Path to Good

In this episode we discuss our new reality, most companies are transitioning to remote work and are unsure how to best do this. We have had a large remote workforce for years so in this episode Sally, Jen, and Maggie share some tips and best practices for getting your team set up for success at home. We are also posting a series of blogs on the topic of remote work on our website vipdesk.com 

It's the first episode of season 2 of the Path to Good podcast. Sally, Jen, and Maggie announce that VIPdesk has received its B Corp certification! They reflect on the process, what it means to them both personally and as a company and offer advice to any company out there interested in starting their own B Corp journey.

Jen, Maggie, and Sally discuss Sally's journey. From her beginnings, reaching out to a concierge company she thought sounded interesting to how she made the decision to start VIPdesk Connect. They also discuss how this history really leads to the company culture they're building today and started them on this path. 

Sally, Jen and Maggie discuss the importance of friendship at work with our very first guest, Mo Fathelbab, author of The Friendship Advantage: 7 Keys to Building Relationships that Transform Corporate Culture and Drive Productivity. The team discusses the importance of building trust, the ways in which we foster strong relationships in a virtual environment and how we make time for some mischievous fun. 

Today Jen and Maggie discuss their favorite holiday, customer service week! No matter what your business does you probably have a team doing some sort of customer service, this is a great time to show them how much they are appreciated. Jen and Maggie share some ideas for fun ways to celebrate and some unique things they have done over the years. 

Jen recently attended the Society for Human Resources conference, the theme was Building Better Workplaces which fit right in with the Path to Good concept. Jen and Maggie discuss the inspirational keynote speakers including Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes. They also discuss the trends they are seeing in the industry including an increased focus on wellness and creative benefits beyond the normal health, vision and dental insurance.  Finally they decide that they should be speakers at the conference next year to discuss their focus on building an even more amazing workplace for our team.

Jen and Sally talk to Maggie, the recruiting queen, about factors that are most important for recruiting in this tight labor market. They discuss four critical elements 

1. Creating a strong profile - what skills do you need to hire for vs what can be trained 

2. Offering fair compensation - this has been one of the most important factors in reducing attrition

3. Having flexibility - the ability to work from home shows trust in the team

4. Culture - there are many other companies that do what you do, highlight what makes you unique

The also discuss the results of their recent Ofactor Trust Survey and how important trust is to any organization. 

Sally, Maggie and Jen discuss the growth of the company. How they balance recruiting new team members with developing and promoting current team members. They talk about the benefits continuously providing team members with training and development opportunities and how they are trying to get ahead of the growth by hiring now for positions they will need in the future. 

The VIPdesk team travels to Nashville to attend the Workhuman conference. A conference all about bringing more humanity to the workplace. Jen, Sally and Maggie reflect on the things that most stood out to them including the importance of having friends at work, bringing your whole self  to work and most importantly, the fact that they didn't go to the conference just to see George Clooney.  

Jen, Maggie and Sally discuss the inevitable stress that comes with any business and how they deal with it (lots of laughing helps). They discuss client expectations for elevated customer service and how they spring into action when the best plans for recruiting and training occasionally go awry.