There’s a reason Tom Moran has had a successful career in the staffing industry: he started from the bottom. Right out of college, Moran got a desk job at a local staffing agency, and he has spent the past two decades learning every aspect of the industry. Needless to say, it’s paid off. Moran has held executive leadership positions with the industry’s largest firms, including his previous role as CEO for Mastech, Inc. In 2011, Moran became CEO of Addison Group, a fast-paced, rapidly growing Chicago-based staffing agency serving seven core industry sectors, including IT, accounting and finance, health care, executive search, financial services, administrative, and VMS/MSP (vendor management solution and managed services provider).
Central to the agency’s recent success is the culture Moran is working hard to cultivate, one that puts people first, and process second. “Without a doubt, our critical differentiator is our culture,” the CEO says. “It’s a team environment, and we embrace a culture of autonomy. We’re in the people business, and people are key to our success. For us, success starts with our culture. I’m incredibly proud that we’re building the kind of culture that makes people enjoy coming to work.”
To be successful with Addison Group, Moran says you have to be highly-motivated, thriving in a performance-based culture. The agency’s employees are entrepreneurial, a quality the CEO says is easy to spot during the interview process. This process sets up the foundation, as in-depth job interviews reveal the “good, bad, and ugly” of the industry and the position itself.
“We want potential employees to understand our expectations and our metrics,” Moran says. “We need them to understand the challenges we face and the rewards that will be reaped if they work hard. During interviews, we lay it all out and let them know what makes us tick. If it excites them, they’re going to make a good fit.”
The agency’s approach appears to be working; Addison Group boasts impressive numbers. About 70 percent of clients stay with the agency for four years or more, with the average client staying for six years, well above the industry standard. In the staffing industry, long-term clients are hard to come by, so when the Addison Group secures one, the agency fights to keep them.
In the wake of the recent recession, Moran notes that the staffing industry is leading the country out of unemployment, citing that 15 percent of the new jobs created since 2009 were temporary positions. Addison Group specializes in hard-to-find skill sets, with a large emphasis on IT.
Addison Group is one of the fastest growing staffing agencies in the country. At its core, Moran and his team are helping Americans with special skills earn a much-needed paycheck, and major corporations are just now realizing the benefit the company provides, which speaks to the shifting conditions of the labor pool. Previously, many companies weren’t comfortable using staffing agencies, but with so many jobs now resulting from temporary positions—and at a fraction of the cost to companies—the value in using Addison Group’s services is evident. “The way that companies source their talent is changing,” Moran says. “They’re beginning to recognize the value of staffing agencies, and I truly believe Addison Group is at the forefront of this new movement.”
Addison Group pays the employees who get hired by its clients, but the agency doesn’t manage these employees, which allows clients to get the benefit without having these employees on payroll. “The service we provide is invaluable,” Moran says. “We can help with the ups and downs that organizations have during these uncertain times. We provide employees, and we take responsibility for them, while our clients manage them and benefit from their skills. It’s a win-win.”
