Company Rebounds to Achieve Historic Quarterly Revenue, Conducted Zero Staff Layoffs, Hired More Than 150 Employees
CHICAGO – After overcoming extreme challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, LaSalle Network, a national staffing, recruiting and culture firm, celebrates 23 years in business, without doing a single employee layoff and rebounding its revenue, from losing 50 percent in April 2020, to achieving historic quarterly revenue in Q4 2020, and each quarter since.
“We learned a lot as leaders, as professionals and as people this year,” said LaSalle Network Founder and CEO, Tom Gimbel. “No one was prepared for what the last 12 months presented, from a global pandemic to a financial recession to a social injustice crisis, but I could not be prouder of our team and its response. From our leadership team, to employees, to clients, the camaraderie and support I’ve witnessed this year is humbling and motivating.”
Despite job cuts and unemployment rates nearing 15 percent over the last 12 months, LaSalle Network’s increased new client acquisition by more than 30 percent, and the firm helped thousands of job seekers find employment, when for many, it mattered most.
LaSalle Network hired more than 150 employees over the last 12 months, and its Learning & Development department provided employees over 1,000 training hours. Further, more than 30 percent of employees earning a promotion, and 30 percent being within management.
12-MONTH REVIEW
VETERAN HIRING: This year, LaSalle Network launched its veteran hiring initiative, LaSalle Veteran Network. This program is dedicated to helping veterans transition from military service to civilian careers and helping companies build out their teams with veteran talent. Led by Christian Cañas, LaSalle Network’s Director of Operations and Army veteran, LaSalle Network has committed to helping more than 1,000 veterans find employment, and over the past year, has hosted webinars and produced reports to provide insights for both Veteran job seekers, as well as companies seeking Veteran talent.
STAYING CONNECTED: In transitioning to an entirely remote workforce, it was critical to LaSalle Network leaders to keep the culture intact. The company hosted more than 150 virtual and socially distanced, in-person events throughout the year to keep employees engaged. To read in full what LaSalle Network did during months physically apart to stay emotionally connected, read here. Another key initiative LaSalle Network launched to help LaSalle employees who have been with LaSalle Network 18 months or less is the Briefcase Advisor Program. This program puts newer LaSallians in groups with tenured LaSallians, known as Briefcase Advisors. The Briefcase Advisors share their personal experience as new hire, shed light on meetings or events taking place at LaSalle Network, and encourage discussion among the group.
BRAIN & HEALTH WELLNESS GROUPS INITIATIVE: LaSalle Network identified employees’ need for continued mental health support and launched new initiatives to provide a range of support programs through its Brain & Health Wellness support groups, an 8-week group program that explores topics such as mindfulness, self-regulation, coping strategies, therapy, and education around taking care of our mental health.
SUPPORTING WORKING MOTHERS: To support mothers who had to drop out of the workforce due to daycare closures caused by COVID-19, the LaSalle Network team rallied to help put moms back to work through its Workforce MOMentum initiative. Partnering with our team of experienced career consultants, mothers looking to rejoin the workforce met with our team to gain insights on resume-writing, job interview advice and more.
PHILANTHROPY: The last 12 months was a year where the world came together to support one another, a mission LaSalle Network has operated by since its inception in 1998. This year, LaSalle Network’s Community Champions committee, organized countless give-back initiatives for LaSallians to partake in both virtually and safely in-person, some including:
- For one day, every LaSallian was given time off to volunteer, contributing 1,000 hours of community service collectively to benefit charities including: the Chicago Parks Foundation initiative, Pitch in for the Parks, The Center for Enriched Living, Aspire Chicago, the Kenneth Young Center, Special Olympics, Cristo Rey and Hands on Nashville. Read more here.
- In place of its annual canned food drive, LaSalle Network hosted one virtually, breaking the company into teams to fundraise, culminating to the purchase of more than 80,000 meals for those in need through The Greater Chicago Food Depository and Feeding America. Read more here.
- Ending 2020, LaSalle Network hosted its first-ever “10 Days of Giving.” Over two weeks, LaSallians volunteered both virtually and in-person, contributing nearly 1,000 hours of service helping organizations including: ADA25, Aspire Chicago, Cara Chicago, Thresholds, Greater Chicago Food Depository, The Salvation Army, Year Up and El Valor. To read the full recap on how and where LaSallians gave back, click here.
- At its virtual 2020 holiday party hosted for employees and clients, LaSalle Network fundraised on behalf of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, raising more than $8,000 in one hour. LaSalle Network matched dollar-for-dollar, totaling more than $16,000 donated.
- Continued philanthropic efforts: LaSalle Network’s Community Champions group has continued to provide give-back opportunities for LaSallians with organizations like Feed My Starving Children, My Block My Hood My City and more.
REPORTS: No leader or professional has experienced a global health pandemic previously and had no playbook to reference with each event they faced. With its team of experienced recruiters and leaders, LaSalle Network utilized experience and expertise to provide companies, job seekers and professionals top resources, some including:
- Guide to Veteran Hiring
- 2021: Office Re-Entry Index
- Office Re-Entry Index: Volume II
- How to Attract Software Developers
- 2021 Graduates: Standing Out in a Recovering Workforce
- Recruiter Resume Secrets
- COVID Generation: Recruitment Expectation Index
- Insights from Ethical Hacking
ACCOLADES: With its profound leadership and guidance in a year as unique as the last 12 months, LaSalle Network continued to earn company culture and revenue-growth accolades, some including:
- FORTUNE magazine’s “Best Workplaces in Chicago” (4X honoree)
- FORTUNE magazine’s “Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services” (4X honoree)
- FORTUNE magazine’s “Best Workplaces For Millennials”
- Chicago Tribune’s “Top Workplaces” (7X honoree)
- Crain’s Chicago Business’ “Best Places to Work in Chicago” (6X honoree)
- Crain’s Chicago Business’ “Largest Privately Held Companies” (4X honoree)
- Training Magazine’s Global “Training Top 125” (5X honoree)
- Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) “Inner City 100” (5X honoree)
- National Association for Business Resources (NABR) “Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in The Nation” (9X honoree)
- NABR “Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in Chicago” (9X honoree) and a recipient of its “Iconic” award (2020)
- The Daily Herald Business Ledger’s “Best Places to Work in Illinois” (10X honoree)
- CollegeGrad.com’s “Top Entry Level Employers” (6X honoree)
If you are:
- Seeking to identify top talent to join your team, contact LaSalle Network here
- Seeking a new job opportunity, view our open positions here
- Seeking to join a company that continues to invest in its employees, customers and community, visit LaSalle Network’s careers page here
For more information on LaSalle Network, please visit lasallenetwork.com or contact Heather Youkhana at 312-496-6562 or hyoukhana@lasallenetwork.com.
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About LaSalle Network
LaSalle Network is a national staffing, recruiting and culture firm with business units that specialize in accounting and finance, administrative, call center, healthcare revenue cycle, human resources, management resources, marketing, sales, supply chain, technology and executive search. Since inception in 1998, LaSalle has worked with thousands of clients and placed more than 80,000 candidates in temporary, temporary-to-permanent and permanent positions. LaSalle Network has been listed on Inc. Magazine’s 500/5000 “Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies in America” list for 12 years, Inc. Magazine’s 2016 and 2018 “50 Best Workplaces,” Forbes’ 2018 and 2019 “America’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms” list, Fortune’s “Best Small & Medium Companies to Work For” and “Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services” in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and Crain’s Chicago Business’ “Best Places to Work” list for six years. The firm has offices in downtown Chicago, Nashville, Oak Brook and Schaumburg. For more information, please call 312-419-1700 or visit www.lasallenetwork.com.
