Alliance members from the western US and Canada joined with the Goodwill Staffing Services Workgroup this past weekend for a day of learning and networking in Spokane, Washington.

Tom Kosnik, president of Visus Group, led an in-depth workshop on compensation design for staffing salespeople and recruiters, and Michael Simpson, CEO of PAIRIN, presented on the science behind its candidate assessment and coaching tools. One tool helps to match job seekers to optimal job profiles based on their soft skills and mindsets, while another measures 8 behavioral imperatives to identify employment barriers and help candidates boost their performance.

In another session, Gregg Keesling, CEO of Alliance member RecycleForce and Halili Knox, senior education manager at Checkr shared insights about helping employers benefit from “Fair Chance” hiring. Checkr has recently launched an online Fair Assessment course to train hiring professionals about compliance with individualized assessment requirements and is developing a second module that focuses on the workflows of onboarding, training and engaging new hires. Gregg described how RecycleForce partners with Keys to Work Staffing to offer reentry candidates a continuum of employment opportunities and access to comprehensive support services.

Finally, Dave DeSario, director of Temp Worker Justice provided an overview of its advocacy efforts and work to draft a “high road” staffing services contract. The model contract language is designed to benefit workers by strengthening safety practices, increasing transparency about conversion to hire opportunities, and creating systems to address incidents of discrimination or harassment on-the-job.

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