We’re a technology services company, but when the whole NetGain team meets every quarter, we don’t focus on the intricacies of engineering or the technical features of some new hardware. Mostly, we talk about you. Really. It’s a good chance to see how successfully we’ve performed for our clients and partners.
During the quarterly company meeting, we hear testimonials from businesses that have recently joined Technology OneSource for managed I.T. support. Or from other clients who share their thoughts on a major I.T. project we’ve helped with, and how it has affected their business.
We also communicate stories of how our employees have been superstars when they represent NetGain to our clients. In this quarter’s company meeting, I shared a time where one of our client services managers went above and beyond for a company that wasn’t part of her assigned accounts. It’s gratifying to see our team showing entrepreneurial enthusiasm and just wanting our clients to have a great experience.
Four big goals in 2018
In last quarter’s message, I shared that we have four important goals this year. Today, we’ll review our progress from Q1 and our ongoing efforts in Q2.
1. Employee culture
I’ve talked previously about the value of reward trips. In the first quarter this year, we had a great time celebrating with Chairman’s Club in Marco Island, Fla. Sixteen of us vacationed together this year to celebrate a record 2017 in sales. We announced next year’s sales and service incentive trip is in Hawaii so they are hard at work!
Everyone at the company earned a different type of reward in Q1. After achieving our quarterly “rocks” (four top priorities for the company to execute every quarter), we’ll enjoy a family-focused event in the next few weeks.
This quarter, we’ll also hear recommendations from our employee advisory council on how to continue enhancing the employee experience. (Learn more about how NetGain is trying to be the “workplace of a lifetime” for our staff.)
2. Sales goals and service delivery
NetGain Technologies succeeds when we hit our sales goals and increase the efficiency of our service delivery.
Part of our plan to continue providing the world’s top ranked managed I.T. services program is to apply ITIL methodology to better align the I.T. services we provide with the needs of the businesses we serve. In Q1, the operations team implemented several phases of ITIL, keeping us on track with our rollout goals. (We introduced ITIL last summer in a press release about rebranding our service organization to create the ultimate client experience.)
To ensure we hit our sales targets, we’ve added new outside sales positions in St. Louis and Louisville. We’re planning to add more staff in Little Rock this quarter.
We also announced a realignment of the Professional Services Engineering team. The new direction will allow NetGain to deliver the best project management we have ever provided.
3. The NetGain brand and facilities
They say not to judge a man by his clothes, but we know first impressions matter. In 2018, we’ve made some positive changes to our offices to better reflect our branding and status as an industry leader in managed I.T. services. Updates and upgrades also make the employee experience more enjoyable.
Our office in Little Rock has received a renovation. Cincinnati will be moving this quarter to some of our nicest real estate ever, and Louisville has already completed its move earlier in April.
4. Business intelligence and software investments
Managers now have more access to BI (business intelligence) than ever before to allow them to make better decisions using more information than ever. BI data lets us share more meaningful reports with clients, better manage our business, and make smarter decisions than other managed services providers.
NetGain has created dashboards identifying KPIs (key performance indicators) for each team and department. These dashboards make it easy to see with just a glance how close we align with our goals. Green tells us we’re on track; yellow says we need to maintain focus; and red indicates we’re behind on a goal. Visit us at our offices and you’ll find monitors throughout the building that display various dashboards to inform and educate all staff.
Honors and recognitions in Q2
Quarterly awards for outstanding employee efforts went to:
- Sales-Professional Services: Wayne Ebersohl
- Finance and Administrative: Julie Rogers
- Marketing and Development: Deneé Wilson
- Technology OneSource Engineer: Chris Ruck
- Professional Services Engineer: Scott Logan
- Tactical Operations Team: Adam Miller
- Client Success: Adam Weiger
- Sales Support: Cassie Lucarelli
