Ozarks Profile: Sharon Walker

Tell us about your company.

Manpower is one of the world's largest employment services companies with more than 3,900 locations in 61 countries. In southwest Missouri we have eight offices. We offer temporary, temporary-to-hire, direct hire, testing/assessment services and e-training. Our philosophy at Manpower is based in quality service. The value in what we do for our customers is to provide the right person for the job the first time. Our job is to do appropriate screening prior to sending someone to our customers' work sites.

What attracted you to your career?

When I graduated from the University of Arkansas with a master's degree in communications, I knew that I wanted to be in a position where I dealt with people constantly. I was also looking for a variety of responsibilities. After my husband and I moved to Dallas, I had an opportunity to go to work for Manpower. Nineteen years later, I live in another part of the country, but I still work for the same company and I still thoroughly enjoy what I do.

What's the best part about your job?

I have the opportunity to work with many businesses across the country and with people at all levels within those businesses.

What challenges do you deal with?

The biggest challenge is helping our customers to understand that buying staffing services is different from buying commodities. Hourly price must be a consideration but cannot be the only consideration. Quality service is equally important since turnover is very expensive for our customers. The value in what we do is to provide the right person for the job the first time. The American Staffing Association reported that Manpower's annual temporary turnover rate is 30 percent lower than the industry average.

How do you characterize the local employment scene?

We're fortunate in Springfield to have a diversified economy. Local employment has not seen as dramatic downturns as experienced in other parts of the country in the past year. Manpower's fourth-quarter employment outlook survey that we conducted in Springfield indicated a stable "holding pattern." In the area, 66 percent of companies surveyed anticipated no hiring changes through the end of the year.

Tell us about your family.

My husband Kyle and I will soon be celebrating our 25th anniversary. Kyle is an insurance and financial consultant for New York Life. We both work many hours, but in our spare time we enjoy riding our tandem bicycle.

If you could choose another career, what would it be?

I truly can't imagine another career. If I had to do so, I would look for another field combining people contact and a high-quality service product.