Page 167 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

146 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

great mobile talent in Chapter 8, but for now the thing to know is that
if you want high performance you have to hire high-performance people.
You want people who won’t quit until the job is done, workers you can
count on, people who will keep themselves up to date with chang-
ing organizational imperatives and technology and their profession.
As Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson relate in Chapter 6 about their
experiences with Best Buy, performance is everything—you can work
anywhere and at any time, as long as the work gets done. Or you are done.
Having high-performance people is essential to maintaining a win-
ning organizational culture.

orientation
Once you’ve hired people you want, the best way to get them locked
into your organization is to give them a sound grounding in your
company. Some organizations spend just a little somewhat informal
time with orientation, and some spend weeks and have a very for-
mal orientation, giving employees exposure to different parts of the
organization, but good organizations find a way to share the culture
and the “this is the way we do things around here” with new employ-
ees. Mobile managers we interviewed often make it a point to meet
personally with new mobile employees when the workers first start.
Some, such as Greg Lowitz of RipCode, or John Gentry of Virtual
Instruments, spend a good deal of face-to-face time with new em-
ployees at first, making sure they know the ropes. Greg goes on sales
calls with his workers until they feel comfortable with the informa-
tion and company processes and can be successful. For mobile workers
this orientation time is particularly important. Getting them off on
the right foot is essential. They will get a real sense of organizational
norms and, more specifically, how you like things done as they begin
to work with your team, other organizational members, and you. Too
many people have been lost because managers have had a sink-or-
swim culture. Too many talented people sink in that kind of environ-
ment, when a safety jacket would have buoyed them up long enough
to start dog paddling. That brings us to training.