Manpower has been a leader in the search and staffing industry since 1948. Karla Keegan is the manager of Manpower’s Omaha branch.
Tell us a little about your business. – Manpower is more than a staffing provider; we are a full service workforce solution provider. Located in 83 countries, we have a strong footprint with over 400 offices in North America. Manpower employs over 3.5 million associates worldwide and in 2014 placed over 3,000 people into permanent positions in North America alone.
Manpower offers temporary staffing solutions, direct placement, and temporary-to-hire solutions as well. Assessments are used to measure each associate’s skills, which are job-related, reliable, and predictive of on-the-job performance. We believe in the philosophy of presenting the best candidates, not necessarily the first candidate, and handle all front end recruiting and screening. Manpower has been serving the Omaha Metro since 1995.
How did you get started in the business? – I got started in the business in 1999 in Green Bay, WI, my hometown. Since then I have found a passion for this industry! Not only do I get to meet all kinds of people with diverse backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, education, and salary levels, but I get to hear what they really want to do for their next stage in life. I also really enjoy being an advisor and coach to my clients and customers. I am able to tour customer facilities, learn about their business needs, discover where they may have opportunities and see where I can bridge the gap to help them.
I have been in the industry for 17 years and I believe my success has come from being active in the community and networking. People know people, whether you are someone looking for work or you are someone looking to hire. I am currently involved in the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Human Resource Association of the Midlands-Diversity Committee and also involved with an organization called Executive Women International.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – One of the best pieces of advice I have received is to hire to my weaknesses. As human beings we naturally lean toward people that are like minded and are very similar to ourselves. In the workplace, if we always are around people that are like us, who will take over the “other” positions where we aren’t as strong? It is in the company’s best interest to have a variety of skills, talents and knowledge from their employees in every area of the company. Encouraging a work environment of diversity and inclusion will always support this type of perspective and lead to a healthy way of work life.
If you could choose only one descriptive word to be remembered as, what would it be? – Tenacious. I really try to never give up. If I can’t help a candidate, I want to be able to give them additional resources to go to so they are not left on their own. When it comes to my clients, I keep digging and asking questions until I can come up with a solution. Here at Manpower, we have so many wonderful resources that are available to us from our home office in Milwaukee, WI. Again we are not just a local firm; we pride ourselves on being a full service workforce solution provider with ideas generated due to our ‘out of the box’ thinking.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – Please contact me at (402) 397-5455 or via email at karla.keegan@manpower.com. I am on LinkedIn and Twitter as well.