In 1898 - a young man on a service orientated commitment for his faith took a journey with a friend to Stirling Castle in Scotland.  Upon coming to the castle the young man - David O. McKay found an inscription set firmly in stone above one of the entry ways to the castle.  The inscription read: "What E'er Thou Art Act Well Thy Part" - this quote attributed later to Shakespeare hit the heart of this young man who had set out from his native America to go abroad for a couple years to provide service, and to live his faith's teachings of building up others, helping others achieve greatness within themselves and in short, to serve with charity, faith, and hope.

Being young he felt homesick - but yet - he loved the opportunity to give to others at that time in his life.  Having made the commitment and having been somewhat to a degree going through the motions during his service - this particular stone inscription set above hit him forcefully enough to forever transform him to the man he wanted to be.

Within the recruiting and staffing realm we would be served well to remember these words and apply them not just to clients, candidates, co-workers, etc, but to family and freinds.  Professional commitment is just one part of staffing greatness, so to must there be a balance.  When given an opportunity do we sit idle and not pursue it or do we "ACT WELL THE PART". 

It's such simple advice really, and it is so easy as a staffing professional to lose sight of why one may take multiple steps to achieve multiple stages of success, but unless one's heart is trully in it, then staffing can be mundane or overwhelming at times.

But one mustn't lose heart, every staffing journey has the potential to bring great outcomes:

• The candidate you place now could be the referrel of future business, partnerships or outcomes.
• The questions one asks will show how customer service orientated one is - is interviewing a thing you check off in your day or does one really take the time to ponder the answers, as well as the questions.
• Is the match you dreamed of right around the corner for your managers/candidates? Even the best among us must refocus the energy to new areas that can have more effort/coverage/support.
• Staffing is like a box of chocalates - you never know what your going to get.
• A people business must always be that a - PEOPLE BUSINESS
• Acting one's part may mean sacrificing ego and allowing others to save face even when one may be right.
• Every transaction is a 2 way road.

Acting well one's part in staffing is a key component for staffing success.  But it takes time, sacrifice, effort, and hope to achieve every aspect of Staffing Greatness.  Staffing Greatness is not only about great boolean strings, the amount of fills, or the amount of recruiting screening prowess - it is also about keeping perspective, and forging a strategic outcome and partnerships that yield maximum results. 

I suppose that one needs to be always close to a mindset that helps you to act "well ones part" - if we had that as a motto in every country, land, creed, color, race, or language wars would stop, patience would ensue and self reliance can then rule the day.

Vital is it when one realized that not only being a nice place to grow, but keeping a perspective can make all the difference into acting one's part, it seems a simple thing, but really it is difficult to maintain the hope.

In this recession, in these set of circumstances, keeping the effort going is the true mark of staffing greatness, and nothing can replace effort, and a goal that is set with a binding commitment.

So if you happen to be walking in Scotland and find an inscription you will be able to remember this story of Faith/Commitment and Hope that can get you over the bridge and onto life's joys.

Acting well one's part is maintaining a bulldog effort on one's goals until they are achieved and outcomes lead to great gains of spirit.

And I wouldn't have it any other way: