Mindshare President Richard Hanks Featured in Utah Business Roundtable on Workforce Issues in the Technology Sector

Facing the ongoing challenge of securing a qualified workforce, technology companies are using unique methods to attract and retain top talent. At our annual technology roundtable, industry officials commented on the success and impact of state initiatives, while stressing the importance of an ongoing commitment to training and education in the state.

Other issues discussed include pumping up the state's image as a place to grow a business and a career and the blurring lines between work and play.

We'd like to give a special thank you to Richard Nelson, president & CEO of the Utah Technology Council, for moderating the discussion and Holland & Hart for hosting the event.

Participants:
Amy Rees Anderson, Mediconnect; Carine Clark, Symantec; Robin Rankin, Spectrum DNA; Richard Nelson, Utah Technology Council

Jeremy Simmons, Asierus; Jeffery Nelson, Nelson Laboratories; David Robinson, TechniScan, Inc.; Jack Sunderlage, Contentwatch; Aaron Hall, MarketStar; John Hill, L-3 Communications; James Stone, Aculis; Kent Erickson, Novell; Michael Proper, DirectPointe

K. Shane Guillory, Ripple, LLC; Kimball Thomson, Next Phase Communications; Pratap Khanwilkar, WorldHeart; L. Grant Foster, Holland & Hart; Matt Cupal, Sorenson Media; Adam Slovik, RemedyMD; Richard D. Hanks, Mindshare; Hal Widlansky, Aculis; Pete Ashdown, XMission; David Colbert, Sendside Networks, Inc.; Gary Goodrich, Pro Pay, Inc.

This is the second year that quality of workforce is the number one issue for our industry and state. What are your companies' top talent needs in terms of engineers, developers, other technical people or management talent?

HANKS: Product marketing.

We have a
phenomenal amount
of successful careers.
A lot of people come
to Utah because
there are great
companies here.

– Richard D. Hanks

What is your top method for attracting or retaining talent?

HANKS: We do a three-pronged approach. First of all, all of our employees have stock options, all the way to our receptionist. The second thing is that our guys like to play foosball and go paint balling and all kinds of wild things that normally I wouldn't participate in. The last thing we do to retain people is we give everybody important jobs; we assign projects to our engineers that maybe are beyond what they are capable of doing. It's a little bit of a risk but it makes them feel like a million bucks. And if they fail, we let them do the next one and hopefully it is nothing too visible to the outside world.

As proven technology leaders, what one principle has been most valuable in building your leadership skills and why?

HANKS: It's urgency. For the people that are going to win in the future, urgency became the issue. We take customer satisfaction surveys across service industries and the real leaders are doing stuff immediately. It's not like a comment card, wait three weeks and they get back to you. An example: A guy is getting chicken strips in the third inning at Wrigley Field and he's got our survey on his cell phone or iPhone and he says, "The chicken strips were cold. I'm never going to order from you again." By the seventh inning, there is the manager delivering him new chicken strips. That never would have happened before. It's a simple example from a restaurant, but that happens in every industry we deal with. So urgency becomes the key.

We see blending of customer and company. It is a global phenomenon where companies no longer say, "Here's what I have. You buy it." Now it's, "What shall I have?" Across almost every industry, there's usually just one or two great leaders who take urgency to the next level, particularly in service environments.

As an entrepreneur, what price have you paid to ensure your company's success?

HANKS: I think one of the biggest things in this state that would help us is if we could change the expectation of the kids coming out of college that they will be rich in two years. Part of that is fostered by the venture capitalists in this state and also in Silicon Valley, but the average exit is seven years. It's a seven year process on average. It's 10 years if you are most companies.

We walk in and say, "It's seven years, don't even think anything but seven years." And we are not even planning an exit. We are trying to build a business. All of our executive team took no pay for almost two years.

Since Utah has a rich entrepreneurial culture, what advice would you give emerging entrepreneurs in one word or phrase?

HANKS: Tenacity.

When recruiting out-of-state talent, what is your take on Utah's image? Is our image helping or hindering your efforts?

HANKS: How many [Fortune] 500 companies are in the state? I totally agree with everything Amy just said. We always focus on polygamy and Mormons and bars. It's not the things we don't have, it's that we don't ever talk about the things that we do have. And we have a phenomenal amount of successful careers. A lot of people come to Utah because there are great companies here. There's a great work environment here, but we almost never talk about that.

How about, "Utah, Place of the Entrepreneurs. If this job that you're risking your life on fails, there will be another one."