It’s hard to believe 20 years have passed since Sharon Hulce decided to venture out on her own to start Employment Resource Group, Inc. (ERG) back in 2002. She often reminisces about walking into what she affectionately called “the tongue and groove palace”— denoting the paneling on the walls of her one-room office on Midway Road.
Fast forward 20 years. It has been quite a journey. As a small business, ERG has certainly had its challenges having survived two recessions, 9/11 and of course, a pandemic. But through it all, the one constant has been the unwavering desire to help people find their life’s vocation and transform lives in the process. Looking back, ERG has done and continues to do a great job at that.
Sharon began the company with a burning desire to flip the script on the transactional nature of executive search. Bottom line, she hated the world of “got a guy, want a guy” search. It was obvious early on that so much more went into a good fit. There’s the culture of the company. There are the goals and aspirations of the candidates and their families. Someone had to be willing to crack the surface and dig deeper. ERG committed early on that it would be the firm that did just that. So, in 2002 the team did something no one did back then— they went out face to face. They didn’t take on a search unless they visited the company first. They brought in candidates in person to interview with the team first to access them in ways no one else was doing prior to the client interview. And it has worked! While it may have taken a bit longer, the resulting shortlist of finalists was always much stronger and resulted in a perfect fit for the candidate and the company. ERG’s retention rate of 97% in the first three years speaks to this.
Fast forward to today. ERG still aims to offer “bleeding edge” innovation for its clients. 2021 saw the launch of the brand-new Talent Marketing division, led by Cameron Wengrzyn, where the team partners HR and marketing together to help their clients tell impactful stories via video, in a focused effort to paint the complete picture for candidates. It’s transforming early messaging for ERG’s clients, and as a result, the talent pool level of interest has increased, and skill set has improved simply by sharing information early in the process. As ERG looks ahead to the next 20 years, it has already begun investing in the company’s future. Succession planning is well underway as Sharon provides the tools and training necessary for the next generation of ERG’s ownership, led by Managing Director of Recruitment Calson Bynoe.
ERG is revolutionizing how talent is found, not just in Wisconsin, but across the country. It is setting trends even much larger firms are watching, and the great part is they are just scratching the surface. Its recent office renovation affords ERG the ability to expand the team, and its leadership is poised and ready to take the firm into the next level of innovation. ERG looks forward to celebrating each and every milestone and sharing amazing stories of how the team is dedicated to transforming lives one person, one company at a time.
3100 N. Ballard Rd. • Appleton, WI 54911 • (920) 996-9700 • ergsearch.com
