In 2004, the tech bubble had burst and
Southeast Michigan’s economy was suffering.
But while many people thought it was a bad
time to start an IT services firm, Bradley
Waite and his partners disagreed, risking their
financial well-being to found Halo Group.
Waite felt the biggest hurdle was recruiting
the highest-caliber people and getting them to
stay. So Halo developed an eight-step hiring
process — phone interview, face-to-face with
salesperson, face-to-face with recruiter, technical screening, reference check, resume, represent them and hire them. And to make his
company a more attractive place to work, he
also offered recruits the option of becoming
employees, with full benefits, or working
directly for the client. Waite based his strategy
on empowering both client and employee,
giving them the ability to choose what works
best for them. The process also ensures that
Halo delivers quality professionals, allowing
the company to charge 40 percent more per
hour than the industry average.
And as part of his people initiative, he’s created staff development manager roles to
maintain contact with employees working at
various locations. As liaisons, they are responsible for meeting monthly with consultants to
make sure they’re satisfied and to help with
career development. As a result, Halo has a
higher retention rate than other IT staffing
firms, giving it a competitive advantage.
Last year, Halo opened an office in Dallas,
and Waite’s long-term goal is to grow it into a
national IT staffing company, with five to
seven offices across the country.
HOW TO REACH: Halo Group, www.halogroup.us or (248)
489-9500