Nancy Koenig is keenly aware that the
people component of Click Commerce
Inc. is the company’s most important resource. The team got the company where it
is today, as a subsidiary of manufacturing
giant Illinois Tool Works Inc. since it was
acquired last year. Click Commerce, a
provider of software solutions, no longer
makes public its financials, but it posted 2005
revenue of $58 million.
To ensure the momentum continues at
Click Commerce, Koenig, who serves
as president, makes sure she always
has talent in the pipeline, ready to help
the company take advantage of the
opportunities that customers and
prospects present. She also emphasizes building her team by celebrating
the victories but also encourages
employees to never be completely
satisfied with their accomplishments.
Smart Business spoke with
Koenig about why it is wise to create a talent pool to draw from and
the importance of communicating
your company’s mission.
Q: How can a leader prepare an
organization for fast growth?
It starts before you’re in the fast-growth phase. I had a very good
strategic mentor early in my career,
and his advice was to make sure
that you’re cultivating options.
That applies whether you’re
recruiting talent or pursuing new
markets or entering new geographic markets, so leave your
options open.
Our raw material is human brainpower. That’s why the things that keep me awake
at night are related to the people in my company. I am always cultivating talent because
in our world, our team is everything, so the
best way I can prepare is to create a pool of
talent to draw from.
Q: How do you confront the human
resources challenge?
We’re paying closer attention to recruiting.
We’re beginning programs with local universities so that we can have the early edge on
recruiting. We’re beefing up our internal communications around our strategy … so that we keep everybody driving in the same direction. In a period of growth, it’s important that
no effort is wasted. So keeping everybody in
tune with our strategic direction and strategic intent is of vital importance.
Q: What should a leader do to ensure that
fast growth is not overwhelming?
Right now, my focus is on building a strong
operations team that can communicate
where we’re going and why. It sounds pretty
simple to do, but I think it’s easily overlooked.
When people are excited about the company’s mission, it pays off 100 times in talent
retention. … They want to know that they’re
part of something that’s real, a part of something that’s fun, part of something that’s winning.
Often executive management teams get so
caught up in the inner workings of the operations or dealing with board members or outside shareholders or any of the other things
that can occupy your time that your most
important asset sometimes gets overlooked.
So when we fail to communicate, it shows up in retention and attrition metrics.
Q: In periods of fast growth, what are the
most important things a leader can do?
It’s having a good pulse on the market
because the periods of irrational growth ebb
and flow. So in order to predict when it might
flow, when opportunities might be had, it’s
knowing when to make the move.
It’s sort of like a race: When do you surge?
Do you surge on the backstretch or on the
homestretch? To know that, you have
to have the tempo of where the customers are going, where the competition is going. I think it’s more art than
science. I think for those leaders who
are good at it, it’s more of an innate
sense.
Q: How do you sustain enthusiasm in
your team?
Never underestimate the human
desire to be part of something greater
than coming to work and collecting a
paycheck. Intrinsic rewards are as
important, if not more important than
extrinsic, for people to feel part of the
strategy, part of the team and part of the
process of winning. Winning is contagious, so inasmuch as you can make
people part of the success, it’s contagious. They walk lighter; their heads are
up. … Our sales cycles are long, they’re
arduous, and you’ve got to, even if it’s just
saying something to someone in the hallway, you’ve got to recognize the little victories along the way. What I tell my team
is be proud, but let’s not be satisfied.
Q: How do you prepare your senior staff
for growth spurts?
One of the things that I do and encourage
my senior staff to do is always be networking
and always be looking at resumes that come
across their desks. Even if they don’t have a
position for them now, meet them, buy them
lunch so that you’re developing a Rolodex of
bench strength, so that when the time comes,
you’ve got options to fill your talent pool.
When you do things like that, you can bring
a new senior person on board in a week. It’s
saved my life a couple of times.
HOW TO REACH: Click Commerce Inc., www.clickcommerce.com