We have been around for over 30 months and I remember we being called as startup even till yesterday, although not in terms of maturity but referring to number of years since inception. I intend to retain the startup culture (freedom, being curious, cost optimal, juggling different things efficiently, having sharp learning curve, customer focus, learning from experience, close-knit team, hungry to explore and share new technologies/discoveries with team members); yet, work hard to come out of being tagged as “startup” since the growth seems too good to be considered as a beginner.
Undoubtedly and wholeheartedly, the credit goes to people including employees, customers, vendors (and supporters) who trusted us and our capabilities in the initial stages. Yes, we were naive and didn’t know the business techniques, challenges, even some of the common business/finance terminologies when we started. Nonetheless, we did one thing right before getting people on board – we spent more amount of time with them discussing, understanding and setting each other’s expectations. We have had set a bar of getting only the experts with proper attitude on board. Taking a cue from ‘Ratatouille’ movie, we strive to ensure that when customers talk about us, they say this unequivocally – “The best ITSM consultants in the universe are on earth. The best ITSM consultants on earth are in Bangalore. The best ITSM consultants in Bangalore are at eStomi”:-).
OK, ok… I hope that helps to set the platform to put the context for Version 2.0. Past couple of years, we have grown gradually in terms of number of employees; however, significantly in terms of reputation and bagging large orders from large customers. We have been convinced about our model and are confident about our road map for the next few years. To ensure that our team also transitions to the next level, we have planned a few important initiatives –
- Keeping ahead of the game – Since our goal is to provide best consultancy in niche areas, it is extremely important for us to keep appraised of latest developments/releases/issues/solutions on the corresponding technologies. Regular and effective knowledge sharing sessions amongst the team members would help us on this initiative.
- Giving back to the society – It is necessary to imbibe a culture of giving as well. Although it is a matter of personal choice, we believe that an opportunity should be given to serve the society. We intend to contribute by giving a day off for helping the needy or by matching the employees contribution equally towards such NGOs.
- Personality development – We would be rewarding our team members for publishing outstanding blogs in relevant technologies. This would make them come out of their shell and explore things that they may not have explored. This would make them think about different perspectives when they would research to write a blog.
- Growing wealth, not just money – We believe in growing together. Clearly, one needs to understand difference between value creation and wealth creation. I prefer linking wealth creation with value creation/addition. Hence, as a part of rewarding good work or the extra miles that our team members walk, we would brainstorm what initiatives the team members would contribute, work on timelines and play different roles in helping the organization take to the next level.
- Creating leaders – As Tom Peter says, “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders”. We intend to chalk out the path for each of our team members so that they are capable of leading and managing complex projects independently as well as by mentoring their subordinates. A thorough planned offsite meeting, action items and regular follow-ups is underway. My objective from this session is to create more TEBAs (True eStomi Brand Ambassadors).
My monthly blogs will continue. I should be able to revert to you on the progress/success of above initiatives in another 6 months to a year. Any feedback on helping us to take to the next level are welcome:-)
