Jake's Resignation* had some communication problems and even some rivalries. Alex Wong, president of WE Connections (WEC), could Alex had the uneasy feeling that what had made WEC suc- cessful in its start-up years would not make the company not believe his ears. He shook his head as if to clear it, and thrive through its expansion. stammered, "What did you just say, Jake?" The employee sitting across from him looked uncom- WEC Background fortable and fidgeted in the visitor's chair in Alex's office. Quietly, he said, "I'm really sorry. Alex. I know I am leav- It hadn't been like that in the beginning. When Alex had ing you in a bind. But I don't think I have a choice. This is started the company with his co-founder, Selina Everett, my two weeks' notice that I'm leaving the company." things were tough but relatively simple. They spent most of Running his hand through his already messy black their time working on the technology that they loved. Alex hair, Alex leaned forward and pressed for an explanation. and Selina were techies who had met at the University of But why? Why are you leaving us? I thought you were Waterloo, where they had completed their undergrad degrees happy here." in software engineering. With an eye toward opening his Jake Morisson shrugged, and replied, This is a good own company, Alex had broadened his skills by enrolling in place to work. But I'll be honest with you. I haven't had a the double degree program with the nearby business school raise in the last 15 months, and that's a pretty clear indica- at Wilfrid Laurier University. The two founded WEC the tion that I'm not valued. I heard Julie Moore got a raise last year after Alex graduated, which was seven years ago. month, and I think I work a lot harder than her. Actually, WEC was a B2B (business-to-business) software com- hearing about her raise is what got me looking around for pany offering organizations a way to increase efficiency another job. I want to work somewhere that treats me right." and effectiveness by connecting information located in Alex's mouth dropped open as he listened, then he different systems. Rather than simply tracking data, WEC smiled, and said, "It's about money? Why didn't you say specialized in bridging unaligned systems to achieve something? You have to come and ask if you want a raise. company-wide collaboration. About 40 percent of WEC's That's what Julie did. Anyway, we can match what you're business involved customizing software to track the parts getting at this new job you found. In fact, I'll go higher!" being used on a client organization's production line/ Jake shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Alex. I have process, so that the system could automatically order refills already signed the offer letter, and I don't want to let them from designated suppliers when stock got low. With its down. And it sounds like it's a really good fit for me. But software, clients could check delivery status with real-time please know that I'll do whatever I can to make the transi- data from the delivery truck itself, dramatically lowering tion as easy as possible for you." the chances that they would unexpectedly run out of parts. He stood then and held out his hand, a signal that the Another 40 percent of WEC's business stemmed from conversation was over. Resigned, Alex accepted it before building custom software applications designed to increase walking him out of his office. organizational efficiency by sharing information across After he left, Alex sat down at his desk with a sigh. He departments. For instance, WEC had connected produc- reached into his desk drawer for yet another antacid. This tion schedules to the HR, quality, and safety departments was a problem. Jake was the project manager of a key proj- in order to align resources with needs in real time for one ect, one that was due to launch in less than six weeks. Alex client. For other clients, WEC had built software to enable was not sure who was going to be able to step into Jake's clients to collect data from their customers and to translate shoes. Beyond that question, Alex experienced a more that information into responsive actions at lightning speed. general feeling of anxiety. This was the second key per- Over time, WEC found that companies did not just want son to leave WEC within a few months. In addition, there software help, they wanted WEC expertise in designing was some indication that the employees in the company better data flow and even enterprise-wide systems. WEC's were not working together as effectively as they used to. growing consulting department focused on helping cli- In the early days when they were a small start-up, every ents think through their broader communication strategies, new client or technical breakthrough had been celebrated forming the final 20 percent of the company's revenue. by everyone as a shared success. Growth had led to the The ability to connect different systems, and even dif- development of departments and physical expansion of ferent platforms, was a huge value-add to organizations, their office space. But now it seemed that the departments and WEC quickly began to fill a niche overlooked by Moving Forward Alex clicked on the laptop keyboard on his desk to open his calendar. He was going to have to carve out some time to work on this key problem. He stifled an urge to berate him- self for letting this go for so long. Sure, it would have been preferable to deal with this before he lost Jake, but he knew that all he could do was move forward. While it might be true that he wasn't an expert at dealing with the organiza- tion's talent, he was pretty confident that he could learn. As he began blocking time slots in his calendar, he wondered where he should start. the large software providers. Alex and Selina had added 178 employees over the seven years they had been in busi- ness and remained in the Kitchener/Waterloo area. Most of their recruiting focused on hiring innovative software engi- neers who could solve tough technical problems, but they had also added other staff, including administrative, mar- keting, and quality departments as these functions got too big for Alex and Selina to handle directly. A few years in, Alex had realized that the people issues were taking up a lot of time, and so they had hired a human resources specialist, the very sharp Charlotte Huang, and eventually she had hired an assistant. However, Alex had to admit that while they had a strong mission and set goals that directed the company's overall business strategy, there was no clear direction when it came to managing the peo- ple of WEC. He knew how to build software. He even had a pretty clear idea of how the business should fit into the market. But he had no clear vision on how to ensure that all of the HR decisions were aligning with his overall business strategy. He simply dealt with the people issues in isolation as they arose, and moved on, hoping for the best. On some level, he had thought that if he focused on the technology, everything else would follow. But he was starting to see evidence that his piecemeal approach to people manage- ment was not working. Alex had a hunch that he had to put some serious thought and effort into this core driver of the business. Neglecting it just wasn't an option any longer if he wanted to continue to deliver to his customers with a high-functioning, cohe- sive team that could solve almost any information-sharing problem. He had to be able to deliver inspired solutions in a timely way, and he needed all of his people and systems aligned with that objective. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Is Alex's approach of blocking time in his calendar to become strategic about HR consistent with the pro- cess of strategic human resource management? Is this approach common for start-up organizations? Why? 2. Imagine that Alex has asked you to advise him as he is about to develop the strategic human resource management process for WEC. Describe for him how economic, demographic, technological, and cultural forces are likely to affect WEC. 3. Alex asks you to conduct a human resource audit; how would you go about doing that? What things would the audit cover? 4. Who else might Alex want to involve in the develop- ment of a strategic HR framework for WEC? In the next installment of the WE Connections story (at the end of Chapter 2), job design elements are seen to influence the motivation level of employees