Category: Blog

Not just any questions, but those that challenge us to think and then rethink.  Those that are sometimes so immense we can’t answer them based on our current knowledge or where we currently stand.  To answer these questions we must learn more.

The acclaimed business author Ken Blanchard said, “While no single conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a business, a marriage, or a life; any single conversation can.”  I’d like to refine his message by replacing “conversation” with “question.”  (Reread it with this change).

By asking the hard questions we challenge and stretch each other’s thinking.  It’s as if a vacuum is created between what we know and what we need to know; what we currently do and what we need to be able to do (competence versus capacity).  Ask questions of yourself, your peers, clients, candidates, and your manager.  By continually challenging ourselves we will better discover what is possible.

As we progress through the second half of 2013, I challenge you to always be asking the hard questions.  They empower and create new possibilities.  They lead to action and they will produce results.  Become conscious of the questions you are asking.  Evaluate each question and ask, “Is this a good question?  If not, what’s a better one?” Choose the better question.  Be intentional. 

It would be my pleasure to listen and learn from your point of view.  I invite you to ask me your questions and/or tell me of your idea(s).

Jim M. Carchidi, CSP

Executive Vice President

The JFC Staffing Companies

JFC Temps Inc, JFC Medical Inc. and JFC Global Inc. named among the Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies in the region

(Harrisburg ), PA (July 18, 2013) – JFC Temps Inc., JFC Medical Inc., and JFC Global Inc., are proud to announce that they made the Central Penn Business Journal’s 17th annual list of companies with increasing revenues.

“While growth is exciting, we are most thrilled that we have grown in a business climate where many in our industry have been closing their doors or cutting headcount.  I believe that our Customer Commitment, co-created by our work family, had afforded us such growth during some of the most challenging of business climates.” – Jim Carchidi, CSP, Executive Vice President & Co-Owner

In order to be eligible for consideration, companies were required to show revenue of at least $500,000 in each of the fiscal years ending 2010, 2011 and 2012, as well as revenue growth in 2012, as compared to 2010. For-profit entities that are headquartered in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry or York county were eligible for nomination.

The presenting sponsor of the program, SF&Company, calculated the nominations and then ranked the companies according to revenue growth over the three-year period. Both dollar and percentage increases were taken into consideration. This ranking formula led to the list of winners.

JFC Temps Inc., JFC Medical Inc., and JFC Global Inc., and the other 47 winners, will be honored at an awards breakfast on Monday, September 30, 2013, when their ranks will be revealed. A complete, ranked list of honorees and profiles of each company and their financial growth will be published in a special supplement of the October 4 issue of the Central Penn Business Journal.

Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies is a program of the Central Penn Business Journal and is presented by SF&Company. Additional sponsors include: Comcast Business; Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott and Highmark Blue Shield. For more information about the awards, please visit www.CPBJnow.com/events.

About the JFC Staffing Companies

Disciplined on customer commitment we work hard to gain the trust of our clients; helping them find their most valuable asset – people; while preserving their most precious commodity – time.

It all started back in 1975 out of a one room office where husband and wife Jim F Carchidi and Linda A Carchidi started JFC Personnel, a permanent placement service.  Today we have a much larger work family spread across three niche recruiting companies.  There is JFC Global with specialized recruiters who find hidden talent in the areas of Information Technology, Engineering, and Accounting/Finance.  JFC Medical who execute targeted talent search strategies for today’s healthcare practices and institutions.  JFC Temps with Staffing Managers and Recruiters who deliver talent-on-demand in the areas of Office-Professional, Skilled Labor, and light-industrial.

Competence is the ability to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of one’s own job and an ability to train others in these duties. It includes evidence of good judgment. We think of competent people as ‘professional’ in their jobs. It’s what they know and how they demonstrate what they know.

Capacity refers to what the individual is capable of achieving – what they’re capable of doing beyond what they currently do. These people develop a disciplined and orderly mind – one that is accustomed to thinking hard and dealing with problems outside the norm. They are constantly engaged in learning, training, and explaining the merits of alternative decisions and courses of action. From these innate abilities, they possess the capacity to grow into new responsibilities.

What’s the difference? To be capable means that you can get the job done; whereas capacity means that you have the potential to further your growth, development, or accomplishment. On a management level, most are capable of managing people however those with the capacity to be builders of people will take things to the next level. Similarly, management set goals that their people are capable of hitting whereas team members may illustrate the capacity to exceed such goals. Herein lies our future; your capacity.

Let’s equate this lesson to running. Most people are capable of running but few have the capacity to run marathons. Those that run marathons did so by developing themselves into distance runners. Likewise, in order for us to be the BEST for the long haul, we need the capacity to go the distance. We are at our BEST when the entire JFC family is learning, growing, and developing.

We will continue to be the BEST as long as we maintain A Players doing A work, executing to the maximum. In the end, the JFC Staffing Companies are the BEST because of the competence and capacity of people like you!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Multipliers are people who look beyond their current capability, continuously extending and growing their intelligence. They give 100 percent of their abilities and then some. These people are dedicated students to human development of themselves and those around them.

One of the biggest challenges in business today is not insufficient resources, but rather the underutilization of resources already available to us. Far too many organizations recruit people, not as talent to be developed, but more as a resource to be deployed. Likewise, far too many people walk through life only to deploy their existing talents. Regrettably, both organizations and individuals seemingly underutilize and underappreciate human development. (Check out the book “Mindset” from our library.)

Why is it that so many organizations and individuals are content with leaving capabilities on the table?

Here at JFC we expect great things from our people. We want you to embody a growth mindset — to be a multiplier; solving harder problems, adapting more quickly, and taking more strategic action. We acknowledge this is a shared responsibility. As an organizational we must bring the right people together. Leadership must coach and liberate you to do your best thinking. And you must be a constant student of your own human development, a multiplier!

I view our work family as full of talented people who are capable of continuously bettering themselves, their teams, and the organization. I believe in you. I also believe that you likely possess far more capability (creativity, initiative, and resourcefulness) than what you realize.

The question remains, “Are you capable of becoming a multiplier?”

To my JFC work family,

Last month’s letter spoke to the fact that “while we cannot predict the future, we can create it.” This holds true with accomplishing our annual goals and budget. While budgeting is not a lively topic, it does keep our organization alive. Failure to consistently meet goals and budget is a recipe for disaster, as evidenced today with the fiscal cliff and sequestration.

Each JFC Company VP and manager goes to great lengths to work with the staff and determine what each person needs to contribute in order for the company to hit their goals. These goals are what we use to budget the expenses that are needed to run our business. They are set realistically to be hit consistently over time. The only way we are going to get where we need to be in five years is to meet annual goals and budgets consistently. We’ve got to get 100% of the way every year.

I think our nation’s mindset today is one of, “Gee, it sure would be nice to hit budget” but then governments, businesses, and individuals fail to rigorously work towards meeting them as a way to predict and control their future. For us here at JFC we want to grow our high-spirit, fun-loving, culture across the state of Pennsylvania. To do so requires each of us hitting our goals with great consistency over a period of time.

Our combined average annual growth rate over this past decade has been 5.9%. With the talent on staff it should be double that. Major swings over time and inconsistent growth rates led to years with limitations on perks provided to our work family. Things like increases and 401K matching have been impacted. This is why I need your commitment to knowing your goal and working to consistently achieve it.

By hitting our goals and budget we prove to ourselves, our customers and our competitors, that JFC’s performance will not be shaken by outside conditions. The factors that determine whether or not we hit goal/budget each year lie largely within our own hands. It’s not a matter of what happens to JFC but a matter of what we create, what we do, and how well we do it.

Ask yourself, “What piece of the budget does my role impact most?” Whether you’re a recruiter with a weekly GM$ goal or a VP overseeing your company budget, we all have a stake in the end results. In 2012 all JFC Staffing Companies met their goal and budget. Let’s make 2013 the second year in a row!

You are my #1 Customer. Refer “A-Players” to join our team!

James M. Carchidi, CSP
Executive Vice President

1. Their recruiters are not professionally certified by the American Staffing Association.
2. They have no quantifiable metrics to show customer satisfaction rates by Inavero Best of Staffing Client List.
3. They don’t want you to call the local chamber and do a reference on their reputation.
4. They don’t want you to request a certificate of liability insurance for coverage afforded to you.
5. They never want you to…call us.

The Staffing Industry is crashing in client satisfaction and promotion scores.

Less than 1% of all staffing agencies in North America receive the Best of Staffing award for service excellence. Utilizing the Net Promoter® methodology, the 2013 Best of Staffing Client winners achieved satisfaction scores quadruple the industry average. This stark contrast in scores is a clear indication that the firms who have earned their way onto the 2013 Best of Staffing list truly stand out for their service quality.

JFC STAFFING COMPANIES MADE INAVERO’S 2013 BEST OF STAFFING™ CLIENT LIST: Receiving satisfaction ratings of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 87.4 percent of their clients, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 39 percent.

Winning service quality scores quadruple industry average, indicating widening gap between industry leaders and laggards.

The JFC Staffing Companies announced today it has been named to Inavero’s 2013 Best of Staffing™ Client list of award winners. Presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, the fourth annual Best of Staffing list provides the only statistically valid, objective, service quality benchmarks in the industry and reveals which staffing agencies are delivering exceptional service to their clients. This year’s list highlights a growing divide among the industry’s leaders and laggards, and identifies the JFC Staffing Companies as one of the best staffing agencies for companies to call when they are looking to hire temporary or permanent employees.

“The secret sauce to JFC’s success can be summarized in a single sentence; “We make our customers happy. We have this “thing” which was co-created by our entire work family and it’s called JFC Customer Commitment. We are proud and honored to be recognized for our efforts in this way.”

Quantifiable Proof: We beat the industry averages…

Top 1% nationally in client referral rates

Top 5% nationally in placement fill rates

Inavero’s 2012 & 2013 Best of Staffing™ Client List: the nation’s only award that recognizes staffing firms that receive remarkable reviews from their clients.

2013 Central Penn Business Journal’s Book of Lists: Ranked by local revenue

Largest Employers (#7)

Woman Owned Businesses (#4)

Fastest Growing Cumberland Companies (#11)

Largest Staffing Firms: (#2)

50 Fastest Growing Companies: (#37)

Community Accolades:

2012 Ethics in Business Award nominee; The Samaritan Counseling Center and Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry

2012 Lymphoma Leukemia Society’s Executive Director’s Award; for volunteer hours and contributions raised

Local Accolades:

2012 Harrisburg Magazine’s Simply the Best

2012 Sentinel Newspaper’s Best of West Shore

2012 Sentinel Newspaper’s Best of Carlisle

Internal Accolades:

2012 order request fill rate of 94%

2012 Client Evaluations; On Associate 8.8/10; On Service 9.3/10 (Annual Rating Averages)

The secret sauce to JFC’s success can be summarized in a single sentence, “We make our customers happy.”