Client Relationships and Community Involvement Key to Advance Sourcing Concepts’ Success

By Vanessa Orr

Despite numerous layoffs caused by the down economy, there are still many positions open for qualified candidates. The difficulty lies in finding the right candidate for the job—something that’s challenging to do even in the best of times. At Advance Sourcing Concepts, LLC (formerly Advance Staffing Concepts), finding the right person to fill a position is only the first step in meeting a client’s long-term goals.

“Our primary job is to help our clients find what they need to move their businesses forward,” explained President Judith Parker Bernhard. “We not only find people who may be a good match for them, but we do all of the legwork to ensure that the match will work out.”

Some matches work out so well, in fact, that the client relationship moves to a higher level. When Health Hope Network came to the company for staffing help, Bernhard was so impressed by the work that they did with stroke survivors that she became an advocate for the nonprofit agency. “Whether Health Hope Network needs nurses for a special project or staff to support a project that they’re working on, we’re there for them no matter what their needs are,” she explained.

Finding the Right Person for the Job

When Advance Sourcing Concepts began in 2005, it was with the goal of providing more than just staffing services. “While staffing is a big part of our business, we do so much more than that,” Bernhard explained. “We provide executive search services on a full-scale basis, along with ancillary services including on-site interviews, employee testing and vendor management. It’s a better strategy for managing the workforce.”

Advance Sourcing Concepts specializes in the business, medical, insurance and manufacturing sectors, and is also a certified woman-owned business enterprise, which is an asset to companies who contract with the government. “Our business is ever evolving,” said Bernhard, who was first introduced to the field while helping her father with his staffing company in the 1980s. “I find the work fascinating, and I really enjoy the idea of helping out individuals and the Pittsburgh community.”

No matter what the job, Advance Sourcing Concepts can help businesses find the right person to fill it. “We are almost unlimited in the types of jobs we can fill, from a general clerk to a language translator to a CFO,” said Bernhard. “A large part of what we do is tap into resources that a client can’t locate on his or her own.”

With more than 50 years of combined experience in the staffing industry, the Advance Sourcing Concepts’ team has a vast network of candidates from which to choose. “Companies come to us with very specific requests, and we go out and find potential candidates, do background checks, apply whatever tests are appropriate and interview each individual,” said Bernhard. The company has more than 1,000 types of employee tests available, and can even test candidates for their knowledge of Mandarin Chinese.

Clients are also offered a guarantee that provides them with a replacement if they are not satisfied. “I’m proud to say that we’ve never been asked to refund any client’s money,” said Bernhard. While the company does guarantee an employee’s skill set, if he or she doesn’t work out for other reasons, Advance Sourcing Concepts assumes all liability responsibilities including terminating the individual and dealing with unemployment claims, which saves the client thousands of dollars.

Health Hope Network

Advance Sourcing Concepts’ willingness to build long-term client relationships has resulted in the company becoming involved in some of their clients’ businesses on a personal as well as professional level. “I initially met Judith when we were looking for nursing staff, and she was a great help to us,” said Dotti Bechtol, executive director, Health Hope Network. “Our two organizations became friends, and in addition to helping us with any staffing needs, they also volunteer to help with our events.”

Health Hope Network was originally established in the early 1990s as the Visiting Nurse Foundation, and is best known for providing the Stroke Survivor Connection program. “Stroke survivors come to us after they have been released from their rehabilitation programs, and we help them get back to pre-stroke condition,” explained Bechtol. “Studies have shown that rehabilitation needs continue long after patients’ medical insurance runs out, so we offer a free group program focusing on physical, emotional and cognitive therapies to help them get better.”

In addition to this group program, Health Hope Network also holds a younger stroke survivors’ group called True Life After Stroke, designed to integrate stroke survivors back into the working world. This group recently launched a peer visitation program in which they visit individuals who have recently undergone a stroke and share their experiences.

Each year, Health Hope Network holds a Stroke Symposium, open to the public, in which leading experts talk about what’s new in stroke equipment, therapies and thinking. For 10 years, the organization has also hosted an event at the Woodlands Foundation for stroke survivors featuring classes, golf lessons, swimming, adaptive archery and more. Their annual gala, which will be held this year on October 10, is the major fundraiser for the stroke program.

“Despite having a small staff, Health Hope Network accomplishes a great deal,” said Bernhard, whose father suffered several strokes as a result of surgery. “And after attending their annual gala and Stroke Symposium, I have even greater admiration for the work that they do.”

To learn more about Health Hope Network, visit www.healthhopenetwork.org or call (412) 904-3036. The organization is always looking for more stroke survivors to help. To contact Advance Sourcing Concepts, LLC, visit www.ascpeople.com or call (412) 415-6304.