Recession tested: Staffing firm chief learns lessons, and rolls with a few recessions

Recession tested: Staffing firm chief learns lessons, and rolls with a few recessions

May 8 , 2009-

Recessions don’t scare Kip Hollister.

Indeed, the CEO of Boston Recruiting Agency Hollister Inc. learned the most about how best to run her company during stressful economic stretches in the early 1990s and the dot-com bust. “Tough times make me even more passionate,” Hollister says.

After Sept. 11, Hollister learned her most challenging lesson to date: Never grow simply for growth’s sake. During the late 1990s Hollister expanded her firm into five offices as it became heavily entrenched in the booming business of staffing up dot-coms.

When the bubble burst, Hollister, 46, learned the hard way that multiple offices were not a good fit for her firm, so she closed them and took out a home equity loan to fund her business. “I looked every employee in the eye, and said, ‘We’re in this together.’ ”

Hollister saw revenue grow to $23 million in 2008, up from $21 million in 2007. The 60-person firm handles direct hire, contract and temp-to-hire posts across a few main sectors including accounting and financing, technology, human resources, and administration.

This year, however, revenue at the company is expected to drop about 25 percent. Also this year, 15 employees were cut, mainly through performance-based reductions.

Hollister first embarked on her staffing-firm career after graduation from Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania with a degree in sociology in 1984. She launched her business four years later.

Hollister was drawn to the staffing industry for a variety of reasons, many of which relate back to sociology.

“It’s a job of counseling and listening and networking and building relationships,” Hollister says. “It’s all about people. That’s the core of who I am.”

Hollister cobbled together financing for the business with personal savings and a small bank loan. Paying the salaries of her first three staffers was motivation enough to start winning business.

Her company was profitable in its first year and early on she crafted her business philosophy based on the core values of transparency, honesty and working with the client to reach a common goal, she said.

“Open communication and honesty and integrity — that to me is the core of any good relationship,” Hollister says. “The bottom line is that we’re a sales organization, so what typically can happen is that it can be more about you than your client. That is what I have no interest in being a part of.”

Hollister’s first big challenge came in 1990, when her advisers warned her of the impending downturn, but she plowed on and decided to triple her office space.

“I had to allay my employees’ fears,” says Hollister. “I was very humbled (by the experience).”

Leading up to the dot-com bust, Hollister capitalized on the Internet boom by opening up four new offices in quick succession. Revenue went to $21 million in 2000 from $3 million in 1994, and Hollister employed more than 100 people. A lavish company trip capped off the extravagant era.

When the tech market crashed, Hollister held layoffs, closed the extra offices, took out a personal loan and hunkered down for a two-year recovery.

In addition to learning an important lesson about growth, Hollister also realized that she had to groom strong leaders within her company so that the company wasn’t so reliant on her.

“It’s been a fascinating transformation. I do feel that now my firm has a signature behavior based on values,” she says. “It’s not just Kip-centric. I’m the one who seeks advice, I love getting help. I know that I don’t know everything.”

Clients of Hollister are quick to make note of the values she often mentions.

“She collaborates and she partners with you — it’s not just about getting the deal or closing the sale,” says Donna Sinnery, co-managing director of Globally Hip in New York, who has known Hollister for 10 years and worked with the firm when she handled recruitment at Fidelity and State Street.

Meanwhile, Hollister again finds herself guiding her firm through a recession.

“Anyone can lead when times are going great,” Hollister says. “How you lead during turmoil is key to building yourself a living legacy, because it’s not easy.”

For more info:

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/05/11/smallb1.html?t=printable

About Hollister:

Founded in 1988, Hollister is a leading full-service Boston Staffing Agency passionate about connecting Massachusetts’ opportunities with talent. Based in the Greater Boston region, the Career Consultants at Hollister are well positioned to see the Massachusetts job market from two perspectives. Hollister’s clientele includes Massachusetts companies and active and passive jobseekers. For 20 years, Hollister has been the bridge that connects professionals with jobs in Massachusetts and companies with the best employees.

About the Author

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