The subject of today’s Five Question Friday, James Carchidi, came to our attention in a very organic and authentic way. Actually he came to my attention specifically, with an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, accompanied by this nice note: ”I really admire your articles in Staffing Talk. They are always worth reading!” You have to like seeing that in your inbox, right? So we made the connection, and here he is.
James M. Carchidi, CSP, is the Executive Vice President of JFC Temps Inc., JFC Global Inc., JFC Medical Inc., d.b.a. JFC Staffing Companies. You can find out more at www.jfcstaffing.com.
He says in his LinkedIn profile, “The secret sauce to JFC’s success can be summarized in a single sentence, ‘We make our customers happy.’” He adds that “companies are not coming to us to buy our services, they want to buy the outcomes of our services.”
Here we go now with our five questions.
1.) What is the biggest growth area in your business right now?
Executive Search/Direct Hire – Good people are always in demand, even more so during recessions.
2.) What is the biggest drag on your business, the bane of your existence at the moment?
Time; it’s our most precious commodity that once gone, you can’t get back – whether it be managing government regulations, receivables, culture, talent, or customers – the main drag on business is how to best manage the time to do it all.
3.) How do you define success?
Success means making happy customers while adding to a healthy bottom line.
4.) Name one way you have cut costs or increased profits during the recession?
There are plenty of prospects, but only a few that are truly good for us. Taking it a step further, we identified what our ideal customer looks like and then fired the rest.
5.) What technology do you find indispensable?
A vehicle. Yes, I said it…the most indispensable technology is still the one that gets my staff face to face and in front of our customers. Of course, I can’t forget the importance of my iPad though!
Thanks Jim for participating in Five Question Friday. If you have anything to add to what Jim has to say, or want to ask any questions of him, you can do so via the comments section below.
And if you know anyone who you think is a good candidate for Five Question Friday, just invite me to connect on LinkedIn, tell me how much you admire my stories, and we’ll get going. Actually, you don’t have to do all that. A simple email will suffice!
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
short but sweet…indispensable tech: car…great line and true.
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I like these Five Question Friday articles. I enjoy reading how others in the industry answer compared to how I would answer but it has to said that if James Carchidi worked in my office productivity levels just might decrease.
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Evalynn, thank you for reading today’s 5 Question Friday and for taking the time to contribute your thoughts. I believe that you can never convince someone against their own will, that agruing is futile. That being said, I’m not looking to counter your statement but rather to learn more about its reasoning.
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Thanks for the comment Evalynn. Glad you enjoy these recurring pieces. I am curious about the second part of your comment though. What did James say that you don’t think would work for your company? Was it a management style thing or something else?
Excellent set of questions and brilliant answers from one of our industry leaders. Different parts of the country seem to have different issues and different solutions that we can all use as staffing industry management. Look forward to more interviews
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Thanks for the comment Jarrod. In the event you haven’t seen this piece before, we actually do ask the same set of questions every week. That way, you can compare answers a little more uniformly since the questions remain constant. I am curious to hear more around the take of regional issues and solutions. Is that true? Does it differ around the country? I would love to hear more about that.
Kudos to 5 questions and to Mr Carchidi if we had more forward thinking leaders in the Staffing Industry like him we would all be perceived as a valued partner. Knowing who your ideal client is and focusing your efforts on those clients and giving those clients the absolute best customer service increases your ROI and your bottom line all while getting a reputation as one of the best staffing companies. Now that’s productivity .
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My answers to the “5 Question Friday” only reflect our business model and who we want to be; a.k.a. our brand. It’s healthy to have conflicting points of view and I encourage such. As for the JFC Staffing Companies… this recesion, and the gavity of changes in our industry, helped us become a better organization. It was no longer about being the biggest in our markets but about being the best. We looked ourselves in the mirror and woke up — no longer would we try to be all things to all customers/prospects. If they did not meet our precise criteria then we declined their RFP’s or stopped servicing them. Don’t mislabel it as ego…we respect those companies who choose to see our industry as a commodity, that is their right and no hard feelings. As for produsction…revenues are down while net is up, up, up — and so too is staff morale (feeling significant by serviig clients who deeply apreciate and value what they do).
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Great questions and I always enjoy receiving invaluable insight from one of the leaders of the staffing industry. I am puzzled by Ms. Sherwood’s comments. I would welcome Mr. Carchidi working or consulting in any of my offices and I am confident that the productivity would increase.
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I agree with your answers and I’m sure you’re excellent at what you do. I was merely saying your GREAT looks could prove to be a distraction! Nothing against you. I apologize if the humor in my comment was overlooked.Handsome, intelligent, insightful and collaborative…..you just might be JFC Staffing’s secret weapon!
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How nice, thank you.
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Great article Jim…love the answer about the “car” being the most important technology. Everyone wants a tool to automate everything these days. But the funny thing…a car and a phone…are still the two greatest tools one can use in building great client relationships.
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We are big on preaching that “Every action has a reaction; therefore every customer interaction counts. Every time you contact a customer it either helps or hurts our reputation and credibility. Simply put, we want customers to be happy and not all prosects are ideal customers. ”
Its an unfortunate reality that some customers treat their agencies like second class citizens. Its also an unfortunate reality that some agencies allow their customers to do this. Ask yourself, “Why?”
At JFC, not only do we want to be a company that’s great to work for, but we also want to be a company that is great to work with. We want to be a company where all team members feel significant and happy about what they do, while having our customers describe us as a delight to do business with. To be successful we must interview clients just as we do candidates; not all our meant for us.
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