Movers & Shakers: Keith McCoy and Ryan Evers, metro market managers, Robert Half

Robert Half veterans Keith McCoy and Ryan Evers, recently promoted as Twin Cities metro market managers, expect a busy year as the specialized staffing firm works to place talent with growing companies.

McCoy now leads the firm's Accountemps and OfficeTeam divisions in its Minnetonka and St. Cloud branches. He has been with the firm since 2007. Evers, who joined Robert Half in 2004, oversees the firm's Accountemps and OfficeTeam divisions in the Bloomington and Burnsville branches. He also directs the firm's Salaried Professional Services program in Minnesota.

Accountemps offers temporary accounting and finance staffing and, through its Salaried Professional Services program, full-time employment for finance and accounting consultants. OfficeTeam places office managers and support staff.

"We're in a low-unemployment market," McCoy said. "With that the hunt for good talent is even more challenging, and companies continue to need our help in filling positions."

Baby boomers retiring from the workforce are adding to the challenge, Evers said.

The size of Robert Half's local operations, with six branches including Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington, enables it to work with large corporate employers and small and midsize companies, Evers said.

While McCoy and Evers will continue some client work, their responsibilities as metro market managers have them focusing more on daily operations, training and support for teams and leaders in their branches and hiring to fill internal vacancies, each said.

Evers: From my perspective our value proposition is our size. A lot of smaller firms will try to sell against us, saying you'll get better service. But I would say the opposite of that. We have a very large team in Minneapolis. We've got the ability to touch more people and our network is broader.

Q: What are your goals in your new role?

McCoy: We know we're heading into another growth year so there will continue to be a need for temporary staffing services. A lot of the focus is embracing our candidate relationships and our client relationships, to develop those. Aside from that we focus as a company to talk about "working happy," the idea that people want to go to work and have a feeling of accomplishment.

Q: What has appealed to you about the staffing industry?

Evers: I get the opportunity to connect with a lot of people. That brought me into the business and what's keeping me here is probably the same thing. It's rewarding to find a rewarding position for individuals.