Staffing Industry Review-Case Study: Giving Moms a Work/Life Balance (Aug 1, 2008)
Women don't need to choose between having a career and being a mother. They can have the best of both worlds. That's the idea behind Denver-based staffing company 10 til 2.
Run by four mothers - Jill Ater, Liz Norwood, Heidi Crum and Jodi Olin - 10 til 2 helps women with children find long-term, part-time jobs in a variety of fields. It's a win/win situation that enables women to work yet still have time for their children.
Thanks to 10 til 2, mothers can work and still attend their son's or daughter's play date or soccer game, or a parent-teacher conference. "We are helping people every day achieve a dream of working part-time and creating a more favorable work and family life balance," comments Norwood. Retirees and stay-at-home dads also have gotten part-time work through 10 til 2, although they represent a small portion of the company's business. The only requirement to be placed by 10 til 2 is that you have at least one year of college under your belt.
How It All Got Started
Ater says she came up with the idea to start 10 til 2 while staying at home to raise her two sons, Matthew and David. She decided she wanted to go back to work, but finding a part-time job (Ater only wanted to work 20 hours a week so she could still devote time to her children) proved to be a challenge. Knowing there were many other women out there in her position, Ater decided the time was right to launch a staffing company that catered to mothers who wanted to work, but not full time. She recruited Norwood, who serves as VP of marketing; Crum, who serves as VP of finance; and Olin, who serves as VP of franchise sales, to help run 10 til 2, and today all four women have an equal stake in the company. The women got their business license in November 2003 and made their first placement two months later, in January 2004.
In a Growth Mode
No doubt, 10 til 2 is in a growth mode. The company, which generated $1.34 million in 2007, expects to more than double that to $3 million this year. And it's not just revenue that's on the rise: 10 til 2 - which has 16 offices - expects to more than double its number of locations to 35 by year's end. "We are projecting 177% growth in revenue for 2008 and 133% growth in the number of offices," explains Norwood. As of this spring, 10 til 2 has five offices in Colorado, four in the Phoenix area, and one each in Michigan, Salt Lake City, Houston, Indianapolis, Columbus OH, Virginia Beach VA and Chicago. The Chicago office just opened in March.
"We think 2008 will be a year of continued expansion, but also continued growth and success for our existing franchisees as we further build our brand awareness in the U.S. markets," comments Norwood.
The idea is to eventually go global and open locations overseas, but the partners admit that's a ways off. "We're going to stick with growing in the United States for awhile," explains Norwood. 10 til 2, which placed approximately 300 people in 2007, expects that number to more than double to 750 in 2008, according to Norwood.
Happy Moms
Louise Richardson turned to 10 til 2 because she wanted to be available for her four children (one of whom she's home schooling) yet she also had a desire to work. At the end of 2007, 10 til 2 found her a job working as a corporate event planner in Denver, which turned out to be a great match. "It's a perfect fit," she explains. "I can very much see this being long-term. I would recommend this for any mom or dad that is looking for something that's part-time. You still keep the skill level you are leaving the workforce with. When you come from a certain level of professional achievement, you want to be able to continue that."
Continues Richardson, "I'm just so grateful that a placement agency like this exists. It has allowed me to have opportunities with my family that I wouldn't have had otherwise. Honestly, I can't say enough about this organization. They have found a niche and served it well. They're amazing."
Single mother Gesyka Youngberg was talking to her neighbor about how frustrated she was trying to find a job that would allow her to leave when she needed to be with her two daughters, Genevieve, 7, and Mikayla, 6, when her neighbor suggested she try 10 til 2. She did, and sure enough, she landed an office administration job working with Richard Bochm, who sells life insurance and mutual funds. "I'm keeping him organized," explains Youngberg. "It was a really good fit. That is what I was waiting for. I need a little flexibility. Having children, they get sick. He was flexible. I was looking specifically for part-time. I had never heard of it and didn't know that something like this was available. So far, I've had a great experience."
Curry Houck of Thornton CO was working in the retail industry when she realized she wanted to find something more challenging, and work for a company that would be understanding of the fact that she also needs to be a mom to her daughter, Mira. She read about 10 til 2 in Kids Pages magazine and decided to give it a try.
10 til 2 placed Houck in a job at Denver-based Printology, a print management company that sells printers, copiers and scanners. "It's nice because they know I want to be able to pick up my daughter after school," she says. "They've been really great about that, and really flexible. I drop her off at school and then come here. It works out great, and it's more challenging than retail was. I have recommended it to quite a few friends." At Printology, Houck processes invoices, provides customer service, and helps with marketing events for current and potential customers. She even helped revamp the company's Web site. Printology was so impressed with Houck that it hired her on part-time, and Houck is no longer a 10 til 2 employee.
When Rosemarie Garcia moved to Colorado from Nevada, she got a job at a company that wasn't very understanding when she needed to leave to take care of her daughter, Brooklynn, who is two years old. Her mother recommended she contact 10 til 2, and sure enough, she was able to quickly get a more flexible job at the Colorado Trading & Clothing Company in Denver, where she sends invoices, runs credit cards and interacts with people who call on the phone. She starts in the morning and is done by 2:30. "They weren't flexible [at my old job]," she says. "Now I get off on time. I can take her [Brooklynn] to the doctor if I need to. They've been so great that I don't ever think it would be problem. I'm really happy where I am. Everyone I work with is great."
Satisfied Clients, Too
Colorado Trading & Clothing Company first contacted 10 til 2 last summer when it needed to fill an empty position in its logistics department, explains Carolyn Hadden, director of accounting, who also handles human resources.
"I had heard about the agency on the news or radio, and we thought it might be a perfect way to fill the position when word of mouth and other advertisements failed to bring us qualified candidates," comments Hadden. "Our experience with the company has been fantastic. The quality of [candidates] that we interviewed, the quality of their experience, far exceeded that of the resumes received from ads placed online or in papers. Plus, the agency pre-screens the applicants so that as an employer you spend much less time managing the process and can quickly fill your vacancy."
Last November, one of Hadden's employees gave two week's notice and then left after only one week, right in the middle of her company's busiest time of year. Fortunately, Hadden called 10 til 2, which came to the rescue. "We had three candidates to interview within days and filled the position within a week," she says. "Rosemarie is still working with us, and I wish I could clone her."
Concludes Hadden, "Utilizing part-time personnel is a great way to find extremely qualified candidates that are hard working and dedicated to their job. You just need to have a little flexibility."
Michele Gebhart, principal of Momentum Inc. in Denver, has gotten people from 10 til 2 who assist with event planning and back office operations. Most have done some event planning before. "I can't speak highly enough about 10 til 2," says Gebhart, who has worked with the company for a couple of years. "The quality of people they have placed with me has just been phenomenal. I provide the job description, and they pay attention to qualifications. It's a perfect match every time. They do an outstanding job of screening the candidates. I recommend them all the time."
Palsulich & Associates, a CPA firm in Centennial CO, has turned to 10 til 2 when it needs part-time CPA-level people to work for the company, says Ronda Palsulich, president. "They're people with higher skills than otherwise are available and can take the work," she says. "We found really qualified people to fill our CPA level positions. They've been responsive. They're very quick in finding prospects for the position." Palsulich says she's even referred some of her clients to 10 til 2, and at least one has found some part-time workers.
Triston Construction in Parker CO tapped into 10 til 2 to find someone who's helping not only with accounting, but also with human resources, bid proposals and new equipment software, according to Cheri Wiebelhaus, co-owner and office manager. "They really screen their applicants well," comments Wiebelhaus. "Sometimes it's hard for me to decide who I want because they always send me very good applicants. When you hire someone from 10 til 2, you know their priorities are their family, but they're going to come in here and work well. If I have any concerns or questions, I can always call. They've always sent very qualified people."
Strong Community Involvement
10 til 2 contributes financially to Dress for Success, an organization that provides underprivileged women with suits they can wear to job interviews and at work, when they land a job. 10 til 2's headquarters is a drop-off site for suits and accessories and staff at the headquarters also volunteer many hours at Dress for Success in Denver. 10 til 2 franchisees throughout the country also are encouraged to help the Dress for Success program in their territory.
Local and National Exposure
10 til 2 has been featured on every TV channel in Denver, according to Norwood. The Denver Business Journal ranked 10 til 2 eighth on its list of fastest-growing small private companies in 2007, and also ranked the company among the top 25 employment services in Denver in 2006.
The company was featured in the February 2007 issue of Family Circle magazine. And Entrepreneur magazine did a story on one of 10 til 2's franchises and its success. 10 til 2 was featured on the CNBC Power Lunch and the TODAY Show, and has been contacted by the Rachel Ray show and Working Mother magazine.
"We're changing the business paradigm and giving opportunity to parents to have that choice, to have a work/life balance," says Ater. "There's a lot of good things we're doing, and we're very proud of that. It's fun. We're having a ball."
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Company: 10 til 2 |
By Julie McCoy