22 Feb 2017
Launch Digital Marketing Response
9yI’d like to respond, as I feel strongly for the company and the direction we are moving and want to address not only the cons but pros you’ve listed in your review. You’ve nailed it, we are a fast-paced and growing company. We have seen growth over the last two years that many companies never experience in their tenure. While it is very exciting, it is also a huge task to ensure we are hiring, training and scaling in the correct way to allow our employees to flourish alongside the business. That said, do we always get it right? No. Is there a margin of error? Absolutely. Are we trying our best to get our employees everything they need to be successful? Every day.
One of our biggest points of pride is our people. We are a collection of, as you said, great people with sharp minds, and together have moved the needle and pushed technology and our services forward. We have been working with several recruiting agencies as well as internally to find the right people with the right experience and bring them into our organization to sustain growth. We have brought on 10+ people per month for the last 3 months in an effort to scale and that number is going to continue to grow. This has been a laser focus for us as we understand the need. We are always working, whether it is apparent to all employees or not, to bring people in to alleviate the workload.
As you can imagine, bringing on people this quickly has had its own challenges. We are listening to our employees and working to make changes based on the feedback, including salary changes. I have been creating salary bands for each position and am utilizing market data to ensure we are competitive for our area. This will be on-going as we grow, and it too will take time.
In terms of where the money goes, we have just added 14,000 square feet of new office space to ensure everyone has adequate space to work. When we moved into our current space back in August 2015 we could not have anticipated the growth we experienced and less than a year later we were working to acquire and build out more space for our employees. Similarly, we have had our share of connectivity challenges where the internet is concerned. We have worked tirelessly with our provider and IT company to improve connectivity and throughout have communicated our efforts to employees. There has been disappointment with the amount of time it has taken to get it right, not just from employees but management as well. We have invested significant resources into improving the workspace and internet, and invest in perks for our employees including: coffee and other beverages, breakfast items and snacks which most, if not all, employees utilize on a daily basis.
With regard to the regionalization of our business, making the necessary changes to shift clients takes time, effort and consideration. Coming from a client facing role myself, I understand the importance of making sure our clients are comfortable with the changes and ensuring them that their business will continue to thrive as we make organizational shifts. Internally, the same is true. We need to look at all angles of impact this will have and have the right people lined up to receive the business as changes have the potential to impact 400+ clients. All of this considered, having the transition in place by the end of the first quarter would be ideal.
We appreciate your feedback with regard to transparency. As we grow we are excited to share ‘what’s next’ with our employees and will be more clear on what is happening and projected timelines.