It must have been the highlight of Norm Peterson’s day to walk into “Cheers” each afternoon to the loving chorus of “Norm!”
A fond greeting from someone familiar is something we all enjoy. So, why not in the workplace? During a time when workplace loyalty is scarce and most LinkedIn resumes read like an industry directory, we are proud to have maintained an experienced team of senior professionals who boast an average retention rate of over 10 years with NIH Research and Consulting (NIHR). Each of our staff has a longstanding role usually inclusive of their own career highlight reels and fan clubs even!
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employee turnover is at an all-time high. This is increasingly so in the prospecting industry. According to a Quality Assurance and Training Connection study, average staff turnover rates range from 30- 45% in the lead generation industry. This is an astounding number that:
- Creates a nightmare for operations and management
- Harms the company’s reputation, staff morale and client trust building
- Complicates campaign momentum and workflow
- Decreases company cash flow and negatively affects client ROI
Staff turnover is not only detrimental to operations from a monetary standpoint, customer satisfaction is also affected. Customers will tire of “green” team members who are too new to understand their culture. (Who will be a fan of a show whose cast is changing every season?)
We have thrived as a company for 25 years because we do not accept a turn-style approach to hiring whereby we would be sourcing, recruiting, hiring, training, and supervising staff at the same rate as our perceived competitors. Our personnel and financial resources would be completely occupied by the process leaving very little time to develop the quality, proven model we have today. So how DO we do it?
Recruiting and retaining experienced professionals is key to our success. However, at NIHR, it goes beyond degrees and job titles. We place tremendous value in the presence of common sense and intuition. We will not rely only on what a resume, a LinkedIn Profile or even a recommendation tells us about a person. We ask ourselves…is this person engaging? Is this someone who can assert their feedback? Beyond intelligent, are they warm, approachable, interesting? Do they command the presence of a beloved “Norm” when they enter a conversation? Do they fit amongst our “cast of characters?” Prospective hires meet several members of the team to assess a potential fit for all parties. These are the NIHR differences.
We recruit those professionals who are, in fact, the whole package. Our goal is to maintain a culture that attracts this top talent by:
- Recognizing and Rewarding performance based on quality, not quantity
- Offering the most industry competitive compensation
- Soliciting for and placing great value on input, suggestions and feedback
- And most of all…listening
100% of our consultants hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher level of education, along with extensive F100 and F500 corporate experience in healthcare and/or technology. Beyond that, they have been credentialed in the school of life.
Simply put, our staff has logged the kind of life “mileage” that creates that invaluable depth and character we look for in every team member. We are the only firm in our space to proudly feature the team on our website. The consultants are the heart of our company and we let them know as much.
Staff retention is just as important as client retention. In fact, they are quite inter-related. Our clients view our team members as one of their own. We maintain a mutual ownership dynamic whereby our consultant “wears the jersey” of our client and our clients readily acknowledge our team as one of their own.
It’s important that our clients would be negatively impacted by our absence and we certainly couldn’t keep the doors open without them. Maybe we can call it the “Norm” effect.
Our clients know they can dial our direct numbers from a decade ago; we personally answer and deliver the level of service that they’ve come to expect. Each client has their dedicated team working on their custom campaign which makes for a cohesive, effective and familiar working relationship. We are proud that most of our new business is based on referrals and recommendations and they ask for our staff…by name.
Learn more about our NIHR Consultants!
Founded in 1992, NIH Research & Consulting provides professional consulting, specialized market research and lead generation to the healthcare and healthcare information systems industries. NIHR’s educated industry experts develop and implement high-level marketing and sales support services. NIHR excels in delivering informative research and quality leads to clients and has a proven track record of providing essential market insights to the highly technical healthcare industry. Learn more at www.NIHResearch.com or email NIHR Managing Partners Robin Day rday@NIHResearch.com or Cindy Kanstoroom. ckanstoroom@NIHResearch.com