Manpower launches online business center
Manpower Inc. has launched a new focus on small and mid-size businesses with a new Web-based tool offering assistance on human resource issues.
The Manpower Business Resource Center, available free of charge at www.us.manpower.com/brc, "gives companies HR insight that will help them make smart hiring decisions and effectively manage their workforce," said Barbara Beck, executive vice president of U.S. and Canadian operations for Manpower Inc., based in Glendale. The center also educates visitors on the HR services Manpower provides and offers online access to many of them.
"Small businesses are eager for cost-effective hiring tools that will improve operations," said Beck. "The Business Resource Center adds depth to a company’s HR capabilities with its vast cache of information and online ordering capabilities."
The Business Resource Center is divided into four major topic areas:
While Manpower is one of the world’s largest employers, the company’s involvement in the small-business market isn’t widely perceived, said Margaret Gerstenkorn, senior public relations manager for Manpower.
"In reviewing our business, we noted we didn’t have a specific outreach to small business, even though a huge portion of our business is with companies with 100 or fewer employees," Gerstenkorn said.
In recognizing that market and its growing importance in the economy, Manpower is also making a strategic business move to capitalize on small business growth, Gerstenkorn said.
But Manpower is also capitalizing on its own resources, she added. The company has been training employees for years, and has 3,800 courses at Manpower University, some of them at a college level. Business that use the Business Resource Center can now buy into that knowledge base.
Manpower has 4,000 offices in 63 countries
Nov. 28, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
