I woke up to the sound of my five-year-old daughter yelling over and over again, “school’s out for summer!” She’s tone-deaf and loud, so I imagine this is as close as I will get to hearing Alice Cooper live in concert. I proceeded with my morning routine and drove my son to school for his last day of first grade. He went from full-time remote to hybrid to now in-person full time. What a year it has been for these kids. I saw firsthand how vital in-person learning is to the development of our children.
As I drove away from the car line, I let out a big sigh of relief. I imagine many parents have found themselves doing the same. The silent car ride home was the first time I was able to appreciate what our staffing company had accomplished this year. I have to admit that we somewhat underestimated the challenges the pandemic would continue to place on us when the schools asked for our assistance in their safe reopening. But, as a family-owned company that has served its community for over 40 years, we were eager to answer the call.
Challenges are all par for the course. I don’t want to give away trade secrets, but Kennedy does not possess a crystal ball that allows us to predict the future. All staffing agencies have access to the same information, so why is it that we can accomplish things our competitors do not? If you ask Jim Collins, best-selling author of the Good to Great series of books, the difference is in the way companies use the knowledge.
Other recruiters may have the same information, but they do not have the strategies that allow us to process the data quickly. Strategies that have been implemented in call centers, state elections, warehouses, and traffic control flagging projects, have now been applied to the schools. Kennedy Services is built to excel under circumstances that require an abundance of staff in a short period. We have been successful in these situations time and time again. So, when the schools asked us to assist them in bringing the children back safely, we simply customized our process to fit these needs. When we faced unemployment stimulus issues and the shortage of available workers, we quickly adapted to overcome these obstacles.
It was a team effort to return our kids to the classroom. We understand that we played a small part next to more significant sacrifices of the teachers and administrators. Kennedy Services is always ready to answer the call and support your company or organization with its staffing needs, so you can focus on doing what you do best. In the case of the schools, it was educating the young minds of Maryland.
School may be out for summer, but it surely is not out forever. Let’s all take a collective sigh of relief, but not for too long. We need to get started on getting the children back in the Fall.
Matt Sarant is a proud member of the Kennedy Services family. Kennedy Services is one of Maryland’s oldest independent, woman-owned staffing services, located in the heart of Baltimore City.