One company - three generations - one mission

Our company was established by my grandfather in 1951 with the goal of helping companies find the talent they needed to strive. At that time, newspapers were 'king' when it came to the employment industry. The classifieds were voraciously read, highly coveted and very targeted.

My grandfather was one in a million - our 3rd and 4th generations relish in stories of his kindness, generosity and fairness. And it's not just family who has stories to share. All who interacted with him wanted to continue doing so. Clients and employees alike wanted to work with him - because they liked him.

The foundation of his success was establishing and nurturing relationships with his employees, clients and partners, especially printers and newspapers. My aunt has countless memories of tagging with her dad to Printers Row on a Saturday to visit the weekend shift printing team. My grandfather shook their ink-stained fingers, called them by name, asked about their kids. His partners were fundamental to his clients' success and, thus, his agency's success.

One of his famous lines was "Make a friend, make a deal." And he meant that. Another was "All things being equal, people want to do business with someone they trust … All things not being equal, people still want to do business with someone they trust."

These philosophies still drive our agency today. They're printed on our walls. They're recited in meetings. Through three generations, and for 67 years, they remain important reminders of how we consider our clients and how we approach our partner relationships.

Since establishing the agency, we've had two subsequent generations lead. In this time, the media landscape changed significantly and in ways we never could have imagined. While print was the primary option in 1951, and still is a very important and valuable medium, we now have hundreds of potential solutions for our clients.

Similar to the relationships my grandfather nurtured, in the early 2000s, when print faced some serious challenges, I watched my father work with hundreds of news outlets to transform their recruitment business to online. We were in this together, and we were committed to helping each other succeed. We were even named Partner of the Year by News Media Alliance, an association comprised of thousands U.S. and Canada-based print outlets.

It's no longer just an ad. Now, it's brand building projects, social media, job distribution to thousands of websites, mobile ads and geo targeting, innovative career sites, artificial intelligence solutions - the list goes on. No matter how the landscape changes or which generation is spearheading us - we will always have one mission - to support our clients' talent attraction needs.

• Shaker's 1st generation created a solid foundation - we were a Chicagoland company known for innovation and integrity. My grandfather cleared the trees in the forest for us.

• Shaker's 2nd generation took that reputation on the road - we became a national and international business leader. They built the roads for us.

• Shaker's 3rd generation is reaching new heights with trusted client and media partners in an industry evolving by the minute. We are building skyscrapers for the next generation.

But while there are now many 'kings' in the world of media - there is only one driving force behind the success of Shaker. People work with us because they like us. They trust us. They know they will get a fair deal from honest people. We want our partners to be successful because that allows our clients to be successful, and thus, our agency.

• Joe Shaker Jr. is president of Shaker Recruitment Marketing.