Finding the Right Fit:

How LGC is Rebuilding Culture, Strengthening Systems, and Scaling for the Future

We sat down with Glen Greenawalt, President & COO at LGC Associates, to talk about his journey in staffing, LGC’s culture transformation from the ground up, and finding the right way forward as a company.

Finding the Right Career Fit

Glen Greenawalt didn’t set out to become President of a leading hospitality staffing agency with 18 branches nationwide. Like many of his peers, he fell into staffing after trying other careers that just didn’t feel right.

“I earned a degree in Accounting from Purdue University and quickly realized it was not the career path that energized me. After college, I went into a brokerage job for John Hancock that required 275 phone calls a day. Although a bit tough on the ego, the rejection process taught me discipline.”

Greenawalt started looking elsewhere, knowing he had a wife and child at home in Chicago to support. He considered going back into finance and instead found himself at a job fair. There, he talked to a search firm that changed his career trajectory.

“A recruiter advised to me that if I made 100 calls per day, I would succeed. At this point in my career path, cold calling felt like second nature, therefore I gave it a shot. Even after placing consistently within the national top 10%, my long-term career interests lied in something else."

Seizing Opportunity

In the early 2000s, the VP of the company proposed something bigger: launch LGC Associates. Greenawalt’s initial plan was to focus on hospitality staffing for a year, then pivot into accounting and finance.

“We were taking a serious risk—no salary at first, solely 5% equity. But I believed in the vision. As we grew, I realized our competition wasn’t doing anything particularly special. We, as LGC, showed up professionally—even if our brochures were printed in house. That consistency made a difference.”

LGC committed to hospitality and scaled aggressively. Today, they operate 18 branches and deploy thousands of temporary workers daily. Founded in 2003, the company has grown steadily—and earlier this year, Glen stepped into the role of President.

“Now, we are ready for the next level.”

"Some people think of culture as perks, but that’s not culture. It’s about how we treat each other, how we define performance, and how we support our people."

Rebuilding Good into Great

Greenwalt’s evaluation of the business helped identify a key weakness: LGC lacked unified systems.

“Each branch ran almost as its own business. We were reliant on individuals improvising independent solutions rather than having teachable, receptive, and scalable systems in place. Step one was to restructure streamline operations and refocus on our core business.”

A crucial part of the overhaul was redefining LGC’s identity. Glen recognized a gap in the company culture at LGC—particularly from an operational level.

“Our mission, purpose, and identity all make up our company DNA. Some people think of culture as perks, but that’s not culture. It’s about how we treat each other, how we define performance, and how we support our people. I had underestimated that before—now, it’s the cornerstone of our transformation."

Once culture was grounded, the next move was geared towards an operational rebuild from the top. This involved heavily emphasizing restructured leadership communication, defined metrics, and redesigned core processes.

“We asked ourselves: how do our Regional Vice Presidents communicate consistently across branches? We engaged consultants for sales compensation, go-to-market strategy, and baseline modeling. While we rebuild, we are already servicing $55 million in annual sales—which is both humbling and motivating. Those numbers signify a true demand; when our systems are fully built, we will be the company our people and clients deserve.

The Three Dimensions of Culture Fit

For Glen, pivoting in staffing and finding the “right fit” is not solely internal staff—it involves clients and vendors. Those are the three main components of the LGC strategy.

“As Jim Collins says in Good to Great, the right people come first, followed by the right roles. For us at LGC, implementing the Culture Index Survey became a game-changer: it revealed that our top performers were not power closers—they were warm, relational, and energized by in-person interaction.”

LGC also changed how they hire candidates. Instead of filtering candidates by resume, the primary focus of interviews is based on role outcomes.

“We lay out the playbook on what it takes to succeed in a role—the day-to-day activities and performance expectations. If you can execute those duties, you will thrive with our company. If not, then LGC is simply not the right fit. Just like taking a class, you might do all the homework, but if you do not deliver on the exam, it does not align.”

On the client side, fit means being selective.

“That was not always our approach. We previously chased topline growth with a ‘yes mentality’ to most opportunities. Now, however, we are becoming more disciplined. Some clients do not align with our values, as we are not the lowest-cost option—and that part is intentional. Being selective is not easy, however, it’s essential to preserving who we are at LGC.”

The final dimension is vendor fit—choosing partners who understand us and our ambitions.

“We are partnering with many consultants right now and I am deeply involved in the vetting process. It’s not just about expertise; we want partners who understand our challenges. When it comes to coaching mechanics, we want seek out companies who have been in the trenches and who can relate the demands of scaling a business. That kind of alignment matters.”

Partnership as a Foundation

Reflecting on LGC’s long relationship with Advance Partners, Glen says it’s been a cornerstone for both the business and his leadership journey.

“True partnership is rare—and that’s exactly what we have with Advance partners. We can count on Jeremy to provide us with honest advice, not just another sales pitch.”

The journey, however, has not always been easy. In 2021, when the post-COVID demand surged, LGC briefly shifted away from AP in favor of a traditional lender. As inflation tightened and the hiring environment cooled down, the costs of not having a partner who understood staffing really showed.

“The lender, unfortunately, did not grasp the nuances of the staffing business— they judged us on metrics that did not reflect our business model. Advance Partners, on the other hand, recognized that this was as a concern, not a crisis. When LGC came back, we were not penalized with excessive rates. Instead, AP showed up with the steadiness of a trusted partner.”

Redefining Success

For Glen, success is not simply about more placements—it’s about proving there is a better, more human-centered way to operate a staffing firm.

“For LGC, success means discovering our clients’ real KPIs and aligning ourselves to help them win. It means investing in our temporary workers like they are long-term teammates, not just bodies. Success also looks like building an entire roster of All-Star players— paying top talent above market because they drive outsized impact. We are not afraid to let go of million-dollar clients when they do not share our values. Doing so in the past increased our employee retention by 30%.”

Although finding the right path for LGC has not been easy, it is and always will be worth it.

“At the end of the day, success isn’t about how many people we placed. Our success is defined by how many careers we can build, how many businesses we can strengthen, and how we can prove that doing the right thing builds a profitable company.”