IntegraBlog

Grow Your Business by Taking Time Away from the Office

by: Robert Fish | COO
Time management for the Fast Growth Entrepreneur is paramount to success and a balanced life. There are literally so many opportunities to chase, projects to complete, people to meet, etc. that it’s very easy to fall into the mode of working in the business versus working on the business. One tactic I have learned over the years is to spend 6 to 8 hours a week away from the office in a place where I feel my creativity is the greatest. This can be a library, a coffee shop, my home, or sometimes even a casual hike or bike ride.

With 6-8 hours of creativity and planning time each week, my stress level is substantially reduced. This is the time where I feel like I create the most value for my company, employees, clients and ultimately my family.

During this time, everyone knows what I’m doing (so it’s not a secret) and that I will not be checking emails or answering the phone. Because this time away is not a secret and very important to me, I have found that my employees actually support me being away versus making it more difficult for me to be away.

One huge unexpected benefit from being away from the office with no contact on a weekly basis is that it forces employees to step up and take control of situations that would normally get ‘upward delegated’ to me just because I’m available and in the office.

Employees also have taken my time away as a vote of confidence in their abilities and performance and see it as a chance to show me what they can do on their own. I believe this has been the single most important change I have made to help transition myself from a Technician to Manager to Shareholder.

My time away from the office also creates a mechanism for future leaders and managers to emerge. The employees who are eager to move the company forward without supervision are the ones that will naturally move up in the organization.

My goal is to spend no more than 24 hours a week physically in the office. I still have my share of 60+ hour work weeks at times, but I feel much more in control.

The Importance of Culture "Fit"

by: Renee Boatwright | VP of Recruiting
Hiring managers, regardless of industry, struggle with hiring employees that “fit” within their organization. We all agree that previous work experience and education is important and, for the most part, easy to identify. What is just as important, but harder to identify, is culture fit.

What do I mean when I talk about “culture?” Company culture is a term used to define the personality or character of an organization. Company culture can be expressed through the organization’s mission and vision statements, in the architectural style of the offices, the dress code and the means in which employees communicate with each other.

In order to identify company culture, an organization must look to their line-level associates up to their C-level executives for input on what is important to them. The core values and beliefs must be identified along with rules of behavior. Think about what is important to you and what you value.

Every group has a culture…..from your high school cliques to your fraternities to your office staff. Culture “fit” means that you value and enjoy the same things in life. Think about what makes certain groups unique; for example high school cliques that use the same slang terms and dress alike.

Some offices are quiet, some offices are loud, some like to go to lunch together and some prefer happy hour. Think about what your company culture is and keep this top of mind when hiring new employees. Skills can be learned and refined, but appropriate culture fit is harder to change. New hires that “fit” within a company’s culture will often yield higher success and productivity and result in decreased turnover.

How to Make Open Houses Work for You

by: Yin Lo | Client Relationship Manager
It’s cliché and true to say a resume doesn’t always reflect a person’s ability. I’ve seen top notch resumes with little more than mediocre personality behind a nice linen sheet of paper; while other times, an almost sloppy resume proves to be a hard and driven money maker. I often spend several hours in one day laboring through resumes. There has to be a more effective way of sourcing candidates, right?

During my first week at a recruiting firm we had an open house to pool entry-level applicants for one of our clients. I was amazed – we had a flood of people show up, coming from all different professional backgrounds. Within three hours, over 50 people had completed an application! I thought - what a great way to knock out so many people in so little time! However, one flaw I noticed was that we targeted a specific applicant profile and were unable to utilize the remaining applicants; many of whom may have been a great fit elsewhere. Because so many people were in and out in such a short time, the recruiter was unable to create a personal bond with each individual and resulted in a loss of what could have potentially been great talent!

One major benefit of an open house is that you can target a specific skill set to fit your needs. Also, if you have high volume fills an open house is a perfect recruiting method. Unfortunately, for every five applicants, you may only find one qualified candidate. Some candidates come to an open house just to get their foot-in-the door but it proves to be ineffective due to the lack of personal connection between the recruiter and the candidate.

I’ve been holding open houses recently to target high volume fills. With one open house, I target anything from specialized warehouse and manufacturing workers to customer service and sales professionals. I try to reconfigure and adapt my approach for optimal efficiency and effectiveness. Here are my top three tips to conduct a successful open house:

1. Target a specific applicant pool with specific skills. High volume fills that require minimal skills or experience is a great reason to have an open house. However, keep in mind that there will always be applicants that don’t fall within the skill set range.

2. Conduct a quick 3-5 minute interview (if time permits) on each candidate. I’ve tried large group, small group, and individual interviews. Pending your position(s), one or the other may prove to be more effective. I’ve found that by conducting a quick 3-5 minute individual interview with each candidate I get to see the personality behind the resume. Someone with little or no experience may have outstanding drive and ambition, proving to be a great fit for the client.

3. Call a candidate back for a more formal interview. It’s difficult to remember all applicants but there will always be the few who will stick out in your mind. Even if a more formal interview is required at a later date, at least you know this candidate already has potential for a client. Now, it’s just a matter of figuring out if they’re a good fit!

It’s a learning process and each time I have open house, the outcome is different. The candidate pool always varies but by preparing yourself to handle a diverse crowd, the advantages are really on your side!

A Good Job Description Starts with a Good Job Analysis

by: Wendy Floyd |Senior Recruiter
One of the most common questions I receive from clients is “how does my job description look” or “how do I write a good job description?” I have found the best way to write a job description is to take a step back and do a good job analysis. In this post I’ll address the job description format and how and when to use it.

The job analysis is a great way to connect with employees and get their candid feedback on the organization’s structure, department or business. The best time to do this is when there is not an urgent job opening forcing you to rush through the process. I have outlined 6 easy steps to collect all the background information you’ll need to make writing the description a snap!

1. Collect any documentation and previous job ads used to describe the position

2. Interview staff currently in the position and have them write out their job duties. You are not looking for perfection, just insight regarding what they feel their major responsibilities are. Have them prioritize the duties if possible. This will come in handy later.

3. Interview co-workers of the position and get the same feedback. Have them write out the duties, prioritized if possible. Also, ask them to provide the ideal behavioral qualities the position requires such as ‘detail-oriented’ or ‘team player’.

4. Look at all of the data you have collected and start documenting the required job duties while being mindful to separate the optional duties. You’ll want to keep track of the optional duties just not include them in the job description. Also, be mindful not to include requirements that the next employee may not be required to do. In other words, avoid making the current employee’s profile dictate the description.

5. Decide on the minimum requirements needed to perform the job, including skill set, education, work history, background, etc. Be careful not to impose qualification requirements that are unnecessary for the job to avoid indirect discrimination.

6. Write out the new job description and review it with your employees for feedback and buy in.

Helpful Tips:

1. Make it a priority to complete new job descriptions whenever a change has been made, i.e. adding or eliminating responsibilities of the positions.

2. Don’t be in a rush to get each description done in one day. Give yourself a week or two and take the opportunity to really connect with your employees.

3. Be sure your employees understand that all positions will be going through the same process and why. This will automatically make them more responsive to your requests.

4. Pay attention to culture issues or opportunities. This process is a great way to obtain feedback regarding how healthy or unhealthy the organization’s culture is.

5. Take time to understand the behaviors required and not just the duties. The ideal behaviors will help tailor the job description and decrease turnover.

Staffing Fast Growth Companies: The Challenge for Today’s Entrepreneur

by: Robert Fish | COO
A common challenge many entrepreneurs face is appropriately staffing their fast growth company. The complexity surrounding building management teams, sales teams, back office teams, etc. has much more to do with managing business dynamics than simply hiring more people. The entrepreneur is really working with two major forces: 1) satisfying current business needs and 2) developing new capabilities to drive growth. In simple terms, there are the existing business structures and the future business structures that have to be run simultaneously. The existing business must service existing clients, manage current cash and financing arrangements, work with legacy systems and processes, work within the existing corporate culture, and perform with current employees.

At the same time, the entrepreneur must have a clear vision of what the future company will look like including new markets and clients, corporate capabilities, systems and processes, improved company culture, sales and marketing strategies, and in most cases additional employees.

In essence, the fast growth company leader is always running two companies: the existing and the future. I have founded or co-founded three fast growth companies and have learned that not all of the pieces and parts of the existing or early stage company will have a place in the future company. My experience has been that this dynamic is what makes hiring for fast growth companies so complex. The future company concept is not clearly mapped out from a wholistic perspective and hiring decisions are made without thinking about the fit and performance requirements of the future team. Most hiring decisions are made with only current needs in mind which limits growth and creates unnecessary turnover. I’ll address the process of assembling teams that address the requirement of both current business needs and the future business needs in another post.

Hiring from the Competition

by: Michelle Fish | CEO
Recently I was asked by a client if they should consider hiring employees away from the competition as they were concerned about the negative impact this may have on their company. This type of concern is usually based on the perception that hiring an employee away from a competitor is an unethical business practice. The reality is savvy business professionals expect just as much competition for clients as they do for top performing employees.

Recruiting great talent is always a constant effort and some even feel it’s a war! Well-trained and talented individuals are already working for someone else and are doing a great job for their employers. Excluding these individuals from your candidate pool leaves you recruiting from the bottom 10-20%.

Almost all large firms target employees of smaller firms by luring them with the potential of a bigger future. Large firms did not get large by limiting their recruiting efforts by sourcing from the bottom of the candidate pool. By targeting the top 10-20% of the talent pool, the risk of a miss-hire drops dramatically. Each additional hour spent sourcing top candidates always translates into massive time and money savings on the back-end.

Don’t assume you don’t have the ability to recruit directly from the competition. Leveraging industry relationships and employee referrals can get you many warm leads to great candidates. This is essentially how staffing and recruiting firms work. They call employed individuals, develop a relationship and make the connection to a new employer when the time is right.

Generation Y: How to Attract and Retain the New Twenty-Something Professional

by: Joanna Gammon |Client Relationship Manager
As a member of the much talked about “Generation Y” workforce, I would like to share my views on what it takes for companies to attract and retain this new brood of employees. According to ChannelWeb Network, “By 2014 there will be nearly 63 million Generation Y employees in the workforce, while the number of baby boomers in the workplace will dip from 59 million today to fewer than 48 million.” Companies need to start paying attention to this noteworthy group of twenty-something’s that are rapidly invading the workplace.

So what do we want from our careers? We want the corner office and the six-figure salary. But we don’t necessarily want to work 80 hours a week to achieve it…we want time for ourselves, our friends, and our families. Unlike our parents who’s #1 priority was their career; we require a more even balance between work and life. So how can an employer deal with such unprecedented demands? Try starting here:

1. Challenge Them:
Generation Y grew up surrounded by a constant stream of external stimuli; from Nintendo to 200 channels of Dish TV, multi-tasking has been a way of life. We expect the same from our careers. Challenge Gen Y workers with complex projects, varied assignments, and a high degree of responsibility. They won’t disappoint you.

2. Offer Collaborative Opportunities:
Through internet chat rooms, instant messaging, and MySpace, Generation Y is more connected to their peers than any previous generation. Gen Y’ers know how to collaborate and thrive on team work. Create opportunities for them to tackle complex projects in a group and you’ll be amazed at how they can harness the individual talents to deliver outstanding results.

3. Talk to them:
Annual performance reviews won’t cut it for Generation Y. They want to know what they should be doing and how well they are doing it now – not next year. Provide them with timely feedback and you’ll see instant results.

4. Emphasize Non-Traditional Benefits:
Gen Y’ers aren’t as interested in traditional health and vision benefits, but more so on benefits that help them achieve a better work life balance. Employers who offer flex hours, on site day care, and ability to work from home will hold the competitive advantage.

5. Promote Them:
If your company has any hope of retaining Gen Y’ers for the long term, you’ll need to provide a diverse career path for them to grow within your organization. Otherwise, as soon as we’ve learned all we can, we’ll move on.