Risch Results Exclusive Interview with Dr. Alicia Makaye Co-founder of GXA

About Dr. Alicia Makaye

Dr. Alicia Makaye. is the President and CEO of GXA, a Dallas-Fort Worth area IT Solutions provider that helps other businesses take command and control of their IT. The “A” in GXA, Dr. Alicia Makaye co-founded the company with her spouse George Makaye in 2004. She thrives in her diverse roles – award-winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, U.S. Air Force veteran, wife, and mother of two.

Dr. Makaye frequently speaks and participates in activities that foster youth development. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Dallas College Foundation as well as on the UT Dallas Diversity Advisory Council and MPA Advisory Board. She also is an Advisory Board Member for the Richardson Chamber of Commerce.  Dr. Makaye has led the GXA community outreach initiatives including Adopting a Veteran Family, providing financial literacy workshops for the youth and backpack drives. GXA collected and donated over 100 computers to Imani Bridges to empower men and women in Nigeria. In 2018, GXA collected and donated over 300 computers to the community locally and internationally.

Mentorship: Risch Results and Rize Students

When Tulane sophomores Sofia Viscuso and Matthew Friedman watched their classmates’ internships fall through because of the pandemic, they knew they needed to come up with a solution. Students need work experience on their resumes before they graduate. And companies, who may not have had the resources during the pandemic to hire and manage interns, still had projects they needed to complete.

Their solution was Rize, a platform connecting college students to paid, remote, short term projects. The business is a win-win. Students can collect valuable work experience (and contacts) from a variety of companies. Small businesses can post turn-key projects for qualified students who can help them meet their business goals.

Jolene Risch is passionate about mentoring students, supporting small businesses, and helping people become more employable. As an advisor and mentor to Rize, she’s enjoyed sharing her business and recruiting industry knowledge with founders Sofia and Matthew.

“You absolutely must find ways to develop marketable and employable skills,” Jolene shared. “It’s very hard for college students to find positions when unemployment is high. This is a great way to learn new skills.”

Want to learn more about Rize? Visit rizestudent.com to learn about the platform or post a project for your business. Learn more about Rize’s inspiring founders, Sofia and Matthew, on their LinkedIn profiles.

2021 Hiring Trends: How leaders can prepare for the year ahead

How will leaders meet their hiring and retention goals?  

About the Speakers

Jolene Risch, President and Founder of Risch Results 

Jolene Risch founded Risch Results in 2007 after seeing local companies struggle with successfully meeting their goals for recruiting and business growth in today’s rapidly changing workplace. Leveraging 20+ years of experience, Jolene has developed a variety of innovative tools to design and deliver solutions for improved organizational performance. While Risch Results started as a small Dallas-based consulting company, today we also recruit for top talent in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and other major U.S. cities.

Jolene acts as the head contact for all projects and works directly with clients to ensure that Risch Results provides exemplary services. She understands that each organization is different and designs each client solution based on an in-depth assessment.

Jay Denton, Senior Vice President of Business Intelligence and Chief Innovation Officer of LaborIQ^® by ThinkWhy

Jay Denton serves as senior vice president of business intelligence and chief innovation officer for ThinkWhy. In addition to leading the company’s business intelligence unit and product innovations, Denton’s focus is on sustaining a culture of thought leadership.  His expertise in market analytics and media engagement are a cornerstone for the organization.

Prior to joining ThinkWhy, Denton was senior vice president of business intelligence at one of the largest U.S. multifamily investment and management firms. He led the company’s market research efforts, as well as the creation of the company’s next-gen BI platform which was described as a key differentiator during subsequent fundraising initiatives. Denton brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in SaaS organizations, including the role of senior vice president of analytics where his responsibilities included product creation, client consulting and predictive analytics. 

Denton earned a dual BBA degree in Management Information Systems and General Business at Texas Tech’s Rawls College of Business.

About LaborIQ^® by ThinkWhy^®:

LaborIQ^® by ThinkWhy is a breakthrough technology providing talent acquisition professionals with data-driven solutions to grow their bottom line. 

LaborIQ by ThinkWhy’s talent tech helps win candidates – and clients – with the most precise market analysis and salary answers for over 20,000 job titles, across all U.S. cities and industries. LaborIQ’s employment reporting and forecasts, talent supply and demand, compensation benchmarking, and custom reporting tools deliver a competitive advantage in talent acquisition.

How Can Your Company Embrace Diversity?

MOI is an interior solutions provider that furnishes any commercial space from floor to ceiling. The company recently came together and started a Diversity & Inclusion program. In this interview, MOI will share how they identified the lack of diversity in their company and the action steps the took to face this issue head on.

By embracing your company’s weaknesses and learning from them, you can work to grow your professional environment and welcome diverse ideas.

How to Improve Your Company’s Hiring During the Pandemic

Companies hiring during the pandemic have the advantage of a large, talented candidate pool. Between massive pandemic-induced layoffs and the rise of the remote workforce, now is an unprecedented time for recruiters to attract qualified, experienced candidates.

That doesn’t make coronavirus hiring any easier, though. First, companies are met with the challenge of effectively vetting the onslaught of applicants. Second, COVID-19 has caused an imbalance in the talent pool. Industries like hospitality, hit hardest during the pandemic, have been forced to let go of their top performers while few new vacancies open up. Industries like tech and construction have continued to hire and grow.

Despite the challenges, it’s still possible for hiring teams in all industries to improve their pandemic recruitment processes. Here are our top tips.

Seize the Opportunity to Hire During the Pandemic

It’s true that COVID-19 has dealt many industries and businesses monumental losses. It’s also true that investing in great talent when it’s available can provide businesses monumental gains. The founders of HP famously continued hiring during the downturn in the 1940s. When asked later how they could afford to hire during such a difficult time, they answered, “How could we afford not to?”

If it’s possible, leverage the talent of the leaders, thinkers, and workers who have lost their jobs or would consider a change in 2020. In the years to come, your company could greatly benefit from the experience and ideas they bring to the table.

Look for Transferable Skills

As certain industries hemorrhage employees, it’s to your advantage to consider hiring candidates who don’t have traditional experience in your industry. Think about the hard and soft skills most important to the position. These skills could be transferable from any industry, and searching for them may open your search to top talent.

Skills like marketing or accounting don’t necessarily need to be industry specific. Could communication, time management, tech-savviness, or leadership experience outweigh industry knowledge? Recruiters and hiring teams should open their search to candidates with transferable skills and the drive to learn.

Ask Better Questions

Managing your recruitment process virtually isn’t easy. Video interviews may never be able to fully replace the experience of talking to someone face to face. However, asking the right questions can both narrow your candidate pool to the right applicants and help you find the right person to hire.

First, consider asking tougher pre-screening questions. It’s important to be able to narrow your search (and your time) to applicants who are truly serious about wanting the job–especially if you have an overwhelming number of candidates. “What is your experience working alone on your computer all day? What has been the biggest challenge?” may allow some candidates to opt out if the job isn’t a fit.

Second, ask behavioral interview questions like, “Tell me about a typical day at your last job.” Or, “Tell me about a time when you were asked to do some last minute assignments after your day was already planned.” These lead the candidate to tell their own story about whether they’re going to be a match for your company values and culture.

Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Retaining and Developing Current Employees

Finally, it’s not just recruiting during COVID-19 that’s important. Put just as much emphasis on retaining your best employees. Don’t lose your best people to another company. Now is the time to bolster the ways you care for employees and develop the talent who will lead you through 2021. Not only will it benefit your existing company culture, but it will also help you attract your next great hire.

Risch Results Interview with Sofiya Deva – How Can You Thrive as a Leader in This Emerging Culture of Accountability?

Pushing out sensitive messaging around inclusion is just the first step in holding your company accountable. In this webinar, we discuss how you can carry out your accountability further through your company’s operations and organization beyond messaging. 

Jolene speaks with Sofiya Deva, Founder and CEO of This Same Sky. Sofiya describes this emerging culture of accountability as a public defense against corporate hypocrisy. She shares the three principles for creating customer loyalty as presented at Adobe’s Annual Experience Makers Event.

Sofiya grew up in a combination of India, New York and Dallas, and has felt like a global citizen for as long as she can remember. She’s been a yoga teacher, a magazine editor, a creative director and a marketing exec, but at her heart, has always dreamed of creating a smaller, stranger world.

For more interviews like this, visit here.

Risch Results Interview with Rebecca Heiss