Recruiting And Retaining the Best Employees

The fact that businesses have to move quickly to survive in the new digital economy has become almost a cliche. Everyone acknowledges the transforming power of the Internet. But when it comes to developing a sound e-business strategy and implementing the appropriate technologies, questions quickly emerge. With all the hype and noise in the marketplace, what is real? What approaches actually produce measurable business benefits?

That's where e-business service providers such as Emerald Solutions Inc. come in. We design and build Web-based business solutions that help our clients enhance relationships with their customers and business partners, improve the efficiency of their operations and create new revenue opportunities. Flashy Web sites and trendy technologies aren't enough. They have to deliver results.

We offer a complete end-to-end e-business solution that combines digital strategy consulting, interactive Web design and technology solutions. In order to ensure our clients a solid return on investment, we deliver solutions with an interdisciplinary approach that provides a principled framework for each stage of a client engagement--from creating a strategic vision and designing an interactive e-business solution to developing an appropriate technical architecture and integrating Web and enterprise applications with existing IT systems. This approach and our experience are important elements of a delivery strategy that enables us to provide innovative, reliable and scalable e-business solutions on time and within budget.

Because of our strong emphasis on delivering business benefits, our employees need to be able to see the big picture and understand end-to-end solutions. Many people tend to think of e-business as a young person's industry, but that's not necessarily the case. We're not just pursuing those who are fresh out of college. In all three of our main service offering categories--digital strategy, digital design and solutions and technology--our recruitment efforts emphasize experience.

If the e-business technologies we develop and implement are expected to meet business needs, we have to understand the underlying business strategies. Emerald's technology consultants average more than 10 years of experience. They have well-rounded expertise, familiarity with a wide range of business processes, and effective problem-solving skills that are not necessarily related to any particular technology. Even our front-end Web designers need to understand how their work affects back-end integration.

Although it is a very competitive market, and technology professionals do have a lot of options, we're not out there trying to convince anyone and everyone to join us. We tend to be quite selective in our hiring process, and want to make sure we find the right people for Emerald. Pay and benefits are important, and must be competitive, but there's always someone willing to pay a little bit more or offer more bells and whistles. Yes, we have stock options and on-the-spot bonuses, as well as regular company outings and other stress-relieving activities, but what's more important is that we focus on the fundamentals and provide an environment that leads to long-term job satisfaction.

We've found that job satisfaction is particularly influenced by two key factors: corporate culture--which begins with the employee-to-manager relationship--and professional development.

Maintaining a consistent culture is a challenge for rapidly growing companies, but it's critical for success. We make it a high priority to invest in the growth of our managers, ensuring that our employees find these relationships to be successful and growth-driven. We ask our managers to focus on our employees' strengths and give them the opportunity to do what they do best. We live our company values, and we try to encourage a sense of ownership among employees by being very open about financials and other company information. Like most fast-moving new-generation e-business companies, we don't let ourselves get preoccupied with hierarchies and traditional ways of doing things. We want employees to feel empowered to contribute and to have a real effect on the direction and success of the company.

Opportunity for professional development is also a key component of our retention strategy. No one wants to get stuck doing the same kinds of projects with the same technologies year after year. Consultants need to keep their skills current, and they appreciate the chance to work on stimulating, cutting-edge projects.

To promote continual learning, we offer everyone 80 hours of formal professional or leadership training per year. In addition, we make mentoring a priority and encourage all employees to create career development plans that will help them achieve their professional goals.

Our employees appreciate the environment that we've created, and many of them are spreading the word. In fact, a significant number of our new hires come through our employee referral program--mostly from other consulting companies. Our employees know us best, and have proven quite effective at sharing their enthusiasm and encouraging other quality candidates to join the team.