pioneers who set sail from their homes in the 1850's plowed ahead and settled Southern Utah, this from my Dad's side, and healthy pioneer stock settled into Salt Lake from my mother's British heritage.  Imagine crossing an ocean in search of a new faith, crossing the plains, and settling into an unknown land and territory.  Fast forward 150 years and this is how I felt.

Above is the point of the crest of the mountain where the obilisk stands as a marker for the survey point of the party mentioned on the plaque.  The trail leading to the top is beautiful.

A few days earlier on August 4th I started out on a road trip that would take me to my new opportunity in Salt Lake City with ADP - one of the best career choices I had yet ventured upon.  I had taken one final look from a prominent hill in South San Jose near Belgatos Park near the town of Los Gatos where many times I had gone to think, and ponder choices and major steps in my life.  About a month earlier I had received 3 amazing offers from Sugar CRM, Hitachi Data Systems, and ADP.  Never in my life had I had such a choice - one of which required I uproot my family from our long term home and take the journey that would lead us to a remarkable new home, a new career journey and outcomes I never thought would propel me to better professional accomplishments.

Finally I had made my decision after a weekend of deliberation and ADP based on it's track record in industry, an incredible new team, and the opportunity to make a difference in a corporate environment finally propelled the choice.

It has since been 7 months - now almost 50 hires later and with some remarkable outcomes in my family life, including a new baby, a new work team, and a new home and new city, I have come to ponder the meaning of Staffing Karma.

It is simple really - you get back what you put in, and the more good you put forth in your efforts the more you enjoy a remarkable career outcome.  For 2.5 years I had worked hard and seen the incredible outcomes of over 150+ hires at NetPolarity.  In my role I worked as a sourcer helping partner recruiters nail their placements and partner on remarkable outcomes that led to career enhancement for many individuals.  Ramarkable it was that the steps of true staffing allegiance, and strong and dedicated staffing efforts made this possible.

Now after almost 5 years in staffing post my Paychex tenure, I sit back proudly with the knowledge that in the sum of these 5 years almost 250 hires have resulted from partnerships with fellow recruiters, friends, partners and colleagues.  Likewise recently reached my 5,000th LinkedIn connection, and further the LinkedIn Group I helped establish over 4 years ago for the BYU Management Society Silicon Valley Chapter is now at a full 1,000+ members.  Along the way in my staffing exploits - I have seen many wonderful friends find their direct way forward.

Challenges in staffing exist but a full and focused approach to bringing out the best for individuals is trully at the heart of any success we would venture.  Recently, events in the East Coast brought to bear the humbling challenges of many colleagues, even one of my candidates was affected by outcomes - and for privacy reasons will not name further detail, but suffice it to say and it pleases me: this individual is now a full fledged ADP associate and moving forward with incredible resiliency.

Across our professional sphere of influence as we work with multiple candidates, hiring managers, and others - there becomes a tremendous opportunity to do right by others and thus increase candidate experience.  So remarkable in fact is the return on investment for kindness and returning misdeeds with good deeds that we need a key return to this good forward thinking approach.

Helping the unemployed find work, helping provide advice for candidates, focused and consultative staffing problem solving - allowing others to save face, and a means to help others prosper is key social need.

I can't help but think back on a recent hire that now is my cube neighbor - Karma says that as I am kind to others so too do I get to see and explore the blessings.

I feel the power of staffing Karma daily - it is central - when I try to do right by others - it naturally follows that I find staffing Karma or good luck with others.  It is today vital to success to try and follow Dale Carnegie principles - www.dalecarnegie.com

I find these guiding North Stars have provided me great staffing outcomes - as we as staffing professionals ponder staffing success just ask yourself - how have I helped someone today?

Asking that question can lead to great staffing Karma.  Whether it is providing a helping hand or a new perspective, Staffing Karma will never go out of style. Amen.

-DISCLAIMER-

This post is my own content and is of my own opinion.  This post does not represent the views or policies of ADP Corporation and this content is my sole responsibility.  I am an associate of ADP.  One can find more info about ADP Careers by going to: www.adp.com/careers

You can connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/mikerasmussenphr

Thanks for reading and commenting!