March, 2011
Contributed by Sarah DiMicheleou
2011 has thus far been a record-breaking year for ABL and for many of our client companies. All the belt-tightening and streamlining of 2009-2010 is paying off, and ABL has emerged as a lean, mean, staffing machine – ready to take on the new world of a post-recession staffing reality.
With the changes in minimum wage ($10.25 as of Jan 2010) and Employment Law (Bill 139; Bill 168), and the continued pressure to compete with the Asian & South American developing markets, ABL really does believe that to survive and thrive in these conditions, we have to be different, and we know you have to be different too. We learned a lot during this period, from truly listening to you, our customers, and many of our new initiatives came from those discussions. Here are some of the ways we have grown our business to stay in step with our customer and assignment employee needs:
1) Creation of a fulltime, after-hours’ emergency staffing office.
2) Creation of a centralised payroll office and timesheet data-base.
3) Creation of a Staff Training & Development program.
4) Expansion of the Peel/GTA branch to re-establish a full-time North York/Toronto branch.
5) Expansion of the site coordinator team at AMDofasco site.
6) Further expansion of the Assignment Employee recognition program, to include “birthday card” program, as well as “employee of the month” and “employee of the year” programs.
The NEW FACE of ABL:
Corporate ABL team:
Joann Weller joins ABL as our first ever after-hours staffing coordinator in order to provide consistent late-night service for your last minute dispatch needs: Joan brings 10+ years of customer-focused service in the collections industry, and as a site-coordinator for a staffing service on an Industrial worksite: She knows what it takes to organise and set up a team onsite at a job when things don’t always go according to plan. Joan staffs ABL phone lines from 5pm to 11pm Monday to Friday. Over the weekends, our phones are monitored by the corporate and management teams at ABL. We also welcome Jenn Jamieson back to ABL in the role of “company payroll guru”. Many of you will remember Jenn from her staffing coordinator days in the London office. Jenn now becomes our centralised payroll coordinator, and the first point of contact for client companies & associates regarding timesheet, invoice and payroll questions.
Sarah DiMichele moves into the role of Staff Training & Development Manager: as the ABL team grows, so too does the need for consistency and standardisation of our staff training: this should help insure our customers receive the same high-level of service regardless of which office services them, and provides the opportunity for ABL staffing coordinators to progress in the company through continued education initiatives.
London Office:
Another ABL baby is born! Connie Couto has recently delivered a healthy baby girl. Bonnie Needham and Sierra Babcock have joined this team as staffing coordinators, while Tracey Johnstone (staffing coordinator); Bonnie Ross (evaluation coordinator) and Jill Dee Ferguson (Owner/Manager) round out the London area team.
Burlington Office:
Mike Alward, Sharon Vrooman, Lori Martin and Bernie Swift join our team as staffing coordinators, and Robynne Smith joins the team as a site coordinator at AMDofasco. Kristina Killey returns from maternity leave and rejoins the Burlington office as AMDofasco payroll coordinator. Danielle Collina (staffing coordinator), Jeff Dale ( project supervisor) and Dave Herriot (Manager) round out the ABL team in this Branch.
Peel/Toronto Region Offices:
Jane Pink takes over for SarahJane DiMichele as manager for this region. Our newly expanded North York office includes recent hires Dina Natsis joins staffing coordinator Ashley Cooper. Our Brampton location adds Lindsey Kittle to join Leslie Sinapi in the Staffing Coordinator role.
Vancouver, British Columbia Office:
Brittany Donovan (formally from the ABL London office) has launched the British Columbia office of ABL Employment. She joined ABL in January 2010 and is enjoying combining her love of the west coast with her knowledge and experience as a staffing professional.
We are excited about the path our company is taking, and constantly taking our own temperature to be sure we are in step with the needs of our industry, our market, and our customers. Thank You for trusting us to get you through the hard times, and for allowing us the opportunity to help you meet your own company goals. ****
