AurStaff Employee of the Year, William B. (center) poses with AurStaff Account Manager Annette Pace and AurStaff Regional Manager Mark Wamsley before the Awards Ceremony.

Celebrating with professionals from each of the staffing divisions within C&A Industries, Inc., AurStaff was thrilled to recognize the accomplishments of our 2011 Employee of the Year, William B. at our Annual Awards Dinner on Thursday, September 15.

Our annual awards occurred during National Staffing Week, which is a time to give much deserved accolades to the millions of people employed by staffing companies across the country on any given day. This year AurStaff awarded William with our highest honor. We are proud William chose to join the AurStaff team!

Here is just a little bit about William:

Having been born and raised in Southern Sudan, Willam B. came to America seeking a better life for him and his children.  He found AurStaff at the suggestion of a cousin, then a student in Omaha, and has been working as a contract professional ever since.  On the same assignment for five years now, William works in various areas of production with a leading agri-business company.  He has become so valuable that he’s now training new contract employees onsite.

William also feels part of the team.  When our client found itself nearly under water due to the flooded Missouri River, William and his co-workers began sandbagging the building’s perimeter. 

His supervisor cites William’s can-do attitude, his attention to detail, and his positive relationships with his co-workers as just a few of the many reasons that he’s such an outstanding employee.

William says working for AurStaff has enabled him to support his family and give them the fresh start and future he had hoped for when he came to America.

And we cannot think of anyone more deserving for Employee of the Year than William B.

The annual initiative, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and Baird Holm, recognizes a select number of companies based on the results of surveys which measure employee satisfaction and engagement.  C&A has been named in the category of organizations with more than 250 employees.

“To once again be recognized as among Omaha’s best serves as yet another affirmation of the fantastic people who work at C&A.  Our employees make it one of the finest companies to work for and a national leader in the markets we serve,” said Scot Thompson, Chief Executive Officer.  “This award is not only an honor for our organization, but also for each employee who has helped to make C&A what it is today.  Thanks to their passion, effort, and dedication, we’ve achieved incredible growth and success – and our future is even more exciting.”

C&A will be recognized along with other Best Places to Work recipients during a luncheon on May 5, 2011.

C&A is a national leader in staffing and recruiting.  Through its affiliate firms, AurStaff, Aureus Medical Group, Aureus Group, and Celebrity Staff, C&A has provided Human Capital Management Solutions to a wide variety of industries for more than 40 years, including supplemental, contract-hire, and direct hire programs. Non-staffing divisions of C&A include AurTravel, a full service travel agency; AurHomes, specializing in corporate housing; FocusOne Solutions, a managed services provider; and its philanthropic arms, The Kim Foundation and Career OutReach. C&A is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, with subsidiary offices located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; and Des Moines, Iowa.

Congratulations to Ronald W. AurStaff’s Q3 Employee of the Quarter. Ron has been with AurStaff since July 2010 and is a perfect example of an AurStaff employee. Ron is very flexible, goes to work early, and always volunteers for overtime. His quality of work and his initiative go above and beyond the required work performance level is truly admirable. Ron definitely deserves this distinguished honor. Congratulations!

AurStaff Account Manager Annette Pace poses with AurStaff Q3 Employee of the Quarter Ronald W.

Ronald will receive a $25 gift certificate from Omaha Steaks for his achievement as Employee of the Quarter.

AurStaff Q2 Employee of the Quarter Matt W. poses with AurStaff Account Manager Keely Heese.

Congratulations to Matt W., AurStaff’s Q2 Employee of the Quarter!

Matt W. has worked with AurStaff since August of 2006 with several clients. Always eager for a new challenge, Matt learns quickly and performs at peak capacity. The supervisor at his current client states, “Matt is very dependable, flexible with job duties, works any shift, and will change shifts with no notice. He is known as the “go-to” for any project.” We are proud to have Matt on the team and congratulate him for a job well done!

Based on reader’s vote, predominantly comprised of members of Omaha’s business community, B2B Quarterly awards the “Best of” in several categories, including professional services, business services, financial services, building services and travel & event planning.

B2B Quarterly is Greater Omaha’s premiere business publication, featuring the latest business developments as well as features on Omaha’s most prominent business leaders.

Over the last several months, C&A has also been named among Omaha’s Best Places to Work by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and Baird Holm as well as among Omaha’s Best Employers by Omaha Magazine.

This annual competition, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and Baird Holm, recognizes a select number of companies based on employee surveys which measure employee satisfaction and engagement.  C&A, parent company of AurStaff, has been named in the category of organizations with more than 250 employees.

At C&A, our mission is to be the staffing provider and employer of choice by helping people and companies achieve their goals.  We’re proud to once again be a recipient of this significant honor.  And, we know that it’s due to our outstanding employees that C&A has become the great organization that it is today.

The announcement is featured in the magazine’s January/February 2010 “Best of Omaha” issue.

“This is very exciting for C&A, to have been recognized not only this year but for two years in a row,” said Scot Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, C&A Industries. “Whether in prosperous or challenging times, our mission is to be the staffing provider and employer of choice. To be named as among Omaha’s best employers says a great deal about C&A.”

Since 1992, Omaha Magazine has been awarding, based on public vote, the “Best of” in a wide variety of categories, including restaurants, arts & culture, retail, and more.

Omaha Magazine is a regional lifestyle publication that serves a readership of more than 100,000. For more than 20 years, Omaha Magazine brings its readers captivating stories on area politics, home and garden, leisure life, food and dining, style, the arts, entertainment and travel, as well as service articles and compelling features on the area’s most interesting people and places.

• Adapt to each person you oversee. Look at employees as individuals. Get to know their strengths and weaknesses and deal with them accordingly.

• Don’t be a know-it-all. Ac­knowledge your own humanness. Turn to employees for advice on how you can be a better supervi­sor to them.

• Learn to let go. Don’t micromanage. Trust employees to do their jobs. Cultivate their growth by giving them a little more than they think they’re capable of doing.

• Stay available. Keep your door open, and let employees know they can come to you at any time to discuss any issue that affects them positively or negatively.

• Work for employees’ goals. That means first knowing what an employee’s goals are. Then, serve as a mentor, and strive to do what you can to advance a person’s professional goals.

Choose from among these categories:
• Factual. “What did you have for lunch?” or, “What is 357 times 62?” Some questions have only one correct answer — truth that can be objectively confirmed.

• Interpretive. “What does that painting look like?” Even if a question has more than one correct answer (“A blue cow,” or “a blue dog”), an interpretive question calls for evidence, some kind of supporting material that others can validate.

• Evaluative. “Do you like eggplant parmigiana?” Questions regard­ing opinions or beliefs have no correct or incorrect answer, but they can tell you a lot about the other person’s point of view.

• Empowering. “What would you do about Sarah’s problem?” Sometimes you want to urge someone to action, without directly telling him or her what to do. In these cases, ask ques­tions to show you’re interested in the other person’s ideas and trust his or her judgment.

• Broad vs. focused. The questions above can be asked in different ways, depending on whether you want a lot of information or a single answer: “How many different animals could that painting look like?” vs. “What specific animal do you see?” Think before you ask, so you don’t have to backtrack.

• Follow-up. “What do you mean by that?” This is one of the best questions you can ask in almost any category, because it invites the other person to think more deeply and share more information.

The AurStaff awards dinner followed National Staffing Employee week, this year held September 14 – 20, which is a time to recognize the hard work of the 2.66 million people employed by staffing companies through out the US on any given day. At the AurStaff awards dinner we give thanks to our contract employees and recognize the achievements of one employee who stands out from the rest. We are excited to award Howard Lee Walker for his accomplishments this year.

Howard started with Aurstaff in 2005. He has stared in 51 “performances” ranging from warehouse/logistics to manufacturing/production and has been a great asset to Aurstaff. All of our clients have recognized that he can help their bottom line and have commented that you can set your clock by Howard as he is always early and ready to start. He goes above and beyond to help where ever needed and we are proud to honor him as this year’s Employee of the Year. Congratulations, Howard!

AurStaff Branch Manager, Annette Pace, and Regional Manager, Jim O'Connor, pose with the Employee of the Year, Howard Walker, after the awards dinner.