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| What
do you think of when you envision a portico? Indeed, have you ever seen
one? A “portico” as defined by American Heritage’s
online dictionary is “A porch or walkway supported by columns often
leading to the entrance of a building.” Cambridge’s online
resource gives it this twist: “A covered entrance to a large, splendid
building supported by columns.” Given those definitions, Americans are easily reminded of the east portico of our U.S. Capitol building. Many world travelers have seen the portico of the Pantheon in Rome. Never fear though. One does not need to have seen either of those places to realize that there is a strong and solid portico right here in our midst: PorticoHR at 2910 Westown Parkway, Suite 106 in West Des Moines. Speaking with Katie Roth, PorticoHR’s manager and a Senior Professional in Human Resources, I learned that the imagery of the strong support of portico pillars leading a person into a building’s treasures fits the image of PorticoHR well. Says Katie, “Our goal is to spend a great deal of time with a job seeker. Of course, we do all the expected job skills testing to ascertain an applicant’s work capabilities. This is very easy to do. We also do criminal and reference checks. We go beyond these though because we know that another important challenge is finding the applicant who is a good fit for our clients’ needs. We work to determine if the applicant will know how to mix successfully with the particular client’s current staff and setting.” They know that when people leave a job, they are often not leaving the company as much as they’re leaving an individual or group of people. Because they concentrate on the personalities of their clients and applicants and not just the cut-and-dry aspects of the job, they are proud to report that 95% of their applicants are hired after their 90-day probationary period. This is good for everyone. Applicants procure the job they need—one that makes them happy. Clients are pleased because they know through PorticoHR’s process that they’re more likely to be able to eventually develop in the new employee what is known as “institutional memory.” In a nutshell, institutional memory is the ability for an employee to know how to deal with a situation because he or she has been with the company for a while. Such an employee knows the nuances, peculiarities, inside information, practices, and expectations that only a long-term employee knows. Clients don’t want to have to constantly retrain employees. “A thorough, complete hiring process such as ours helps ensure that they are sent employees who are going to stay,” Katie says. At the organization’s Web site, www.porticohr.com, it’s explained that PorticoHR places workers in these areas: accounting, administrative, clerical, collections, customer service, data entry, human resources, information technology, legal, marketing, mortgage, reception, sales, and telemarketing. Katie states, “I’ve learned a great deal about how our economy works. Eighty percent of this country’s companies employ 20 or fewer employees. Small or large though, everybody hires. One can’t get around this. Businesses of all kinds need employees.” In the past, for example, Katie worked with a small business in east Des Moines that made larger-than-life Christmas decorations for cities to hang along their streets. “Discovering those types of places has been fun,” she shares. Through the years, PorticoHR has developed into what Katie calls a “boutique firm.” She explains, “We know we can’t be all things to all people. For example, we don’t deal at all with medical placements. The 24/7-365 nature of the medical world, along with all the licensing issues, is not what we’re about.” PorticoHR has two divisions. One concentrates on temp-to-hire, and temporary employees. The other is more client-driven, wherein they work to find a specific type of employee at the client’s request on a direct-hire approach. In both arenas, they do everything they can to find the best fit. To learn more about PorticoHR’s success, one has only to peruse the Web site. There it says that Portico has been providing successful solutions to their partners by consistently providing the highest level of service in the area. “Not only do we know the human resources industry; we know the community. And with 40 years’ combined employee experience, our expertise and longevity cannot be matched.” Katie herself has enjoyed a distinguished career in the staffing industry, including over 10 years as an area manager for a national staffing firm. Prior to opening PorticoHR, she was vice president and a partner at Urbandale’s Merit Resources, Inc. She was a finalist for the 2001 Ernst and Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Katie has also combined her education and experience to provide community service. She serves on the board of Homesteaders Life Co., the program committee at the Central Iowa Society for Human Resource Management, the State SHRM Council; and has been involved in the West Des Moines Rotary Club, the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, as well as several nonprofit boards. Katie shares, “I like this field because I am privileged to help applicants and clients in a win-win environment. Everybody wins. Workers find the job stability they want and need. Clients find topnotch workers. Very often, we receive letters, flowers, and other acknowledgments of thanks for the work we do for our applicants and clients. We are happy to know they remember the way they were treated in our office.” If they can’t place an applicant, they try to steer them in a beneficial direction. People appreciate that, she states. Often, they procure new clients because their applicants are out there speaking highly of PorticoHR. Katie recommends this field to any woman interested in working with people. She elaborates, “Many staffing organizations are owned by women. In general, women enjoy working with people and have intuitive skills valuable to this arena. We can read people and have abilities in human resource settings that don’t come from a book and can’t be taught. Working with placement agencies is a great entrance to and training ground for a human resources career. I highly recommend it!” Contact them at 221-3233 for more information. |
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