Building Leaders from the Start

The decision to predominately hire at the junior level and only promote from within has been a fun, and worthwhile decision. It has led us to be very picky about each person that we decide to bring into our organization. In order to hire the right person, we must continue to interview candidates with the criteria we look for.

Return on investment is very important in every aspect of business, which is no different when developing employees that will one day run our company. We view every employee that we hire as a future partner. In order to be a partner, stock holder, mentor, etc. everyone must be developed to be their best as a professional first.

There are a lot of aspects of development that an entry or junior level professional must focus on. A lot of companies only care about their employees getting their day to day tasks done, not the development beforehand in order to reach their maximum potential.

Below are a number of aspects that our Leadership Development Program focuses on. When you come into a company being “professionally immature,” you must first learn to crawl, then walk, then run, then sprint.

How to work like a professional

For many of our new employees, they have never worked a full 7+ hours a day for 5 days a week. We understand it is a transition from college. Having multiple mentors that were in that position not too long back certainly helps. We are very aware that people can “burn” out if they are not taught the right fundamentals early on in their career. We encourage our new employees to use their hour and 45 minutes in the middle of the day to get a workout in. Don’t lose those endorphins!

Valuing your time, as well as being efficient with it

This is a fundamental skill that must be developed for employees to have the success they are looking for. Everyone’s learning curve is very different. It’s a mentality that is built through repetition, reflection of outcomes, and mentorship. Very successful people look at each second during the business day as very valuable. Your time is just as important as anyone else!

How to be very effective in professional networking

There are many different ways and avenues to go about networking with professionals. Networking is the key to opening up new opportunities for business growth. We wouldn’t be having the success we are without consistently focusing on it. Our team environment, open communication, and focus on new hire development will help you continue to add “plays” to your “playbook.”

How to build long lasting professional relationships with clients and coworkers

This is an art! Every person is different, every scenario to build a relationship is different. Our employees that build relationships with clients all do it in their own unique way. Sharing tactics with one another on a daily basis. Of course there are fundamental do’s and don’ts but confidence and knowledge will give you the best chance to succeed in building each relationship. We believe that a combination of observation and learning from doing is the best way for you to develop the art. Make sure to ask about our multiple shadowing and associate programs!

Negotiating

There is a time to and time not to. We start every employee off with lower level negotiating as they transition to high level. The more our employees observe, the more negotiation outcomes to reflect on, the better the skill is developed over time.

Navigating business situations

Our mentors and leaders are incentivized to expose our junior employees to business situations, giving them the chance to ask questions about each situation. We teach fundamentals here, nothing is scripted. This is another case where the more that you absorb as a junior professional, the faster you will develop to be ready for the business situations that you will face.

Learning and understanding technology and how it is integrated into business units

A majority of the people that we hire enter our business with little to no technical background. Many employees will never be hands-on with technology, but for our clients and our employees to have confidence in technical consulting, they must know the basics of technology. Technology evolves at a rapid rate so the learning never stops. We understand that learning curves are different for each person. Once the fundamentals are established, our junior employees can “play the game” with confidence as they continue to learn throughout their career.

Our Leadership Development Program is just the tip of the iceberg of training and development.

When speaking to us, be sure to ask as many questions as you want!

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