As a kid my Christmas often came with a 10-hour winter car ride from Oklahoma City to the sandhills of Nebraska. Dad and Mom had to use every cubic inch to load in a family of 7, a dog named Tico, and a weeks’ worth of cold weather gear all layered on top of Santa’s secret payload. We drove all night, and Dad hoped we would sleep most of the way. It was usually early morning when we piled out at Grandma and Grandpa’s farm of haystacks, cattle, chickens, one old horse named Trig, and Toots the cow dog. For me it was the excitement and adventure of the city kid in the country. Christmas was my joy.
I wonder if Mom and Dad and my older brother and sisters enjoyed the trip as much… My guess is it was a pretty uncomfortable night and exhausting week, yet worth it for the payoff of Christmas with family.
Christmas was born in the uncomfortable settings of a long, dusty trip, crowds of strangers, and no bed. Still, imagine a young mom who for the first time, holds a child on Christmas Day. Such a life changing reality, such awesome joy.
We remember each Christmas, past and present, uniquely because of the joyful and uncomfortable moments each brings. The presence of light, the light of the world for example, shines through each one allowing us to see more clearly Christmas is about Christ.Christmas begins what Easter celebrates, Immanuel, God with us, Matthew 1:23.
So, let’s take a moment, appreciate the lights, and experience once again, that uncomfortable joy of Christmas.
Achilles Group helped us with recruiting for a critical position on our finance team. Their team posted the position, sifted through all the applicants, and then screened them via phone interviews. The candidates they brought to us were all top notch–any one of them would have been a great fit! The person we hired ended up being one of the best decisions we ever made!
First Presbyterian
We are a small company and yet we don’t feel like a number. Large payroll companies have reached out to help us with HR, but I fear we would be just a number with them. We can call Achilles and they can be here on site in a couple of hours if needed. And because of that relationship, I feel like I am talking to someone who understands our company.
CEO, Slow Dough
Before we engaged with Achilles Group, our HR was more on the reactive side and we felt something was missing, and we didn’t know how to get there. We worried about many HR topics like compliance gaps, records retention, how to on-board new employees, and how to develop our leaders. Achilles not only guided in all those areas, but they spent a lot of time with us and provided the manpower needed to take that burden off our shoulders. It would have been very difficult to accomplish all this from a time standpoint without their team involved.
CEO, Engineered Air Balance
“We started out as a new company in 2020 that emerged from a group of experienced leaders and employees in the flight services industry. We knew we needed HR support through a real partner so we would not have to figure things out on our own, and we were not going to bring that function in-house. The Achilles team has been vitally important given the many dynamics to HR. It’s reassuring and gives us the confidence that our questions, issues, and problems will be resolved."
COO, Flight Pro Services
“Achilles has helped us navigate this exciting time by reducing some growing pains via thoughtful counsel, offering timely guidance as we hit different periods in our growth, and providing much needed insight into organizing our larger team.
Achilles has played a vital role in assisting us to keep the culture that has been such a key component of our success. As a bonus, we have been voted one of the Best Places to Work for four years running!”
Vice President, 2H Offshore, Inc.
Achilles Group was crucial to the transition off a PEO. Achilles Group engaged to help us roll off the PEO, and immediately it felt like a partnership. The process was absolutely seamless. The Achilles team not only assisted in streamlining HR compliance, but they focused on a strategic approach to ensure our policies and processes were more in line with our business’ vision and not just the PEO’s way. They advised how to cascade our team communications effectively and how to use benefits as a competitive advantage. Achilles Group is our ally and confidante in our business.
Director of HR, Dayrise Residential
One of our leaders created a toxic working culture. Our Achilles expert helped guide our company through the transition. If it weren’t for Achilles, we would have been stuck for years. Instead we experienced a lot of storm for about four months and it’s been a complete rainbow ever since.
CEO, Avanti Senior Living
I am very grateful with all the things Achilles helps us with. The people at Achilles Group are very professional. The team is good with communication. It’s so good to have someone to bounce things off, and we are looking forward to a long-lasting relationship. We like that we have one designated consultant to manage the interface with other Achilleans on various workstreams.
