Talent Lessons From an Industry Veteran

Talent Lessons From an Industry Veteran

By Kam Kaila

Noah survived in an ark while it rained for 40 days and nights and saved mankind. Arlin Sorensen survived 40 years in the tech industry and learned many life lessons. His biggest one? “Hire people smarter than you and who have the ability to grow beyond where you are.”

Arlin, the Vice President of Ecosystem Evangelism at Connectwise, was a guest on “Sunny’s Silver Linings” podcast and shared how he has had a long, successful career in the volatile tech industry – much of it in the MSP channel. I always love hearing the perspectives of people like him who’ve been around for decades and have lived to tell about it. So what did Arlin say about talent during the podcast?

When asked about workplace changes caused by the pandemic, he noted that some organizations have brought their entire team back into the office just as it was pre-pandemic. Others, however, have given up their office space and have no intention of ever returning to the office. Some of these decisions are due to geography – is the commute an easy one? – while others wonder whether it’s even possible to build a healthy culture if the teams aren’t physically together.

“It’s going to be a broad range of different factors which will play into some of the challenges with employee acquisition because employees will be able to find whatever kind of environment they want,” he said. “Prior to the pandemic, there were limited options for where and how people could work, but today there are all kinds of options.”

So which is he finding to be more popular: Hybrid or remote work?

“There are a lot of differences in terms of what people want and expect. Age plays a role in that. Folks who are a little older are accustomed to going into the office – that’s all they ever really knew before the pandemic. So I find that they like the office environment. While younger workers really like the remote or hybrid options,” Arlin said.

To find out what a candidate wants in terms of work environment, you just have to ask. These are the kinds of conversations that you must have today that you didn’t have pre-pandemic.

Arlin knows that “getting the right people really is the key to success” and shared how he would find those needles in a haystack: Be wherever the people that you want as an employee will be.

So where to find these Diamonds:

• Industry events – These individuals are already familiar with the industry so there’d be a reduced learning curve. They’d probably be ready to go Day 1.
• Your Community – Get involved in your local community where you have individuals who are hard workers and share a common geography with you. They can serve effectively in your organization as accountants, administrative assistants, etc.
• Mergers & Acquisitions – Acquire companies that can fill large holes in your organization, such as finance and sales. So you ‘re not just acquiring a company, but ready-made staff, too.

How does Arlin align his talent to get them all moving in one direction?

He said, “Involve your employees in strategic planning; companies must take the time to plan strategically.”

According to Arlin, “I believe it’s a critical discipline that we as leaders must have to know: 1) What are we trying to accomplish? 2) How are we going to get there, and 3) How long do we have to do it. If we know those three things, we can define with clarity how our people individually contribute to achieving our collective success.”

And what tools can leaders use for strategic planning?

• StratOps from The Paterson Center – This is the one he uses because it involves people in the creation process of a plan to help co-create so that they have ownership. “Your team members can’t get excited about something if they don’t help to create it,” he said.
• EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) – The most common tool in the MSP channel so many individuals are very familiar with it. It combines timeless business principles with a set of simple, practical, real-world tools to help entrepreneurs get what they want from their businesses.
• Gazelles – This approach enables executives to explore a collection of key business drivers which are broken down into organizational timeframes: big picture, three to five years, annual, and quarterly.

Pick one and use it, Arlin said. “The beauty of what happens is, once you begin that process, you can then cascade those goals down to individual employees so that they actually know why they come to work in the morning.”

Click here to listen to the full podcast featuring Arlin Sorensen.