Polly Pearson's Blog

When is a big bump in pay more of a pothole?

EMCer Steve Kimball in recent Triathlon

Steve Kimball, Iron Man Triathlete and EMC Recruiting Manager, and I met this week. We looked at some charts reflecting research that the Corporate Leadership Council conducted on the subject of the value of a strong employment brand and related factors such as compensation and career growth. Steve was smitten and repeated one line a few times, “Good companies don’t buy talent.”

Good Companies Don’t Buy Talent

He then shared that to join EMC, he left a bigger title and a bigger paycheck. When approached about other jobs now with seemingly juicier offers, he replies that he’s more than happy at EMC.  [huh?]

What the 3 charts said that inspired this story and an ‘Aha’ moment

1. The first chart showed that the average pay bump a candidate receives when changing companies is 16%. It shows that a company with a weaker than average employment brand can expect to pay more – a 21% increase. Companies with strong employment brands can expect to pay an 11% increase.

2. A second chart outlined the type of talent a company with a strong employment brand can expect to attract (passive candidates – the likely high performing, engaged, non-job seeking talent) and the type of talent a company with a weaker employment brand can expect to attract (active candidates – the type that job jump often – and who will likely job jump again soon enough.)

3. The third chart outlined what makes a company attractive to the talent market. “Future Career Opportunities, Development Opportunities, Respect and Organizational Stability” are leading factors along side “Compensation.”

The “Aha” Moment

Steve smiled at these charts and said, “You know why EMC was so appealing to me? It offered me career growth and future job opportunities. I could have stayed a VP at that 70 person company and not learn as much as I learn here and not have the future job opportunities. I’m still young. I have a lot to learn. At EMC I’ve been given more new assignments and several opportunities to further my career. I have variety and I’m learning so much.”

He continued, “What people often don’t factor when they get offered a bigger paycheck at another company is the cost and burden of their next job search. So if xyz company offers $165k and a real quality company offers $135k – people dwell on the money delta. That isn’t the full picture”

The Delta

“Ah, the ‘cost of down time,’” I replied. The full picture would include the value of the company's employment brand. At a company with a stronger employment brand, part of the package would be the career growth opportunities, the professional development, interesting work, and the stimulation from working alongside accomplished people along with fair compensation and respect. So which is the better deal?

The Corporate Executive Board’s research actually states that an employment value proposition featuring career opportunities and respect is “even more attractive to the labor market” than “high-compensation and strong product brands.”

At EMC you get the Full Package

What is pretty cool about EMC is that here you get, as many of my EMC colleagues often say, “The full package.” EMC’s products are the brand leaders in our industry. On compensation, we pride ourselves on pay for performance and provide motivation for that performance. In the most recent major Best Places to Work survey, EMC employees rated EMC better than the “100 Best Places” composite to the question, “People here are paid fairly for the work they do.”

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What has made a job or a company attractive to you? What have you learned along the way?

Career, Culture, Passion and Cool: Meet EMC's Fred D'Ascenzo

Today, I interviewed Fred D'Ascenzo.  Fred is a great example of the type of person who comprises the fabric of EMC's culture.

What do you like to do in your spare time, outside of EMC?

I have two grown married children, Gina and Michelle who I love more than anything in this world. They are 30 and 27. I call them every Saturday and say, “Hey, where are we going today?!” I have a boat that I enjoy going on and just love anything that has to do with the salt water.

“Hey! Where are we going today?!”

What do you do for the company? How does what you do impact the company and the EMC team?

I run service in the Mid-Atlantic and southeast (about 1/3 of the country geographically) I have about 480 people in my organization. I work closely with the respective sales vice presidents to drive revenue, maintain service level objectives, and focus on customer requirements. I work with the sales teams to position our Managed Storage Services (MSS) strategy as a value-add which helps in closing deals.

“I run service in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast … which helps in closing deals.”

How long have you been with the company?

16 years. I am badge number 643.

What do you do to inspire and encourage your EMC team?

This is not a job, but a career. It is the best tech company in the world. My team and I have fun. I try to make everything we do even in the most difficult situations a good time. I do my best to provide a pleasant workplace that they aspire to come to. This is not a 9 to 5 job. They know that. We work extremely hard, but we also have a great time. This company has done great things for me and my family; I try to pass that along to my people. I reward a job well done; monetarily and by recognition within the company. We celebrate successes and quickly remediate the failures together. We are a family. This drives teamwork. People can easily see that they have great futures here. They are part of a team—no one wants to let their team down. I reinforce that this is a great place to work each and every day. The VP of sales in my division states freely that my team supports and drives 30% of his revenue.

“We are Family”

Do you feel different about working at EMC than other companies you’ve worked for?

This is the only tech company I will ever work for. I am a part of EMC’s culture; I am embedded in it. Failure is not an option here. No other company is as focused on customer satisfaction AND employee satisfaction. I couldn’t work for a competitor. If I got fired tomorrow, I’d be a construction worker.

“This is the only tech company I will ever work for. If I get fired tomorrow I’d be a construction worker.”

How has the company supported your career development?

At this company, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. Where you want to go and how far you want to go is up to you. From internal EMC training, mentoring, certifications, tuition reimbursement and personal development programs there is no limit to what any employee can accomplish if he or she wants to work for it. People who have excelled here have worked hard. The company doesn’t limit your career. The only limiting factor is yourself.

“The company doesn’t limit your career. The only limiting factor is yourself.”

If EMC could help to make one thing happen for you, what would it be?

Everything I have ever wanted or aspired to do; EMC has allowed me the opportunity. I’d like to move up one level and have a bit more of a say in the future of the company, but if that never happens, I’d be totally content. I have my office overlooking the river here in Conshohocken, I have a great team both sales and support, and it’s a nice sunny day. What more could anyone ask for in a job?

“Everything I have ever wanted or aspired to do … and a nice sunny day.”

Would you recommend working at EMC to a friend?

It would be great if I could get my whole family and ALL of my friends here! The best friends I have in life are at EMC. It is the greatest work atmosphere. I love what I do and I love the people I work with. I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to be in technology. This is the best technology company in the world today.

“It would be great if I could get my whole family and ALL of my friends here! This is the best technology company in the world today.”

What inspires you about EMC? What keeps you here?

The people I work with. The support of this company and how it supports all of its employees. It is THE leader in technology; no one has better products. This company has a great vision and future. It supports my career. I very much enjoy what I am doing and working for EMC which provides the best information storage products and services in the industry.

“The people I work with. The support of this company…”

What is one “cool” thing you’ve worked on recently at EMC?

The most fun I had and the coolest was working in the Federal group supporting the Pentagon and Tommy Franks team during the

Iraq

invasion and then setting up IT support for the Pacific Air Force in the middle of the

Pacific ocean

. The most recent was developing a support and escalation structure for one of our latest software acquisitions.

“The most fun I had and the coolest was … supporting the Pentagon and Tommy Frank’s team…”

What about wealth creation and EMC?

The first time I cashed in some of my stock options the money was sent right to my bank account. I couldn’t believe it, after a few days I called the bank and queried my account. I asked the woman at the bank if that much money was really in my account and she said, “Yes, sir, would you like to take some out?” I just couldn’t believe it was actually in there and it was so easy! The stock purchase plan is incredible and automatic -- an easy and very lucrative savings plan. It certainly helped with two college tuitions.

“I asked the woman at that bank if that much money was really in my account…”

Anything else to add?

Egan, Ruettgers, and Tucci have done an unbelievable job positioning this company as THE leader in storage. It still feels so great to work here even after 16 years. I can’t think of a better place to work.

“I can’t think of a better place to work.”

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TALK BACK:

Have you met an EMCer like Fred? Feel free to introduce him/her here.

What do people want in a place to work?

Does "Fun" Belong?

As my team and I started thinking seriously about EMC's employment brand about a year ago I first put on my old marketing hat.

"Let's start with what the target audience wants ... and then look at what we have in the most genuine manner. Where they match up -- heck, that's a good place to start."

With no budget assigned to this endeavor and a strong desire from our recruiters to have a clear message, we opted to listen to our gut and take the 80/20 route. … Get the messaging 80% right, get it to market and refine as we go."

We started by asking the senior-most folks in HR at EMC, "What do people want in a job?"

This is what came back, in no particular order:

• They want career growth.
• They want to enjoy the people they work with.
• They want to have pride for where they work and feel respected.
• They want to make a difference – the type of work matters.
• They want to generate wealth.

Then our head of executive recruiting saw it and said it was missing one thing, "Fun." We added:

• They want Fun.

Some (well, one) scoffed at this last entry ... "FUN!?” He said, “I don't come to work to have fun. I come to work to work. I have fun at home. I go home to have my fun."

We put fun on the list anyway.

When we matched what EMC genuinely has to offer against that list and started exploring with our global base of employees what they thought was cool and truly compelling about EMC, we frankly look pretty darned good. I’ll share some examples and profile EMC people on this blog to back up what I say.

I’ll also share some of the more scientific findings we discovered in studying this space further.

TALK BACK:

Do you agree with this "gut list" of drivers? What's important to you? Should "fun" be on the list?  What do you think the order should be? (Please include what you do for a living or desire to do for a living.)

One of my developer (a.k.a. Engineer) friends, for example, took issue with seeing Career Growth at the top of the list. That is not a driver for him. A better phrase for him would be "rewarding career" or "exciting career."

(Looking at the photo for "work fun" I selected I'm not sure if it looks more "scary" than "fun" ... pretend it looks "fun.")

A Tip for Your Career Growth

On my first week on the job with EMC in 1991, I asked my manager's manager, "How do I become successful at EMC?" (We had about 500 employees then.) He replied,

"If you see a chance to do something, ask if you can do it and chances are they will say 'Yes.'"

Not a week has gone by where I have not put to use that advice.

Why is it still so powerful today?

EMC has grown in my time from about $200 million in revenue to $13 plus billion ... that’s a compound annual growth rate of about 30%! We're always running at EMC. If someone steps in and volunteers to take something off a plate or get something done that seems to need doing, chances are we'll say “Yes.”

That custom spans work groups. I once had an administrative assistant in my HR role who volunteered to the Marketing group to help put on EMC's biggest event of the year -- "EMC World" (about 7,000 attendees).  The Global Marketing Events staff said "Yes."

Bingo!

• Improved resume.
• Improved sense of personal value.
• Enhanced contribution to EMC.
• Helped out fellow members of the "EMC Family."

Wins all around!

That's one sure fire way to grow a career and have fun while doing it! I've had about 50% of my career 'assignments' at EMC simply from asking for them. For me (and many, many others at EMC), that's pretty cool.

Intro to Polly, Part 2.

So I gave my two-week notice at the recruitment agency.

Now what?

The economy was worse than ever. All the new college grads were moving away from Boston because there were no jobs to be had around here. They were checking out the cool ‘new’ cities like Seattle and Portland, Oregon. (Grunge was just starting!) Job postings in marketing didn’t seem to exist. You couldn’t even get internships because the economy was that tight. (Today’s college grads I fear can relate a bit.)

No job -- Volunteer!

I decided to volunteer my time in the thing I really wanted to do in order to get it on my resume – Public Relations. I called the college where I got my bachelor’s and offered to work for them for free in the PR department. They said ‘Sure!” Ends up, I only worked for them for one day.

Help Wanted Ad Delivers -- EMC Calls

EMC called as a result of a help wanted ad I answered for a PR Account Manager. The ad said EMC was in the ‘computer storage’ business. I thought they made cardboard boxes for PCs … but I didn’t care. It was a PR job! I figured I’d sell myself like crazy to get in the door, stay there for a year to get a legitimate looking PR job on my resume and then move on to a real company!

[Necessary commercial plug]

For the record, EMC does not make cardboard boxes. We do information storage and management. We “assure information is available securely, quickly, and easily, anywhere at anytime.” We are a technology innovation company – home to really smart people who develop software; make intelligent hardware that serve as “electronic filing cabinets” (I tell my mom that) for the world’s digital bits; and provide professional services to help our customers manage their information like an asset. Learn more! Visit www.EMC.com. [End commercial.]

“Why are you hiring?”

During the interview process I asked my future boss why EMC was looking for a PR Manager. He said, “We’re just about to miss the September quarter. Shareholders who recently bought our stock are going to be mad at us. Customers who bought our product could be mad at us. Oh, and we’re going to have a layoff, so they’ll be some mad employees too.” (Silent mind moment: “Is that all?”) He continued, “We’re looking at you because we think you’ll pick up PR and this business fast enough, AND you know how to do advertising. We figure we’ll make you our in-house ad agency and the 10% commission we’ll save by placing our own ads should cover your $25,000 salary.”

Tech Osmosis

On my first day my boss handed me a pile of tech pubs and told me to read up … not to worry that I had no tech experience. He said it will work like osmosis. I’d simply wake up one day and “Get it.” That’s what happened.

The “E” in Entrepreneur.

My first week on the job our Founder and CEO, Dick Egan, issued what would be the last news release he ever personally wrote for the company. As I recall, it contained just one sentence. “EMC will not make its fiscal Q3, 1991 quarter.” No explanation. No con call (no one did those yet). No estimated financial results. (Insert life wisdom: I later came to realize that for successful people who love winning, admitting any type of failure is especially painful and hard. Imagine having to issue a news release on it? Add to that most entrepreneurial CEOs think of their company as “their company,” whether it is public or not. … Having shareholders is something newly public CEOs need to get used to.) When one door closes another opens as they say. That EMC “failure” was the best thing that ever happened to me (and perhaps to EMC given the stringent quality procedures and customer service religion that swiftly followed this period in time). Not only because it brought me to them and them to me but because it introduced me to my next job – Investor Relations – something I lived and loved for the next 11 years of my life. To be continued … -

Talk Back:

Has a tough situation at your company or on your job actually served to improve your life or career?

Welcome to My Blog - Part 1

I figured that if I’m going to have a conversation – as regularly as I can manage -- with folks in the Blogosphere it would be rude not to introduce myself.

Hi. I’m Polly Pearson – I came into this world 41 years ago. When in school I never thought I had any signature talent. I liked to do a little of everything. I was more drawn to subjects like art and writing than to math and science. The day I took a media class and sat in front of a camera was the first time I got that tickle in the back of my brain that felt good. It was kind of like the first time I did the zip wire at Outward Bound Camp. It was scary and great all at the same time.

In college I majored in communication. I thought I wanted to go into Advertising until I took my last core course, Public Relations. Bingo. That brain tickle happened again. When I graduated I started looking for jobs in either Advertising or PR. The economy was crappy and no one back then liked to hire new college grads. There was a real popular show on TV called “Thirty-something” about people who worked in advertising – so suddenly everyone wanted to be in advertising. It was totally unfair because in my mind I called it first.

One adviser told me to get a job as a secretary. I still get mad thinking about that piece of advice.

Anyway I got my first job in the communication business in what was then the lowest possible type of job in advertising … recruitment advertising. We made those ugly little help wanted ads for the Sunday Help Wanted section of newspapers. (Do those still exist?!) Only our (insert arrogant, fancy-sounding voice here) “agency-produced” ads were much less ugly. We even called them campaigns. We had copywriters, typesetters (!), paste up artists (!), proof readers, account executives and people like me, Account Coordinators. All of my clients would call me on deadline day – Thursday – to have their help wanted ad make it into the Sunday paper.

I wrote the ads, worked with the paste up artists on the design, hovered over the typesetters’ shoulders as they set the type, ran it to the proof reading group to make sure all the comas were in the right spots, took photos of the “artwork” in a black room, faxed the ad to client to get their approval and popped it in a FedEx envelope or gave it to our driver who would drive it to the airport to get it on the last flight to whatever city the ad was going to.

I did about 75 of these ads every Thursday. We worked until 2am usually, sometimes until 3. It was fun hell. It was burn out city. We got paid dirt, too. But most of the artists and account coordinators were all right out of college so we had fun doing it together. I’m still great friends with many of the folks I worked along-side of at this “agency.”

One day I went home and cried. I was tired and burnt and it wasn’t fun anymore. My husband took one look at me and said, “Quit!” Quit? I’d never quit anything before in my life. There was nothing I couldn’t do. I don’t quit.

I quit. To be continued ….