Company going strong in second incarnation

Qualified Resources International Inc. is achieving two feats simultaneously: starting over and growing.
The staffing agency’s roots go back to the early 1990s, when Emily Harrington started QRI. After running the business successfully for several years, she sold it to a Japanese company in 2004. In 2010, Emily and her husband, Tim Harrington, launched QRI as a new company, providing staffing services for temporary, temp-to-hire, and permanent positions in the manufacturing, distribution and fulfillment, retail, banking and insurance industries.
The company already has seen significant growth: It has two offices in the United States and one support office in the Philippines, servicing about 50 clients in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Company Chairman Tim Harrington said its success lies in its innovative approach, referrals and hard work.
Noticing that many manufacturing firms were starting to implement Lean programs – a management practice based on the principle of minimizing waste to increase customer value – QRI implemented a Lean orientation program. The program trains temporary employees before they hit the work site, providing them with skills that improve performance.
“A lot of the companies I was talking to were in various stages of Lean,” said Harrington. “Whenever they tried to bring temporary employees into production, the temps didn’t know enough. Our orientation program is very successful for us.”
Harrington also says that QRI’s effective approaches have led to an increasing number of clients.
“Clients and human resources professionals check with each other,” he said. “And we have a good reputation.” •

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