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The end of each year provides an opportunity for reflection on the past and preparation for the future. 2009 was quite a year – filled with new challenges and opportunities. But through it all, lessons were learned as people began to navigate through a changed business environment. In our series of Blogs “2009 Reflections,” we will be sharing interviews with Five Star team members who tell what they learned in 2009 and what they are preparing for in 2010.

In this blog post we will be sharing our recent interview with Rick Wagner.

Rick Wagner
Director, Client Services

What has ’09 taught you?
’09 has taught me that we are still finding new ways to apply technology to improve training and performance support. Advancements in video, social media, and online help systems have increased the opportunities to provide employees with the information they need in the format that works best for them.

What is the one big lesson that you learned this year?
In tough economic times the importance of strong relationships with clients, internal teams, and partners becomes that much more vital. The challenge of being even more efficient and finding new ways to achieve our clients’ goals has been hard work, but it has also been very rewarding.

What is your biggest personal accomplishment?
On a personal level, I am very excited that my youngest is now potty trained. Eleven years and four children later, there is no more diaper changing in the Wagner house!

Another big accomplishment was the development of an eCommerce site for the Western Pennsylvania Habitat for Humanity’s largest fundraiser. Five Star helped the Habitat for Humanity raise over $60,000!

What do you believe is Five Star’s biggest accomplishment this year?
From a Client Services standpoint; we were able to add new clients locally and nationally in a tough economic climate.

How are you going to transfer what you learned in 2009 to 2010?
I think 2009 challenged us to really be creative and to do more with less. I hope to continue to challenge myself, our internal team, and our clients to find new and better ways to solve problems. I am very optimistic about 2010!

What do you hope to learn in 2010?
I would like to explore tangible ways to help people perform better at their job and share information with others using social media and other technologies. I think we have only scratched the surface of applying these strategies to workplace performance.

Final thoughts
Is it really 2010 already?

The end of each year provides an opportunity for reflection on the past and preparation for the future. 2009 was quite a year – filled with new challenges and opportunities. But through it all, lessons were learned as people began to navigate through a changed business environment. In our series of Blogs “2009 Reflections,” we will be sharing interviews with Five Star team members who tell what they learned in 2009 and what they are preparing for in 2010.

In this blog post we will be sharing our recent interview with Cory Seaman.

Cory Seaman
Director, Research and Technology Services

What has ’09 taught you?
During the first half of the year we were not able to focus too heavily on what we’d hoped for the year—tackling technology challenges and developing new products for clients and for our own use. Recently I’ve spent a lot of time working with our development team on client projects because we’ve had some large, long-running projects and haven’t been able to take on new full-time resources. This has made me realize that you have to make the best of and remain fully engaged wherever circumstances take you.

What is the one big lesson that you learned this year?
Flexibility is one of the most difficult and one of the most critical attributes to demonstrate during times of economic difficulty. Adaptability has been exemplified by our staff; people have done a phenomenal job adjusting and making personal sacrifices where necessary They have reacted well to changing expectations when it’s been extremely hard to do so.

What is your biggest personal accomplishment?
Reaching the latest delivery milestones with the technology development team for a program launch. Since my role doesn’t frequently allow me to work full-time as a part of the development team, it was great to help out.

What do you believe is Five Star’s biggest accomplishment this year?
I think the fact that we’ve retained our footing and have come through some difficult choices in the face of adversity this year, combined with the fact that we continue to be one of Pennsylvania’s Best Places to Work is a testament to the excellence and perseverance of our company.

How are you going to transfer what you learned in 2009 to 2010?
There are a number of things I would like to improve within our network infrastructure, such as introducing Windows 7. I also learned a lot from a Microsoft Technology Conference that I would like to continue implementing in 2010, beginning with the consolidation of our web and application servers through virtualization. This will allow us to save energy, lower costs, and reduce our hardware footprint.

What do you hope to learn in 2010?
My hope has been to continue growing my research role and exposing Five Star to the new or existing technologies that we can best leverage as a company. I’m also anxious to find opportunities to create “shelf ready” projects and map out some new tools and technologies that we can offer to our clients.

Final thoughts
This is an interesting time because there are a lot of new tools available, but there are also a lot of tight belts in terms of budgets and financial resources that necessarily limit what we’re able to do. It’s also a challenge to balance client needs with our own at times. But with a better outlook on the horizon and a number of new avenues to pursue, it’s hard not to be excited about the year ahead.

The end of each year provides an opportunity for reflection on the past and preparation for the future. 2009 was quite a year – filled with new challenges and opportunities. But through it all, lessons were learned as people began to navigate through a changed business environment. In our series of Blogs “2009 Reflections,” we will be sharing interviews with Five Star team members who tell what they learned in 2009 and what they are preparing for in 2010.

In this blog post we will be sharing our recent interview with Angel Lehrian.

Angel Lehrian
Director, Human Resources

What has ’09 taught you?
There are ups and downs, but you have to persevere and move forward.

What is the one big lesson that you learned this year?
You have to take advantage of a down economy to build a connection with the talented people who are unemployed so that you can hire them when things pick up.

What is your biggest personal accomplishment?
Besides my two children, having Five Star recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Western PA and being involved with the Five Star Cares program.

What do you believe is Five Star’s biggest accomplishment this year?
In a period of an economic downturn, we were still able to attract new clients and keep our existing clients happy. An internal accomplishment is Five Star’s receipt of the Best Places to Work award.

How are you going to transfer what you learned in 2009 to 2010?
It is important to learn from the past. I plan to use lessons learned over the last year to explore new, innovative ways to attract and retain employees.

What do you hope to learn in 2010?
I hope to learn more about the health care reform bill and how it will affect our employees.

Final thoughts
Five Star Cares is an exciting program and brings value to our community.  One of my goals is to increase involvement in it in 2010.

Making a difference in your community is an important goal, one that provides opportunities to make special contributions to people who truly need help. Organizational leaders who offer and support volunteer opportunities for their workforces reap untold benefits.

• There is a direct impact on organizational pride. Team members coming together to accomplish a worthy goal creates a sense of organizational unity and accomplishment.
• Team members have the opportunity to interact cross-functionally with people outside of the traditional work environment to build stronger relationships.
• Volunteering positively impacts someone else’s life. This is the most valuable result of any volunteering effort.

Recently, team members from Five Star Cares, Five Star’s organizational volunteer effort, prepared a spaghetti dinner with all the fixings for our friends at the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, our adopted community organization for 2008-2009. Knives were chopping, brownies were flying, and music was playing, but still the best part of the night was the conversation that was had with the ladies at the shelter and their children. Doug DiFilippo, Five Star coordinator for the event, noted that his favorite moments of the evening came while talking with the ladies about the simplest things, “how we made the spaghetti sauce,” for example. He also recalled that the “amount of thank-yous and goodwill was eye-opening,” noting that every single effort, even small ones, have huge impacts.

To receive information on how to create a volunteer program in your organization, please visit these two sites:

• Umpqua Bank Outlines How to Create a Successful Volunteer Program
• United Way Volunteer Tools