Mark Wilson was all too familiar with the downsides of call center work. Wilson spent years managing call centers as an executive at the financial information publisher, Dun & Bradstreet.⁹⁹ Telemarketing, customer contact, and call center organizations typically have bleak working conditions and high levels of employee turnover; employees of these organizations often view their positions as dead-end jobs they hope to leave behind them as soon as they can find a better opportunity. Wilson thought that call centers don’t have to be this way and envisioned a dramatically different kind of customer-contact organization in which employees would be happy to work—a company he wanted to found and manage.  Like many entrepreneurs, Wilson needed to secure financing for his new company which was no easy task. Even though he had hired a consultant to help him make contact with venture capital firms to obtain financing, over a dozen of them were not interested in investing in his idea. Not letting this setback deter him, Wilson persisted in his quest to obtain financing for his new business as he was determined to start it and have it succeed. Fortunately, SJF Ventures, a Durham, North Carolina, venture capital firm that invests in new companies with promising financial returns while creating new jobs for people with low incomes and limited opportunities. SJF Ventures put up \($700,000\) in return for equity in the company and Ryla Inc.—a customer-contact and business-outsourcing firm headquartered in Kennesaw, Georgia—was established.  At Ryla, Wilson has strived to create and sustain a work environment and culture in which employees are respected; communication is open; employees have opportunities for training, growth, and development; and the well-being of employees and the local community are never given short shifts. Today, Ryla has over 2,000 employees, less than 30 percent turnover in an industry in which average turnover rates are much higher, and a history of impressive revenue growth. For example, in 2003 Ryla’s revenues were \($4.5\) million; in 2009, revenues were \($100\) million. True to his founding principles, Wilson continues to strive to maintain a caring and positive culture at Ryla and provide employees with training and development opportunities. He has an open-door policy whereby employees are free to talk with him about whatever might be on their minds and he keeps them informed about what is going on in the company. He asks employees for suggestions for improvements and acts on them when he can. Ryla provides employees with a variety of benefits ranging from 401K plans and medical and life insurance to employee assistance programs, paid holidays and time off, and aerobics classes. After employees have been with Ryla for 3 years, and if they have met performance and attendance standards, they are eligible for stock options in the company. Ryla asks for the employee feedback about what areas they would like to develop or improve their knowledge and skills and then provide training and development classes on a variety of professional and personal topics such as financial planning. Ryla tends to promote from within and employees have the opportunity to advance to more responsible positions so that their telemarketing jobs are no longer seen as dead end positions. Many managers at Ryla once manned the telephones. Team achievements and individual accomplishments are often celebrated at Ryla during “Ryla Huddles.” Wilson also cares about giving something back to the local community and employees have the opportunity to participate in charity events which also contributes to their esprit-de-corps. For instance, as part of a Spirit Day in honor of Ryla’s fifth anniversary, employees were formed into teams based on the clients in the local community who they have served. Teams developed and performed their cheers and winning teams were awarded \($500\) to donate to charities of their choosing. Wilson is always on the lookout for new approaches and projects to provide excellent service to his customers, expand the company, and provide opportunities for employees. For example, Ryla now has a practice area focused on short-term projects that require a fast start-up and shut-down such as crisis responses for product recalls and data breaches. All kinds of emergencies and crises, ranging from accidental personal data breaches to natural emergencies, often put organizations in the position of needing to have a response system up and running within a day—and Ryla has these capabilities. In 2010, Ryla was hired as a subcontractor to help with the 2010 census. To this day, Wilson strives to create a work environment in which Ryla’s employees feel “like it’s the best job they’ve ever had.” A focus on creating a supportive, caring, and developmental environment for employees and providing excellent service to customers has helped Ryla grow and prosper. Thus, it is not surprising that Ryla has been recognized in the business press. For instance, Ryla placed as one of 35 finalists in the Wall Street Journal—Winning Workplace’s Top Small Workplaces competition.  All in all, Wilson appears to have succeeded in creating a different kind of customer contact business.

1. Based on the material in the case and the chapter content, how would you describe Mark Wilson’s personality?

2. How might his personality and the situation he was in have contributed to his founding of Ryla?

3. How would you characterize his abilities?

4. What role do you think Wilson’s personality and abilities play in the success of Ryla and the nature of its work environment?