Maureen Hoersten

At the end of the day, most people have to work, says Maureen Hoersten, chief operating officer of Chicago-based LaSalle Network; however, it’s much better when you also have fun doing it. People appreciate laughter and a sense of humor, and those two things are especially important given people can spend 50 or more hours a week at their job.

So Hoersten’s approach to hiring in part is about hiring those who can laugh at themselves. “When we hire people, we look for a sense of humor and a work ethic,” Hoersten says. “We take the job very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves very seriously.”

In fact, LaSalle Network ranked on this year’s list of Best Staffing Firms to Work For.

Hoersten joined LaSalle 16 years ago when the company had 14 people, starting in its then Schaumburg, Illinois, office. Today, she oversees 150 internal employees, a mix of recruiters and salespeople.

Hoersten said she always knew she wanted to go into sales and had traveled to LaSalle’s office to apply for a sales job at a client. However, Hoersten says she got along well with the recruiter and the company ended up hiring her for its own team instead.

Among her top achievements during the past year was a reorganization that changed the style of the organization and also led to double-digit growth.