People Need to See Their Future at [Your Company Here]

#INBOUND17@bobruffolo
People Need to See
Their Future at
[Your Company Here]
7 things we did that helped us recruit the best
people, keep our top talent, and dramatically
improve our agency's performance.
B O B R U F F O L O

Who this Session is For

Starting Team Size: 36 People
People Left: -21 People
Ending Team Size: 23 People
1/ 15 TO 7/ 15
OUR TEAM: OUR CLI ENTS:
Averaging: ~30 Clients at a Time
Lost Clients: 19 Clients

>$2,000,000
Of Estimated Lost Revenue & Missed
Opportunity Cost
Financial Impact:

“People need to see their
future at IMPACT”

Today, I’m going to
share 7 things you must do
to help your people see their
future at your company.

@bobruffolo #INBOUND17
If you were to ask your employees
‘Where is the company heading?’
what do you think they would say?

1. The future of the
company needs to be
defined in a
documented vison.

Describes what the company
will look and feel like in vivid
detail, usually 3-10 years out.
This is the most important step in people
seeing their future at your company!
A vision….

1. Top executive writes down what the company will look like in
(3-10) years, including revenue, headcount, customers,
areas of focus, wins, and more.
2. Cascade it to the organization, collecting questions and
suggestions. Their input helps to get buy-in and make it real.
3. Publish and share.
4. Revisit regularly, update team on progress.
Creating a vision is not that hard…

Share your vision with everyone!
Employees
Job Candidates
Competitors, Customers, Network

If we want the right people on
our team, we must have a
documented vision of what the
company will look like that
excites the right people.

1. More thought leaders in company than just the CEO.
2. Hold our own annual marketing event.
3. Great Place to Work.
4. Recognized as "The Best Agency.”
Included in IMPACT’s 3-year vision:

2. You need the right
people on the team

A Players vs. B Players
vs. C Players

Have you ever had to work with
somebody who should have been
fired, but the boss just let them
hang around?

If someone doesn’t cut it,
they shouldn’t be there.

A Players on the
other hand…

How to know if someone
is an A Player

#INBOUND17#INBOUND17@bobruffolo
Tom DiScipio
Mr. Imnotsogood
+ + + Y Y Y
- - - N N
N
Bar + + +/- Y Y Y

#INBOUND17
1. “Hire for culture and train for skill.”
1. Culture: Purpose, values, and vision.
2. Skill: Able to be autonomously successful in their role < 30 days?
2. Be patient & don’t stretch.
3. Always be recruiting….
HOW TO HI RE A PLAYERS :

impactbnd.com/careers

Feeling surrounded by
A Players is important to people.
A Players = We win.
B + C Players = We lose.

How many of you believe that
someone’s success in a company
is based on the results they
achieve?

• Consult clients about campaign requirements and objectives.
• Create marketing strategies.
• Manage timescales and budgets.
• Perform all required inbound marketing activities including:
blogging, SEO, social media, email marketing, and paid media.
• Assist in company marketing efforts.
Marketing Account Manager
It doesn’t define the expectations!

• Manage 5 clients / ~$30,000 MRR at a time.
• Average a client NPS score > 9.
• Complete > 120 points of work / month.
• Create 3 success stories / qtr to be published on IMPACT’s website.
• Publish 1 piece of content for IMPACT’s website / month.
Marketing Account Manager
Much better!

3. People need to
know what’s
expected of them

If we want our people to achieve
specific outcomes,
and we want them to feel confident in
their performance,
then they need to know specifically
what’s expected of them.

Taking this one step
further…

#INBOUND17@bobruffolo #INBOUND17
ROLE: STRATEGI ST
LEVEL SCORE SALARY
ASSOCIATE STRATEGIST 10 $40,000 - $60,000
STRATEGIST L1 26 $50,000 - $70,000
STRATEGIST L2 40 $60,000 - $80,000
SR. STRATEGIST L1 50 $70,000 - $90,000
SR. STRATEGIST L2 52 $80,000 - $100,000
PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST L1 54 $90,000 - $110,000
PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST L2 56 $100,000 - $125,000

4. People Need
Someone Guiding
Their Success

One-on-Ones
Regular meetings between a manager
and an employee to talk about all things
pertaining to the employee’s career.
The secret sauce to “stickiness”

• For employee: Makes them feel important and
helps them understand how they fit in the
organization.
• For company: Allows you to get a pulse on the
employee’s longevity with the company.
Purpose of One-on-Ones:

• At least once every 2 weeks for 30 minutes
• The employee goes first (it’s about them)
• You talking about the present (impediments)
• ...and future (what their career path looks like)
• You build a real relationship
• You listen, laugh & coach, you’re always direct
If done right…

One-on-Ones Require:
A manager with strong leadership
and emotional intelligence.

If we’re not doing
regular one-on-ones with
our people, we’re
disconnecting them from
the company.

5. People Need to be
Recognized for Good
Work

“Appreciation is a fundamental human need.
Employees respond to appreciation expressed
through recognition of their good work because it
confirms their work is valued. When employees
and their work are valued, their satisfaction and
productivity rises, and they are motivated to
maintain or improve their good work.”
- Kim Harrison, Consultant, Author and Principal of
www.cuttingedgepr.com

Recognition should be:
Timely
Specific
Public
Documented

How we recognize people at IMPACT:
#happythoughts

How we recognize people at IMPACT:

“When employees and their work
are valued, their satisfaction and
productivity rises, and they are
motivated to maintain or improve
their good work.”
- Kim Harrison

6. Enable your people
to give honest,
candid feedback
(even if it sucks to hear)

“Feedback is the
Breakfast of
Champions”
- Brian Halligan

How we collect employee
feedback at IMPACT

1. How happy are you with your employment at IMPACT?
(1-10) …if not a 10, what would make it a 10?
2. I have a clearly defined career path here at IMPACT.
3. I know exactly what's expected of me in my role here at
IMPACT.
4. Someone in the organization is guiding my growth and
success.
Examples of questions we ask:

5. I understand the purpose of IMPACT and feel
passionate about our vision / the future of IMPACT.
6. I'm consistently recognized by leadership and my peers
when I do good work and deserve it.
7. I feel surrounded by "A-players”
8. I feel I can give candid, honest feedback to leadership.
9. Leadership cares about my feedback (it's generally
always worthwhile sharing feedback with leadership).

10.I have fun working at IMPACT.
11.How would you rate your manager’s understanding of
what it’s like to be in your shoes here at IMPACT?
12.What about our company’s culture do you find
hypocritical?
13.What is our weakest link right now?
14.What questions do you have for the leadership team?

Remember:
You’re asking for the
problems, and that’s what
you’re going to get.

“We've got a backup on the des/dev side but there
hasn't been a slow-down selling projects that are
des/dev heavy. I know we're trying to solve for this
with the recent hires, but I don't feel like it'll be as
quick of a fix as everyone's making it seem like.”

“There's a feeling that the machine is straining
right now. What's great is it's because we're so
successful at bringing on and keeping/expanding
the engagements we have. I'd be higher if I knew
we could still crush our goals while not crushing
our people.”

“Capacity planning is still hazy, we've been
clear that that has been a huge struggle for us
for quite some time, and told that we just need
to be more efficient with our time. That's
bullshit, and you know it.”

• Everyone on the leadership team must read every single
line of the feedback.
• We group and prioritize.
• We address during the all hands meeting.
When we do this, the rest of the organization knows
we’re trying and rallies behind us.
We take action:

If we want to progress as a
company, we need to collect
honest feedback from the team,
we need to address it publicly,
and we need to act on it.

7. Work Should Be Fun

Our results
#INBOUND17

TURNOVER I MPROVEMENT
Starting Team Size
People Left
Ending Team Size
1/15 to 7/15
(7 months)
7/15 to 9/17
(2 years, 2 months)
36 People
21 People
23 People
23 People
5 People
42 People

9.14
(Average Score)
EMPLOYEE NPS:

What about the vision?

More thought
leaders in
company than
just the CEO.
4 IMPACTers
Speaking at
INBOUND ‘17

Hold Our Own
Annual
Marketing
Event.
IMPACT Live

• Over 200 Attendees
• Speakers included: Mike
Volpe, David Meerman Scott,
Mark Roberge, Tara
Robertson, Marcus Sheridan,
and more.
• 2018 Scheduled

Great Place to
Work

Recognized
as The Best
Agency

> $2 Million
in Top Line Revenue Growth
in < 2 years.
Financial Impact:

#INBOUND17@bobruffolo #INBOUND17

7 Ways to Get People to See Their
Future at Your Company:
1. Have a defined company vision
2. Right people on the team
3. People need to know what’s expected of them
4. People need someone guiding their success
5. People need to be recognized for good work
6. People are enabled to give honest, candid feedback
7. Work should be fun

Advice… Take on one
of these things at a time

Our People Need to See Their
Future at Our Company
When they do, that’s when we’ll be
able to unlock our full potential.

Favorite Resources

My Favorite Resources:
Traction
by Gino Wickman
(+ other EOS Books)
Small Giants
by Bo
Burlingham
First, Break
All The Rules
by Gallup Press
Drive
by Daniel Pink
Double
Double
by Cameron
Herold

Use My Top
Talent Retention
Scorecard
impactbnd.com/scorecard

People Need to See Their Future at [Your Company Here]

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