Q3 Mid-Year Human Resources & Staffing Update: ALTRES

Q&A with Barron Guss
President & CEO, ALTRES

What was the most important trend or change impacting your industry in 2023 and how has it evolved since January?

Everyone is talking about Artificial Intelligence and what it can do for businesses. Technology has always been a key differentiator for ALTRES and we pride ourselves on evolving HR Symphony, our proprietary HR platform, in ways that make our clients’ lives easier. While AI is an important part of HR Symphony and will be for our future offerings, we don’t want to fully replace human interaction and connection. It matters to our clients that they can reach out and get a live person right here in Hawai‘i who will help them with whatever they need. We will always keep the “human” in “human resources.”

Many of your clients and customers have faced huge challenges this year. How have you helped them address those challenges?

A big challenge that everyone has faced recently is finding and retaining workers. It’s always more beneficial to retain good employees than hire and train new ones, and we’ve been working with our clients on programs and enhanced benefits to help keep their teams intact. On our Staffing side, we’ve been filling positions as quickly as we can, while utilizing our 54 years of experience to ensure the best possible match for both jobseekers and employers. This sometimes involves showing jobseekers how their skills are transferable to a different industry or helping employers ensure their positions are competitive in a tight job market.

How have your most exciting product or service projects progressed to date?

No matter how much our business evolves, one thing will never change: Our dedication to making Hawai‘i a better place to work and live. We are thrilled to be partnering with Mana Up and mentoring their cohorts in multiple areas of entrepreneurship and business administration, so that they can continue to grow and succeed right here in Hawai‘i. We’ve also launched internal initiatives such as our ALTRES Leadership Academy, which is focused on promoting community-minded leadership among our employees. We will always do whatever we can to cultivate leaders within our organization and beyond.

(808) 591-4900
altres.com