“Five Powerful Strategies to Retain Top
Notch Technical Talent”
Tamsin Jolley, President of Decagon Devices
Jeff Young, Chair & General Manager, ATA Engineering
Moderated by: Diane Stoneman, Director of Consulting and Training,
Winning Workplaces
Sponsor
© 2009 Winning Workplaces. May not be reproduced or
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Workplaces.
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 2009 competition underway
Small
Workplaces Winners
2008 TopTop
Small
Workplaces
ATA Engineering
Decagon Devices
Integrated Project Management (IPM)
JA Frate
Jackson's Hardware
Jump Associates
King Arthur Flour Company
Landscape Forms
Lundberg Family Farms
New Belgium Brewing
Phenomenex
Rainforest Alliance
Resource Interactive
The Paducah Bank & Trust
The Redwoods Group
Winning firms focus on sustainability
 Average 42 years in business
 Grow average rate of 23% over last 2 years
 Tenure of the CEOs average 17 years
 Founders still involved in 50% businesses
Growth is a conscious choice
“While we could easily grow faster we
believe in the long run we would do
irreparable harm if we stumble in our
hiring and training process.”
ATA Engineering
Employee development is key to
consistent execution
 Invest to build competent workforce (tuition
programs average $3500/yr)
 Hire for “attitude” and “fit” for culture
 Grow leaders from within
 Encourage employees to grow personally &
professionally
 Mix of structured learning & “learning by doing”
Our Agenda Today
Perspectives of two engineering firms
Top strategies to attract / retain talent
Impact on business and workforce
Lessons learned
Questions from audience
Featured Presenters
Tamsin Jolley
President
Decagon Devices
Pullman, WA
Jeff Young
Chair & General Mgr.
ATA Engineering
San Diego, CA
Founded 1983
77 Employees
FY2008 Sales $9.75M
Develop, manufacture & market scientific instrumentation
for environmental research and product quality testing
Decagon Motto
“Think like scientists,
work like farmers,
dream like children.”
What the Jobs look like
#1. Focus on Individuals
It is not just about the work!
– Flexible time
– Support of personal goals
– Mentoring
#2. Employee have stake in the outcome
Communication
Open Book Management
Profit Sharing
Lunch Meetings
#3. Creativity and Innovation Rules
#3 Creativity
Search for Employees
– Interns & Part-time work on projects
Continually fostered in workplace
#4. Explicit Governing Values
#4 Governing Values
Perpetuating legacy
Education (informal learning)
#5. Great Work Culture
#5 Great Work Culture
Soccer
Slot Car Racing
Wellness Program
ROI Impact on Business
Young company with tenured employees
Impressive stream of new products
“We don’t try to be something we are not.
In everything we do we consider our culture.”
ATA Engineering, Inc.
Who Is ATA Engineering, Inc.?
Formed as employee-owned corp. 4/3/2000
Spin-off from a public engineering software co.
Mission: To be the leading provider of solutions for analysisdriven and test-driven design of mechanical, electromechanical and aerospace products
Who do we hire?
Professional engineers in 7 locations
600 cumulative years of relevant experience
Full-time staff of 87, 75 degreed engineers
–
–
–
–
–
10 B.S. degrees
46 M.S. degrees
19 Ph.D. degrees
5 registered Prof. Engineers
8 -10 co-op and intern students
Graduates from MIT, Stanford, Purdue, Cal
Tech, UCSD, UCLA, Wisconsin, Texas and
other great schools
Designing and Engineering Cool Stuff
Why our Talented and Demanding
Customers Need us
Shortfall in staff
Lack particular technical expertise
Count on ATA having Top Notch
Technical Talent
Top Strategies
1. Hire the best possible people
2. Offer Employee Ownership
3. Train, coach, mentor
4. Grant responsibility & authority
5. Create an environment of Trust
Caveat: Every company is different and some
ATA practices may not work for you
#
1.
Hiring
the
best
1) Hire the Best People
Hire staff “Too Good To Pass Up”
Hire top grads from the best universities
Assess recruits interest in Employee Ownership
Process is comprehensive and highly selective
Candidates accept offers for many reasons
Accelerate recruiting when business is slow!
#2. Offer Real Ownership
Goal: 100% employee ownership
Outstanding professionals hired &
trained by management team
Team environment through shared
ownership
Company where we love to work
Control our own destiny
#3. Train and Develop
HR Surveys: learning
key to retention
ATA University
Training is broad &
continuous
Project teams “delight” customers
Project Mgr complete responsibility
and authority (Quality, Schedule,
and Budget)
Jr. engineers as Project Managers
ST
CO
Delegates responsibility & authority
to Project Teams
TIM
E
#4. Grant Responsibility and Authority
Quality
Functionality
#5. Create an Environment of Trust
Trust staff to treat company resources as their own
Focus on overall ATA performance
Less focus on individual achievement
Egalitarian culture & flat
organization chart
No “Executives” at ATA
– No Executive perks
– No Executive Compensation System
– Same pay scale for Mgt and engineering staff
– Promotes teamwork and trust
5) Create
Environment
of Trust
#5. And…More
Trust
Consensus decision-making: challenging but pays off
Post spin-off assumption of super-fast decision making
Individual employee-owners empowered to participate
The investment pays off:
–
–
–
–
Employee-owners educated
Positioned as future leaders
Employee-owners “buy-in” to the decision
Implementation is smoother and faster
ROI Impact on Business
ATA is a fun place to work! People are
enthused & committed
Turnover of 1-2%
Strong financials=
– Significant tax savings
– Profitable every year
– Return on revenue exceeds industry
3 of last 4 years
– Revenue exceeds plan last 3 of 4 yrs
Questions?
www.ata-e.com
www.decagon.com
Upcoming 2009 Webinars
Apr 15
Exiting Gracefully – Options for Transitioning Ownership
Corey Rosen, Executive Director & Co-founder, NCEO
May 27 Two Perspectives on Succession
Paul Silvis, Founder, Restek Corp; Michael Foley, CEO,
Reflexite Corp
June 17 Radio Flyer- The Story of Transforming an American Icon
Robert F. Pasin, President and CEO, Radio Flyer
Thank You!
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