Women's History Month - Interview with the Partners
March is Women’s History Month and 20 years ago after working at McLeodUSA Elizabeth Trcka and Tami Young started Skywalk Group. With the help of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) they helped their first clients hire multiple positions in multiple states. To celebrate Women’s History Month Elizabeth and Tami offered their insight on being women in leadership.
What motivated you to take the step and start this organization?
We had just finished our tour with McLeodUSA and were looking for something new. Tami was interested in Human Resources Consulting and Elizabeth was interested in starting a different approach to recruiting. At McLeod we were in massive hiring mode for years and searched for a company that we could partner with that thought outside the box. At that time all that was available was contingency recruiting firms. Elizabeth finally found a company that we could trial a different approach and use their recruiters to assist in designated markets. After 90 days of trialing, we realized that there was a more economical and efficient way to offer recruiting support to companies. With Skywalk Group she was able to take that to the next level as an RPO. Today the RPO industry is growing exponentially, & companies are benefitting from an RPO solution as the norm instead of the exception. When we started our business, the number one goal was to offer our expertise to businesses in the Corridor and Iowa. Today we are nationwide.
What benefits do you think there are for having women in leadership?
Well, the key is to make sure everyone understands that if you have the desire and ability that there are opportunities regardless of sex, race, age or any other demographic. Seeing women in leadership roles just confirms this. It’s important that women leaders also understand their roles as good role models. Women also tend to bring a different perspective to the table which in the end makes the entire leadership team better.
What can we do to empower women in the workforce - especially moms trying to balance their time?
This is such a great time to be a mom in the workforce. Flexible work schedules have done wonders for blending home and work life. Also, working from home has given many women new opportunities that they wouldn’t have had before. For example, people in rural areas can now work for large companies in big cities that were never available to them before.
What advice do you have for the next generation for women leaders?
Continue to take leadership to the next level. Listen to your employees, learn from your peers, seek out people who think differently than you do and be willing to adjust accordingly along the way. The result is a team of leaders who create a unified workforce and shattering results.
By Jill Gerken