ASA Central—the dynamic online community just for staffing professionals—is home to more than 20,000 staffing professional profiles and countless ongoing industry conversations.

This week, take a look at your colleagues’ discussions and some of the blogs they’ve posted on ASA Central:

• How a staffing company can qualify for a nursing agency license
• Requesting emergency paid sick leave
• What one firm learned after receiving funds under the Paycheck Protection Program

Get involved with the community—update your profile today so you can network with colleagues, join a section community, recommend and comment on your colleagues’ posts, and share your own blog or discussion post. Log in to ASA Central now.

Have you seen the powerful new search engine and other new features at americanstaffing.net? The myASA Workspace is a powerful new tool that lets association members choose, save, and receive the information they need and want most. In the March–April issue of Staffing Success magazine, get an overview of the upgrades and find out how to make them work for you.

Access the current issue and back issues of Staffing Success, and other ASA digital publications, at americanstaffing.net/digital.

Don’t miss the ASA webinar “Maintain Powerful Relationships in a Global Pandemic.” It takes place today from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern time. Find out how to cultivate strong relationships with internal employees, clients, and candidates in this new—virtual—environment.

All ASA webinars are free for ASA members, and most qualify for continuing education hours toward ASA certification renewal. To learn more and to register, visit americanstaffing.net.

Looking to enhance your new hire process and your team’s knowledge of the staffing industry? Need to train new hires or offer refresher courses to seasoned team members? ASA has developed a new program of onboarding courses specifically designed for staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions professionals.

You can purchase and assign courses to your team and track their progress using the new ASA learning management system, ASA Learn. The online course modules include “Introduction to the Staffing Industry,” “Fundamentals of Sales,” and “Fundamentals of Recruiting.” Modules are available as a full set or a la carte. To learn more, visit learn.americanstaffing.net.

The association’s quarterly Staffing Employment and Sales Survey for the first quarter of 2020 is now open. Staffing companies that complete the brief survey—including search and placement firms—will have access to an exclusive report on the results, enhanced with graphs. The report, which participants can download from the ASA website, also includes an executive summary, plus sales category and sector-level data.

The data collected by this survey enable ASA to track staffing sales and gross margin trends and provide direct hire metrics. Participate by May 15 to get the staffing industry information you’re looking for.

Register to take the survey, or view the questionnaire, at americanstaffing.net/quarterly-survey. If you have questions or did not receive a survey link, email research@americanstaffing.net. There are no fees to participate.

With virtual relationships replacing much of the face-to-face engagement you’re accustomed to, how can you build and maintain strong relationships with internal employees, clients, and candidates? Find out how to leverage empathy and emotional intelligence to cultivate relationships in this new environment during the ASA webinar “Maintain Powerful Relationships in a Global Pandemic.” It takes place Thursday, April 16, 3–4 p.m. Eastern time.

All ASA webinars are free for ASA members, and most qualify for continuing education hours toward ASA certification renewal. To learn more and to register, visit americanstaffing.net.

Longtime staffing industry leader Richard P. “Dick” Essey passed away last week. Essey, who founded the TemPositions Group of Cos. in 1962, was inducted into the ASA Leadership Hall of Fame in 1985. He was the 1974 president of the National Association of Temporary Services, later renamed the American Staffing Association.

ASA president and CEO Richard Wahlquist said, “All of us learned so much from Dick over the years. He was a fierce champion for advocacy and for advancing industry professionalism. Most important, he was a visionary and one of the key architects of the strong foundation upon which ASA is based today. He will be missed.”

ASA past chairman James Essey said, “Because of the success of his staffing business, my dad felt an obligation to give back. He was one of the early founders of the American Staffing Association and also helped found the New York chapter. He was elected president of both organizations.”

Late last year, a vicious cyberattack brought a well-established staffing company to its knees. The bad guys infiltrated the company’s operations, encrypted data, and then demanded payment for its return. In the March–April issue of Staffing Success magazine, read this true story that provides a valuable lesson to other firms on how to safeguard their companies—especially in a time when remote work is the new norm.

Access the current issue and back issues of Staffing Success, and other ASA digital publications, at americanstaffing.net/digital.

The ASA board of directors and staff welcome the following new members, which joined during the week ending April 5.

Access Healthcare LLC
Princeton, NJ

Bloom Search
Bolingbrook, IL

Mary Jane Prigge Consulting LLC
Leesburg, VA

Personnel Evaluation Inc.
Milwaukee, WI

Staff Right Services
Columbiana. OH

Staffing 360 Solutions
New York, NY

Staffing Plus

Springfield, MO

Trusted Health
San Francisco, CA

Unlimited Staffing Inc.
Butler, PA