Last Word: OUTSMART! How To Keep Your Employees Engaged
September 19, 2008
By James Champy
"From concept to creation" is the mantra at S.A. Robotics of Loveland, Colo. Its leaders, Dan Johnson and Mike Cappello, belong to a rare and stubborn breed of leaders who have bucked the outsourcing trend of the past two decades and outsmarted their rivals by doing everything themselves. The maker of custom robotic arms and lifting devices goes to great lengths—literally, up to 100 feet (the size of some of its robots)—to prevent humans from coming into contact with nuclear waste, lethal chemicals and other dangerous substances.
The robots, which cost between $1 million and $2 million apiece, are selling as fast as S.A. Robotics' 140 satisfied employees can make them. The turnover rate at the company is nearly zero, while its annual growth rate is a whopping 70 percent.
The company's success would have been impossible if it hadn't been able to hire and retain talented, highly motivated employees. The near zero attrition rate doesn't happen because of the pay level, which Cappello describes as "middle road." He keeps his people happy by encouraging them to speak their mind, giving them a chance to work on challenging projects from start to finish, and making them feel like important parts of a proud, can-do culture. "Around here, nobody is bored and hanging around the watercooler," he says.
Turnover is the bane of every company's existence. A company might spend huge amounts of time, energy and cash on developing an employee and patiently putting up with the inevitable tensions, only to have that employee suddenly disappear—and end up working for a competitor. These days, with technical people in high demand all around the globe, they have their pick of jobs and can flit with abandon from one to another. That S.A. Robotics has managed to achieve near zero attrition is a tribute to the culture Cappello and Johnson have put in place and to the high-quality work he provides his people. He doesn't pay his engineers extraordinary sums, and the perks provided are not particularly special. What keeps people on the job is the chance to do interesting, challenging work; to see it through to conclusion; and to be recognized as contributing members of a community of dedicated, results-oriented people.
I sit on the compensation committee of two enterprises—one is a public company, the other a university. Both are deeply involved in technology. Because these organizations attract and develop extraordinary people, they are targeted by competitors as a source of talent. I learned a long time ago that a competitor is always willing to pay more for the best people. But what makes great people stay put is not their compensation, but a love of their work and the values that they share with their colleagues. A few individuals will sell themselves for higher pay—and a company or university must have competitive compensation—but the best people remain committed to an enterprise that has both a high sense of purpose and meaningful work to be performed.
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Reprinted by arrangement with Jim Champy, from his book OUTSMART!, published by Financial Times Press © 2008 Pearson Education Inc. Champy is chairman of Perot Systems' consulting practice and the author of numerous books about leadership and management.
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