“Companies that proactively adopt variable talent acquisition and management programs are prepared to succeed. When it comes to your workforce, change or die.”

Mark Hall is the Founder and CEO of Talent LogistiX, PinPoint Resources and Tech Trades since the firms’ creation in 1993. Drawing upon over 30 years of experience in the workforce solution, technology and recruitment sectors, Mark’s primary focus is developing the company’s business and service strategies, to maintain manageable growth and to ensure impeccable service delivery. He created these companies to provide the marketplace with a much needed workforce solutions partner that operates on the time-honored principles of honesty, community service, integrity, trust and accountability.

MO: Where does your strong entrepreneurial spirit come from?

Mark: A God-given highly competitive spirit, an insatiable need to control my own destiny and a Spartan upbringing that fostered entrepreneurism from an early age.

MO: What was the first company that you started and what were some of the insights that you gained early on?

Mark: Mark’s mowing Service (we did paper routes too). I learned very early on that I didn’t want to make a living working outdoors in Illinois winters or via the meticulous requirements and physicality of maintaining lawns and landscapes. The biggest lessons I learned were some of the simplest, work hard, be honest, under promise and over deliver, always be on time, charge a fair price for exceptional work and ALWAYS say thank you.

MO: What are some of the common challenges and opportunities that commercial, industrial and contractor companies face and how do you help them?

Mark: Common challenges center around people (I need more, I need less or I need different). A typical contractor is challenged to utilize people in efficient manners. Down time, project delays, personnel issues and weather all contribute to poor workforce utilization, frustration and margin loss.

Talent LogistiX implements custom designed workforce programs that deliver talent “just in time” for our clients. Our scalable workforce management programs address businesses timing, quality and scale concerns. We deliver quality people with the needed skills on time predictably.

Without the concern for Human Capital, our clients plan better, save money, execute more successfully and focus on managing their business. We deliver increased margin, reduce risk and improve efficiency.

MO: Can you expand on how TLX was created through the joint venture of industry leaders, PinPoint Resources (corporate and technology talent) and TechTrades (technicians and trades talent) services? Has it been a fairly smooth process or were there a few bumps along the way?

Mark: TLX was born from the needs of clients over the last decade. While managed labor programs (MSP’s) have been around for many years, a void existed in the market for TLX to deliver a composite of RPO, VMS and MSP services from one provider. Too often our clients were dealing with dozens of vendors, a complete lack of continuity and major frustrations. As with any successful process we learned and grew from our bumps along the way. Today, TLX stands as one congruent service provider addressing a broad spectrum of Human Capital needs for our clients.

MO: What inspired you to have TLX work from a membership-like model?

Mark: There are a limited number of potential members within an industry and within a geography that we can support. Our target is the SMB market, firms less than $500MM in annual revenue. We have to be selective as to which companies we serve and which companies are open “green-field” for our teams to source resources from. A membership model allows companies to choose an alignment with and retain TLX to protect themselves against present and future talent shortages that can cripple their business.

MO: What are some trends in recruitment that you’re excited about of think that our readers should be paying attention to?

Mark: Recognize that it’s not just recruitment that they need to be worried about. Companies must adopt broad talent acquisition strategies or struggle in the future. Solutions will encompass sourcing, employment brand marketing, civic and green initiatives, non W-2 worker management, partnerships, training, campus recruiting, advertising and social media to name a few.

Demographically we are faced with talent shortages in multiple areas and it’s going to continue to get tougher in the future. Companies need to be aware of the large influx of independent contractors (estimated at over 14MM today) in the workforce, accept the fact that this number will only get larger and implement mechanism’s to mitigate risks associated with using this talent pool.

We are headed into a period of the haves and have not’s in the American workforce. Companies that proactively adopt variable talent acquisition and management programs are prepared to succeed. In short, when it comes to your workforce, change or die.

MO: If I could grant you a business related wish right now, what would you ask for?

Mark: I believe that the future of our economy hinges on the SMB marketplace being successful. My wish is that as our businesses begin to experience this first taste of economic recovery that we catch our collective breathe and prepare in earnest for the impending workforce challenges of the next ten plus years.

Simply, my wish is that entrepreneurs, business owners and key decision makers will seek to understand and address their own present and future state workforce. The economy has been hard enough on business the last 5 years. Let’s not ignore the train headed right for us now, especially when we can control and correct the situation.