Solving a talent crisis 7 (a multi-part article)
by Miki SaxonObviously, the scenarios described over the last week didn’t take place in a vacuum, serially, as fast or simply as described, nor did Julie’s conversion from “You’re out of your mind” to True Believer happen overnight, but it did happen.
Early on Josh presented his vision to the whole company and solicited feedback, ideas, technology suggestions, etc., but asked that people keep their discussions internal. He said that until they had a basic framework in place that could be adapted fairly across the board he didn’t want to be inundated by people who thought it would be cool to work when they felt like it.
He made it clear that adopting and integrating distance working and a results-only environment successfully would require tremendous effort and trust by everyone. He said to be patient if it seemed to move slowly; it was more important to do it right than do it quickly.
Brad and Julie represent the two extremes among both managers and workers, at all levels in the company; most were in the middle with a cautious “show me how it works and I’ll try it” attitude.
In the end, Julie’s, conversion was a combination of desperation—she had to get staffed because the work had to get done—and her complete trust in Josh, her team and her company’s culture—none of which let her down. Also, Julie grew exponentially as manager and leader, which was a nice side benefit.
Brad learned that it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be, but he’s fully staffed now, one distance worker and one local, and his team is making major strides for the company.
Doug has continued his stellar performance and manages to interact more with staffers now via technology than when he was on-site. He hired “Diane” as financial admin/benefits coordinator. Diane was just starting her pregnancy and was ecstatic to learn that she could keep her position after the baby came.
Sales is set to grow in the second half due to a new product release and “Ken,” the head of sales, is adamant about finding sales stars wherever they may be; to that end he’s redesigning his entire department from the ground up with the help of his current team.
“Corrie,” who handled IT alone when all this started, immediately asked for and got an additional resource in the form of an intern, “Randy,” who accepted a full-time position upon graduation. With all the growth, Corrie recently asked for another part-time intern, “Jen,” who will go full time when she graduates in 2009. (More on IT tomorrow.)
Once the geographic and time restrictions were lifted the company was able to fill all its positions through internal referrals and in about half the time it took previously; this in spite of a much longer interview process. The mangers use the same process for local hires, too, since remote communication skills are just as important. That same process has resulted in higher productivity from new hires, while attrition has dropped to zero.
Continued tomorrow…
