The Obligatory Year-End Blog

Today is the last day before Willory officially closes for Christmas and while our offices are open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday next week, I’m taking the time to spend with family and celebrate some personal milestones including my 20th wedding anniversary and my daughter’s birthday. This year (our seventh) was a great year for Willory and we’re excited that we have an incredibly strong foundation to continue to serve our clients with the utmost in HR & payroll staffing and consulting services in 2018.

Without further ado, here are the top five Willory accomplishments of 2017.

1. Gains
   After a challenging year of improving efficiencies in 2016, we built the foundation for success by aligning our goals with our overall strategy. Our hard work paid off as this year we set a new record for our Gross Margin production thanks to our amazing staffing, awesome clients, and first-class consultants and candidates. In fact, we hit our 2017 goal an entire month early, in large part because of the success of our very first employee, Bob Haas, who will be the first Willory employee to reach $400k in production in one year.
2. Team Growth
   Have you had a chance to check out our Team page lately? It looks a little different than it did this time last year with additions as well as new titles for some familiar faces as our team advances their own professional skills. We added Courtney Reynolds to support our staffing initiatives, Tammy Merda to augment our in-demand consulting team, and Katherine Edgar who took over as accounting associate after our long-time accountant Ann Montgomery retired over the summer. This year we also solidified our Willory Intern program, which with more success has led us to continue it in 2018. Next year, be on the lookout for announcements about new employees and internal job openings as we’re looking to add more amazing talent to our team.
3. Focus on Employee Development
   Last year our internal HR operations team focused on improving efficiencies, documenting processes, and resetting our culture. This year we were able to focus on one of the most important aspects of Willory: our people. Our very own HR Operations Manager Angie Williams has been diligently leading the charge on our management training program and Willory University, a robust and onboarding-changing program. Personally, I can’t wait to continue to see how these programs will change who we are and how we achieve.
4. NorthCoast99 Category Award Winner
   For the third year in a row Willory was awarded a spot on the NorthCoast99, which recognizes workplaces in Northeast Ohio dedicated to developing top talent. This year we were awarded the “challenging and meaningful work” category winner. It was a great honor to be recognized for the hard work and dedication we have put into ensuring our employees’ find value in the work they are doing and the direction the company is going.
5. #WillorySpeaks
   We enjoy speaking at our local and regional SHRM and APA chapters to share our perspective and let the HR and payroll community get to know our team. This past year, in addition to our self-hosted webinars, we took to the stage at DisruptHR Cleveland and APA. I even presented two topics to two different APA chapters in a single day. It was exhilarating and exhausting. I want to extend kudos to Holly Hall, who has stepped outside her comfort zone and has been working on her presenting this year. She’s spoke several times in the state and in February 2018 she will be a presenter at the HR Cruise on the “Strategic Importance of an HR Audit in Building Organizational Capability.”

BONUS: Real Men Wear Pink
This past October I participated in the American Cancer Society’s Real Men Wear Pink campaign, where I wore pink for the 31 days of October. Because of how cancer has affected the lives of people I love, I immediately responded “yes” when asked to participate. I set and met a goal of raising $10k for the cause. Through the campaign I learned a lot about myself, my family, my friends, and learned many of the struggles my contacts have been through themselves.

What are your most memorable accomplishments this past year? Share below what you are most proud about in 2017.