More Than A Number

From the desk of…
Erin Pittman | Optomi Consultant-Care Manager

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been emailing with our consultants to spread the word that Optomi was on the Staffing Industry Analyst’s “Best Staffing Firms to Work For” list for the 2nd year in a row. It’s been so exciting to share the news because ultimately, its my responsibility to make sure our consultants actually feel that way too.

Industry wide, if you’re a contractor with a staffing company, its likely you feel far more in tune with the details of your current project at end client, than you do with your actual employer. I‘ve got to be real with you, I wish that were not the case.

In an effort to shed a little light, pull back the curtain and a third metaphor for providing insight, I thought I’d tell exactly how you fit into Optomi’s #1 priority for 2015: “The Who.”

It’s important to have a little backstory: As our founders continue to build Optomi, they often look for insight from the success stories highlighted in “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. One of the book’s central concepts is that before you can create anything of value, you have to hire the RIGHT people. This year, we’ve doubled down on this philosophy and made it part of our every day conversations; if you meet someone who shares our values and would be excited about building something really special, we want to bring them on board. We call them “The Who.”

Like any good Consultant-Care Manager (and only child) would, I immediately thought; “What are we doing to communicate this mindset to MY department, with consultants? What can I do to help them feel like they’re not only appreciated for their work, but also for sharing our values and helping us build a staffing company unlike any other?”

We can continue to implement awards like Consultant of the Quarter, and pay Referral Bonuses, (and we will) but I felt it was even more important to take a moment to make it very clear: we would be exactly nowhere without our consultants. Our Account Executives could make big promises of delivery and speed. Our recruiters could learn the ins and outs of everything from Agile to Zombie Networks (yes, I googled IT terms that start with Z) and they still wouldn’t have a place to work if we didn’t have ridiculously talented, professional, creative and genuine human beings who picked up the phone and trusted us enough to help them get a job.

The more we grow, the easier it would be to start seeing our consultants as numbers. Numbers of submits, numbers of hours worked… But our founders (remember them from before?) knew from day 1 that being like everyone else wasn’t an option for Optomi. They created the Consultant Care department to make sure that never happens here.

Rather than a number, we see you as a father to 7 kids, a newly-married first-time home owner, a QA who “came halfway around the world to have this career.”

You’re never going to be just a number, you’re our “Who”.