Blue Signal Search

Engage. Connect. Hire.

  • Home
    • COVID-19
  • Industries
    • Wireless & Telecom
    • Internet of Things (IoT)
    • Medical & Healthcare
      • Hospitals & Healthcare
      • Biotechnology
      • Lab Diagnostics
      • Telehealth & Telemedicine
      • Medical Devices
    • Finance & Accounting
    • Emerging Technology
    • Cloud & Managed Services
    • Manufacturing & Industrial
    • Logistics & Supply Chain
      • Food & Agriculture
    • Human Resources
  • About Us
    • Staffing and Recruiting
      • Retained Search
      • Contingent Search
      • Engaged Search
      • Contract Staffing
    • Our Stats
    • Awards
    • Diversity and Inclusion
      • Letter from our CEO
    • Privacy
  • Candidates
  • Clients
    • Our Search Process
    • 12-Point Interview Process
    • Recent Placements
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Jobs

2020-2021 Blue Signal Virtual Summit Awards

January 14, 2021 by Aylish DeVore

In 2020, Blue Signal expanded its recruiting team to 24 full-time recruiters, brought on an additional 3 operations team members, and awarded several promotions to some of its senior team members. We placed over 300 qualified candidates in exciting new roles, and despite the difficult circumstances brought on by Covid-19, we were able to exceed our annual revenue from 2019. This year our annual Blue Signal Summit looked a little different as it was held virtually, rather than in-person in Scottsdale, Arizona. None the less, we were elated to come together to review our record-breaking 2020 awards and discuss big plans for 2021 and beyond.

If it weren’t for our incredible leadership, we would not be where we are today. At the Summit, Blue Signal Owner and Executive Vice President, Matt Walsh, announced several awards to recognize some of our top performers and exemplary mentors.

Top Cash In & Top Billings 2020 - Ryan Walsh

Top Cash In & Top Billings 2020 - Ryan Walsh

Within his first two years in the industry, Ryan Walsh has achieved the awards for Top Cash-In and Top Billings two years in a row - a feat unheard of in recruiting. This past year he was promoted to Senior Recruiting Manager for his diligence and eagerness to share knowledge with junior members of the team. While accepting his award, Ryan took the time to thank his team and the fellow recruiters that worked together on split placements that all contributed to securing these milestones. He also gave a special shoutout to our Project Manager Kimberly Sjurson, who was brought on just six months ago and has truly made a huge impact at Blue Signal through her hard work and dedication. 

MVP Award 2020 - Lacey Walters

MVP Award 2020 - Lacey Walters

As the “lifeblood of Blue Signal,” Lacey Walters was recognized as the three-time recipient of the MVP, Top Contributor award. During his speech, Matt mentioned that without Lacey’s daily, behind-the-scenes work, none of what we do at Blue Signal would be possible. Over the years, Lacey has been able to grow her team, and by building an incredible support system she leads the execution of all marketing aspects for Blue Signal with ease. She is truly the company’s MVP and has proven it time and time again as she contributes to the company’s overall success and earns this acknowledgment.

Record-Breaking 2020 Awards - Jonathan Lee

Excellence Award 2020 - Jonathan Lee

In his announcement, Matt congratulated Jonathan Lee with the nickname “Jonny Excellence,” as this award was created specifically with him in mind. Matt voiced his appreciation of all Jonathan’s support, as he is always there to help with the most positive attitude and continues to put in the extra mile in all he does. As the first recipient of the Best Support Award at last year’s summit, it comes with no surprise that Jonathan is yet again acknowledged for his hard work. Jonathan is constantly focused on excellence for himself and the team and is truly a beacon of the word. We’re extremely grateful to have Jonathan as part of the team!

Record-Breaking 2020 Awards - Kelsey Campion

Top Contractor Billings 2020 - Kelsey Campion

With over $100K in contractor billings, Kelsey Campion secured the award for the Top Contractor Billings in 2020. Matt said it best when he described Kelsey as an “absolute machine” when it comes to contract roles. He mentioned her extreme dedication and work ethic as she is always making herself available by working nights, weekends, and holidays to secure her roles and keep pushing for more. Kelsey’s efforts this year played a huge part in Blue Signal being recognized as part of Forbes’ annual list of America’s Best Temporary Staffing Firms for 2020. We don’t know how she does it, but she continues to improve and outperform her personal records on a regular basis.

Record-Breaking 2020 Awards - Brent Stokes

First Year Top Billings 2020 - Brent Stokes

In order to recognize Brent Stokes’ mind-blowing performance, this award was newly created to recognize his achievements as a new member of the Blue Signal team. With almost 4 years of recruiting experience behind him, Brent joined Blue Signal in February of 2020 and was able to secure over $300K in total billings in the remaining 10 months of the year. In his speech, Matt congratulated Brent on all he has accomplished and shared his appreciation for Brent’s dedication to learning, and for serving as a role model for others to learn from. We hope to replicate this kind of success and drive in future recruiters to come.

These 5 individuals embody Blue Signal’s core values of excellence, transparency, integrity, commitment, and respect. They put clients and candidates first, no matter the circumstance; and drive the culture of the organization through leading by example. These standout team members earned their prestigious recognition, and we are all excited to see what success 2021 will bring them, and the company as a whole.

Blue Signal Core Values

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: annual review, Award, Award winning, awards, best support award, billings, Career Goals, cash-in, company culture, Company Insights, congratulations, Contract Staffing, COVID relief, COVID19, excellence award, goal setting, goals, hiring, hiring manager, leadership, management, mentor, MVP, owner, Placements, promotion, quota, recruiters, recruiting, rookie of the year, sales, sales manager, selling, staffing, succession planning, summit, Top Recruiter, top talent, virtual culture, Work from Home, year in review

2020 Blue Signal Summit Awards

January 27, 2020 by Amber Lamb

In 2019, Blue Signal expanded their recruiting team to 17 full-time recruiters, brought on an additional 3 operations team members, and awarded several promotions to some of its senior team members. We placed over 150 qualified candidates in exciting new roles, and our annual revenue exceeded that of the last 3 years combined. During our annual Blue Signal Summit, held in Scottsdale, Arizona, we reviewed our record-breaking 2019 and discussed our big plans for 2020 and beyond.

If it weren’t for our incredible leadership, we would not be where we are today. At the Summit, Blue Signal Owner and Sr. Managing Partner, Matt Walsh, announced several awards to recognize some of our top performers and exemplary mentors.

2019 Rookie of the Year - John Stuart

Summit 2020 - Awards - John

Having joined our team late-January 2019, John Stuart jumped into his first year of recruiting head first. During John’s first few months he almost lost steam, but as the management team reassured - the fruits of his labor would pay off. And once it did, it really paid off. With the securing of several placements, and even bringing on a few new clients of his own, John truly worked to earn the recognition of Rookie of the Year for 2019.

Top Cash-In Award 2019 - Ryan Walsh

Within his first year in the industry, Ryan Walsh was promoted to Recruiting Manager for his diligence and eagerness to share knowledge with junior members of the team. That year, he brought in what would quickly become some of our best clients. From there, it was no surprise that placement after placement, Ryan would achieve the Top Cash-In for 2019.

Summit 2020 - Awards - Ryan 1

Top Billings 2019 - Ryan Walsh

Ryan’s dedication and close work with his clients also helped him secure an additional award for Top Billings in 2019. During the Summit, company owner and Ryan’s older brother, Matt, reminded Ryan of the trials he faced his first year. Matt even admitted that although they are brothers, he worked Ryan harder than anyone else on the team. Regardless, Ryan took the reins and certainly made his brother and the company proud.

MVP, Top Contributions 2019 - Lacey

Summit 2020 - Awards - Lacey 2

As the “lifeblood of Blue Signal,” Lacey Walters was recognized as the two-time recipient of the MVP, Top Contributor award. During his speech, Matt recalled the day they hired Lacey, stating, “Talking about the growth and future plans for the organization, she told me her hands were shaking because she was so excited.” We all truly believe we would not be where we are today if not for Lacey’s dedication and creativity.

2019 Best Support Award - Jonathan

Summit 2020 - Awards - Jonathan 2

A new award to the Blue Signal Summit lineup, the Best Support Award was created specifically for this winner. And as anyone in the company can attest, there is no one more supportive or loyal to the company than Jonathan Lee. The literal first person in, last person out of the office day in and out is always Jonathan. If you needed anything, at any hour of the day or night, he would answer your call. Jonathan continually motivates, inspires, and elevates each member of the team and is well-deserving of this accolade.

These 4 individuals embody Blue Signal’s core values - excellence, transparency, integrity, commitment, and respect. They put clients and candidates first, no matter the circumstance; they drive the culture of the organization through leading by example. These leaders earned this prestigious recognition, and we are all excited to see what success 2020 will bring them, and the company as a whole.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Our Company Tagged With: awards, blue signal summit, promotion, rookie of the year, values

7 Subtle Motivation-Killers of Top Employees

February 17, 2017 by Lacey Walters

“Highly motivated” is a common requirement on job descriptions, but in reality, “built-in” motivation is a myth. While an employee’s internal drive is important, the other half of the equation is a joint effort by the employee and the manager to foster a productive workplace.

Employee engagement is a top buzzword of recent years, and there are many obvious killers of motivation: below-market pay, crushing workload, delayed wages, unfair management practices, and oppressive bureaucracy.  But for highly paid top performers, some team managers miss more subtle killers of motivation. In an increasingly competitive job market, these top employees have more options than ever, so it is important to address motivation killers and build a productive, healthy environment that lets high performers shine.

 

1.  Unclear advancement plans

In the modern high-level interview, hiring managers often ask for a prospective employee’s career goals. Not everyone wants to go into management, so this interview question is critical in uncovering what motivates the employee. However, many managers never follow up on this initial conversation.

Regularly discussing where the employee wants to go and how to get there is important, but it is only the start. High achievers are good at setting and reaching goals, so they need to have measurable targets to hit and a specific timeline. If an employee feels they are indefinitely treading water, or that they have no prospects for advancement at their current company, they will move on. Tip the balance by giving top performers a realistic idea of their growth timeline and what they can expect as a reward for their hard work.

 

2.  Unaddressed conflict

High performers often have well-rounded communication skills and are good at coping with set-backs and frustrations. That said, a toxic work environment will quickly frustrate someone who is trying to focus on achieving good results in their job. A sudden change in an employee’s performance or an abrupt drop-off in communication is a telltale sign of a toxic situation. Toxic workplaces kill employee engagement.

Promptly address conflict. Meet face-to-face with involved employees and be prepared to discuss what is bothering them in honest, blunt terms. Many times, good communication with a mediator will take the fire out of a bad situation. At other times, more drastic measures are required. Either way, when a top employee is sending distress signals, ignoring the problem destroys trust along with motivation.

 

3.  Lack of feedback and/or indifference to new ideas

Employee Engagement and motivation depends strongly on a workplace culture of relevant and consistent feedback on new ideasWhen employees come up with new ideas and find new ways of doing things, it is a sure sign that they have good motivation and are engaged in their jobs. A quick way to kill that motivation is to gloss over their ideas. Even if the idea is totally unworkable, enthusiastic acknowledgement of their effort is critical.

Meet regularly with high-performing employees, not just to assess performance, but to build trust so that the employee feels confident enough to share new ideas. Top performers often provide advice that is just as good as a pricey consultant.

4.  Poor industry reputation

A company rarely has a bad reputation without something else being wrong. Negative press or a poor financial outlook can cause employees to start searching before a crisis hits. This correlation is stronger with senior executives. Executives are generally more in tune with market conditions and the company’s industry reputation. Senior employees are also impacted more strongly by performance-based bonuses and budget cuts, so a stream of bad press can jumpstart a new job search.

Interestingly, the past few years have seen the market become much more politicized. In a report titled “The Dawn of CEO Activism,” KRC Research found that almost 40% of American consumers say CEOs have a responsibility to publicly address hot-button political issues. Depending on whether employees support or oppose their company’s views, political involvement can bolster or kill motivation. Senior executives in particular may come under fire for comments by the company, or have to clean up messes as a result of an unpopular comment.

In fast-moving industries with shorter tenure, especially technology, top performers look ahead to make sure that the experience they are building now can get them a job down the road. Tech professionals have learned the hard way that even giants like Myspace and Netscape can hit hard times and turn a star resume into one that looks dated and unfashionable.

5.  Being passed over for a key promotion

Top performers are less of a flight risk than underperformers. However, sudden departures are often due to missing out on a promotion or award. If a hiring manager is interviewing internally and interviews three top performers for a juicy promotion, and only one of them gets it, the hiring manager risks losing his other two top performers. The solution is to take time to give them a good explanation as to why they were passed over. Reevaluate their career path within the organization together with them.

Ironically, top employees sometimes leave because of a promotion or salary increase! The HR analytics software Workday found that a significant percentage of high-performing employees had a higher risk of leaving the company after a promotion.
Being passed over for a promotion can severely damage employee engagement for a high performer.

Several scenarios can cause this phenomenon:

  • After transitioning into the new role, the employee runs into one of the problems above.
  • The employee takes on more responsibility than they could manage.
  • The promotion or raise comes too late or fails to meet expectations.
  • The new job title or award makes the employee more attractive to recruiters or motivates them to explore even better options outside the company.

When interviewing internal candidates for a high-level position, it is critical to spend time with the rejected candidates to reevaluate their growth plan within the company, so they do not take it as a sign to move on.

 

6.  Insufficient mentorship or development opportunities

Networking is still the #1 way that people get a new job or advance at their current one. It is important to help top employees build mentor relationships within the company.

A mentor fulfills many roles in an employee’s professional life: they coach, train, give advice, brainstorm, encourage, and correct. Having strong professional relationships within an organization is a powerful incentive for a high achiever to work hard and stay with the company.

By contrast, companies who fail to invest in their top employees’ growth lose twice. Their top people gravitate to the competition, and they fail to attract top employees to replace them. Today’s employee knows that demand for new skills is fierce. Top employees have to reinvent themselves several times in the course of their careers. If an employer is not investing their skills, they lose the motivation to invest their best effort in growing the company.

Employee engagement - having a mentor and training opportunities significantly improves employee motivation and retention.

7.  Too little work or uninteresting projects

A mediocre employee will happily take a paycheck without enough work to keep them busy. Top performers want to be challenged. Even if an employee believes wholeheartedly in the company’s mission and loves their work, they will quickly become frustrated if they are bored or perceive that their work is unimportant.

If a high performer is consistently hitting goals without much effort, they have outgrown their current role. It can be tempting to keep them where they are to save the cost of replacing them when they move up the ladder, but this will frustrate the employee and usually lead to a drop in performance or a resignation letter. Reward employees’ growth by helping them to reach their desired career goals.

Many employees would rather leave than complain, so pay attention to early warning signs. Do not rely on employees to set their own workloads. It is the manager’s job to invest time in the employee to match their workload to their ability, drive, and personality. Find out what aspects of a project or of a client the employee enjoys working with, and seek out ways to maximize it for that employee. The investment is well worth it. Motivated employees who like their jobs will happily go to bat for their company to get the best results.

 

Change is difficult, and even top employees are reluctant to jump into a long job search process that may or may not pay off. A high performer will send many signs before they feel frustrated enough to start job-searching. Employee engagement takes an investment of time, thought, and resources. But the reward is that a manager who engages employees will have far better results to show than a manager who focuses on the results instead of on the people who produce them.

Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: company culture, employee engagement, employee motivation, employer, guide, how to, job, job market, motivating, promotion, recruiting, strategy, workplace

Copyright © 2021 · Dynamik-Gen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

logo
BLUE SIGNAL OFFICES
Phoenix (HQ)
4545 E Shea Blvd – Suite 250,
Phoenix, AZ 85028
Phone: 480-939-3200

Chicago

8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave, #1300
Chicago, IL 60631
Phone: 847-227-8287
RECENT POSTS

Coffee with a Recruiter, feat. Jared Wenzel – Resume Best Practices

Read More

If You’re Not Looking Forward to Mondays: Why You Might Need a New Job

Read More
AB_logo_270x103
LinkedIn
Twitter

Copyright 2021 All Right Reserved - Blue Signal | Designed by Sting