people pleasers

Training makes difference for staffs of five finalists

by Andre Tellijohn   TECHIES ARE HUMAN, too.

Technology professionals are often lumped together as people in dark, back rooms with no ability or desire to communicate with the outside world. Three of the finalists in this year’s Best Practices in People and Workplace category put that stereotype to rest. Other finalists include a call center and an architecture firm. All five have found creative ways to engage their employees in an effort to keep them around.

Going to school
Consultants at Plymouth-based Digineer Inc. require specific training to stay at the top of their games. When the technology and management consulting firm couldn’t find a comprehensive program to provide that teaching, the company decided to start its own. That program is called Digi-U.

As one might expect for a company of its type, Digi-U includes technology training. But it also covers topics of interest in health and wellness, time management, mainstream business skills and project management.

The company spends more than $100,000 a year on the training, believed by the company to be one-of-a-kind. And it engages people, in part, because Digineer consultants largely drive the content.

“It’s a little more organic, employee-driven,” says Michael Lacey, CEO and president. “We actually let employees determine the topics they want to learn about. We also let them determine the format.”

That requires them to immerse themselves in the subjects.

“They actually have to learn as much as they can,” he says. “They learn more about it because they are trying to teach their peers.”

There are three options for the Digi-U training programs. They can be informal coffee shop settings, classroom settings or online. The topics are sometimes less conventional as well. They have included leadership, personal training and yoga. Eventually they will also be uploaded to the company’s Intranet sites and available in podcast formats so those who can’t attend the events in person don’t miss out on any potential benefits.

“It really gets people engaged,” Lacey says.

It also gets them performing better. Since instituting the program, Digineer consultants have increased their average bill rates by about 10 percent collectively, Lacey says.

Dreaming up challenges
Many companies talk about promoting good work-life balance, but Next Level Café has gone beyond that. The Burnsville-based technology consulting firm has sponsored leadership development courses, “dream sessions,” and 10 other programs for staff all centered on creating happy and challenged employees.

The dream sessions are weekly brainstorming meetings to improve the business. Other popular methods Next Level has used include company-sponsored barbecues and lunches, quarterly team-building opportunities that include families, and awards.

“We’ve found ways to recognize employees in unique and retaining ways,” CEO Richard Anderson says.

One of the most recent introductions has really caught on. Next Level brought in a life coach with a diverse background who “has been in the wars,” he says.

The coach has been a business person, an undercover narcotics agent and a turnaround management executive, among other positions. He is available for employees to talk about any topics, including complaints or issues they don’t feel they can bring to management themselves.

When they ask the life coach for anonymity, the coach approaches management without giving away anyone’s identity.

“Why that is important is we have an amazingly diverse work force,” Anderson says. “Whatever happens in that room stays in that room.”

In the past, Next Level used to budget for one lost employee per month. Since adding the coach, “We’ve lost one in the last year,” Anderson says. “We just don’t lose employees because our employees have a place to go. The company sponsors it and we get massive benefits from it.”

In response to an audience question about motivating employees, Anderson says another benefit to working for Next Level is that the firm doesn’t pigeonhole its employees. Rather, the company tries to tailor positions in such a way that they apply to a worker’s skills.

“Hire good people with good attitudes, and then get out of the way,” he says.

Mapping a path
Orbit Systems Inc., an information technology consulting firm, has created an employee program that a company executive says has contributed to an almost 99 percent retention rate over the last seven years.

The Orbit Mastery Program provides a structured educational path for employees to progress through their careers with the Eagan-based company. It matches new employees with mentors and helps with education and training. The mastery program also helps the company provide a consistently high level of expertise and customer support.

“When they walk in the door at Orbit Systems, they are a beginner,” says Steve McFarland, president and CEO. “Our goal is to get everyone through our system as an Orbit Master.”

And at Orbit, where customer service is focus, graduating as a Master — whether on the technology or non-technology track — requires some technical aptitude. But more importantly, it takes the ability, desire and focus on treating customers with respect and support.

Company officials figure as long as new employees have some technical skills they can be trained on whatever else they need to learn.

“A customer service attitude is not something we can train,” McFarland says. “Technical aptitude is great. We can teach you those things. You have to get up in the morning wanting to service our customers.”

When people have been with the company long enough, they frequently become part of the leadership team, a group of employees involved in just about every level of planning on decisions made by Orbit Systems. Those who want to eventually reach that are part of an “emerging leader network.”

When asked by an attendee what happens if someone sneaks their way into a job with Orbit Systems by fudging through interviews and applications, McFarland reiterated his focus on customer service and added that people can “fake it” for 30 days or even 60 days, but generally not for the entire three-month trial time.

When dealing with such a situation, what’s important is “not only hiring the right people but firing the wrong people,” he says. “We deal with those problems right away. … We’re even better at getting rid of people that don’t fit the mold.”

That helps keep employees that are doing their job well stay enthused.

Employees are “demotivated by people that are not producing to the level they are,” he says. “They recognize that management has the fortitude to take care of the people that aren’t performing.”

Toward longer retention
Turnover is a frequent issue for call centers and for the longest time, Time Communications was no different. The St. Paul-based company took a stab at increasing retention about six years ago and implemented several changes aimed at getting people to stick around longer.

One of the most popular was providing qualified candidates that meet specific training and quality standards the opportunity to work from their homes, says Trisha Steinberg, president.

“It was much less common at the time,” she says. “It’s a program that will never fade for us.”

As a result, the average employee tenure has more than doubled, from two years and four months to four years and 10 months. It started with six employees and has since grown to 25 percent of the company’s staff.

The longer tenures benefit the company by reducing the cost of hiring and training new employees, and allow Time to provide more experienced and competent help for customers. People that stick around longer become closer to their co-workers as well, creating a more family-like atmosphere.

“It’s given us more experienced agents,” Steinberg says. “They’re able to provide better service.”

Steinberg, in response to a question about additional strategies that led to the doubled tenures, says another key factor is keeping doors open to hear what employees have on their minds.

“Let them feel comfortable voicing their complaints to you rather than to the work community,” she says.

Training and travel
As a small firm with 11 of 26 staff members as partners, UrbanWorks Architecture can’t always guarantee a new hire's destiny.

But it can promise the opportunity to learn from experienced architects, the promise of working on important projects, the enjoyment of several perks at the office, and the chance to have materials that prove to potential future employers that they can do the job.

The company has a designer cappuccino machine in the kitchen and a “healthy” match to its 401K programs.

More importantly for staff engagement, UrbanWorks offers weekly in-house seminars covering topics from real estate development to acoustical treatment of housing units. The company also sponsors staff training exercises that have included project management boot camps and one-on-one presentation skills instruction, among others.

Research trips to projects the company has completed in markets such as Vancouver, Denver and Washington, D.C. don’t hurt either.

“It’s not a question of how do you motivate them,” says John Hamilton, president of the Minneapolis-based company. “It’s a question of how do you keep them and how do you keep them from going next door.”

In addition to seeing finished projects, new hires are invited along to meet with clients on existing work. As a small firm, there’s no question they are going to get an opportunity to get their feet wet with real work, even if their long-term future ends up being somewhere else.

The training and motivation process starts in the first 15 minutes someone walks in the door. “What we try to guarantee for them is they are going to have a portfolio,” Hamilton says. “We’re going to work with them to do that.”

FINALIST RUNDOWN

» Digineer Inc., information technology consultants: created Digi-U, a training program for consultants, costing $100,000 annually and designed to boost average bill rates.

Michael Lacey is president and CEO: 763.544.3400; ****@******er.com;”>ml****@******er.com; www.digineer.com.

» Next Level Café, information technology consultants: sponsors leadership development courses, “dream sessions,” and 10 more programs for staff.

Richard Anderson is CEO: 952.883.0602; ***@****fe.com“>ri***@****fe.com; nextlevelcafe.com.

» Orbit Systems, information technology consultants: developed mastery, mentor and emerging leaders programs to achieve employee retention rate of 98.75 percent.

Steve McFarland is president and CEO: 651.767.3322; *********@****ts.net“>sj*********@****ts.net; www.orbits.net.

» Time Communications, call center services provider: offers as a benefit the option for qualified candidates to work from home, increasing average tenure.

Trisha Steinberg is president: 651.298.1332; www.timecommunications.com.

» UrbanWorks Architecture, architecture firm: with 11 of 26 staff members as partners, sponsors weekly in-house seminars, staff training courses and research trips.

John Hamilton is president: 612.455.3100; *******@*********ks.com“>jh*******@*********ks.com; www.urban-works.com.