Based in Springfield, Massachusetts, Johnson & Hill Staffing Services, Inc. recently celebrated their tenth anniversary. What's the secret to their long-term growth? They realized the need to be at the top of their field technology-wise.
Andrea Hill, Managing Partner of Johnson & Hill, states, "We look for operational efficiencies so that we can do more with less. We look towards technology as one of our tools to differentiate ourselves from our competitors."
Hill would like to grow their two offices and the professional and administrative niche of their business by 20 percent within the next year.
"It was crucial to our business that our staffing software has the flexibility we need in any situation. We had to be comfortable that it can handle whatever we need," said Hill.
At the beginning of 2005, Johnson & Hill switched from their legacy software to StaffSuite? VCG's premier fully-integrated front and back-office staffing software solution.
"When we decided to make the transition to StaffSuite, it was clear we needed to make a change to meet our growth goals," said Hill, "our previous software just didn't have what it took to help us compete effectively within the staffing industry and take us to the next level."
To kick start their new program, Johnson & Hill went through a comprehensive training program that led to a smooth implementation.
Hill says, "VCG took our training very seriously. There was no lip service to our needs, rather strong action. There was a lot of follow through and sincerity from people that have worked for years within the staffing industry."
Additionally, June Liberty, Director of Operations for Johnson & Hill, was especially pleased at the teamwork displayed by VCG staffers during the training.
Liberty adds, "It was important that we had a thorough training period. VCG's comprehensive approach was helpful when it was time to go live."
During this period they came to another realization. Did they really want to have the technical expertise in house to maintain their system? Could they be more effective by focusing on their core strengths -- making sales and filling staffing orders? So Hill decided to take advantage of VCG's managed services offering. With managed services, Johnson & Hill no longer had to worry about housing its server or staffing software application. VCG was responsible for maintaining both at a 24/7 monitored, multi-level physical security environment with a 99 percent uptime guarantee.
VCG ensures system security, backups, data integrity, timely software updates and more, so that Johnson & Hill could focus on filling orders and landing new business.
Hill says, "The most amazing benefit of managed services is not having to even think about technical issues with the server or software ?we even take it for granted when the software enhancements are added."
Because management no longer has to spend their time putting out 'technical fires,' they have had more time to do their jobs and increase business.
"Either June or I would have to take time out from our day to fix whatever crisis was going on with our previous software," says Hill, "it was lowering both of our abilities to be productive."
VCG managed services put an end to the worries and even enabled Johnson & Hill to operate successfully with a leaner staff thanks to StaffSuite's ability to improve staff efficiency and productivity.
"In the past, we had to anticipate technical difficulties and staff accordingly," says Hill.
Liberty adds, "Not only do we have a leaner, more productive staff, but I no longer get pulled away from my job which is to win new business, not patch up any technical problems. And those problems might take four hours out of my work week when I could have been filling orders."
While four hours a week might not seem like a lot, within a years' time it's 208 hours of lost productivity.
Hill emphasizes, "I don't even want to know how much business we lost in the past because we were taking care of technical issues."
With Johnson & Hill's new technological investment, they will be poised to meet its 20 percent growth goal.
"We have superior software and technical support and we are ready to grow with the technology as it continually improves," says Hill.
One wonders if they might surpass their growth goal for the year.
Ashley Jones is the public relations specialist for VCG. For more information on StaffSuite or managed services, please visit: http://www.vcgsoftware.com.