Pros
Good organization on National level. Good initial experience when more seasoned management was in place. Decent pay and benefits available. Many tools available, professional. Proud to say I worked for Kelly. Initially felt very supported and that Kelly was interested in local business success as well as my personal success.
Kontras
No sour grapes, as I enjoyed working for this company overall, and learned a ton. But certain disappointments: Big changes in this region in last 12-16 months,which created a lack of seasoned leadership for the territory as a whole. Company made decision let go of several seasoned leaders, (usually done for budget concerns). This has proven to have a big impact, mostly negative in my observation This region was known for opportunities and longevity with Kelly; many working with Kelly 7-17 years. Very impressive when I first came to work for them. In last year, many long time employees leaving. Most of territory staff currently in this area has (now) been Kelly less than 5 years. Branch leadership was done from 4 levels above. (This office had no branch manager(1st level mgmt) for 3 years, and no area manager( 2 levels up) for 15 months, no territory mgr(3 levels up) for last 3 months. For any issues or concerns, had to go as high as VP of US operations, or corporate HR. Because leadership so far removed from actual office operations, they were not able to give the attention or direction to help be successful. Leadership too far away and had too many other responsibilities to be plugged in or focused on guiding week to week improvements, or successes. So mixed bag; On the one hand the branch had great potential but was struggling ( for several years, way before my arrival here), on the other hand no direct or close leadership/management, specific plan, or internal staff resources were given to offer a reasonable chance of success. It's like giving the cancer patient a few visits, a list of directions, a call in line to ask questions, and expecting them to cure themselves, with no treatment plan, and no regular follow-up visits. Very disappointing as Kelly is usually known for a greater professionalism and diligence. Expectation was for 1 person to do all functions of running branch (recruiting, placement, customer service, operations, sales, on-boarding, payroll and admin issues, etc...), including fixing issues and growing business. Unrealistic and only so many hours in the day. Not supported, and eventually this office was closed.
