Communicating Requisitely At Novus

Speaker A Okay. My name is Tricia Beal, and I am the director of Global communications for Novus International. I've been with Novus for two and a half years, which may seem like short time, but in Novus years, that's actually a long time because we're a growing, exploding, growing company. Initially, when I came to was my group, which was very small. We were three people at the time. We were focused on supporting the role of marketing and sales, which continues to be the central role for our group. But over the course of time, as happens in Novus, we're given much opportunity and many opportunities to grow. Our role has evolved in the organization, and we've taken on global platforms such as the Elearning System, our Global Intranet, the website, working with departments across the organization. So we're now a group of twelve. We're still very lean and mean, but we're taking on added responsibilities. My role level is a role level four. I report to Giovanni Gasparoni, who is our executive vice President of Sales and Marketing, who is a level five. And on my staff we have one, level three, many level twos and level ones. So we're a group of doers. When I joined Novis, I was coming from a British pharmaceutical company. Fantastic role that I loved. But what I immediately noticed was a level of structure in the management system that I had not experienced previously. And what I think is important about this, as someone who's worked out of a home office, it provides a global structure which enables people around the world to feel connected back in a central way and through a central process to what's happening at the core at the headquarters. And that was the thing that struck me first, the commitment to being a global organization and providing consistency and equity across the globe to all of our employees. When I joined the organization, as I said before, we were three people with a very big, long task list. So recruiting and hiring became something that I had to do right off the bat. And I'd always thought in terms of valuing the role and people who would value the role was a very, very important aspect that I considered when hiring people. But I never put that in the context of timeframes. And I was unfamiliar with Elliot Jacks and his principles when I joined the organization. But as I learned this and started to apply this to different roles that I needed within my group, the complexity of processing information and the use of time span became an extremely valuable tool that I think we've benefited from tremendously. We've had zero turnover in my group since I've joined, and I think it's because we're really taking those principles and we're bringing the right people into the roles that have a comfort level and are growing and flourishing in those roles because of it. I think what's most important about that is that in so many organizations, you don't know the goals that come from the top. You just are assigned a task and you sit in your little box and you work on your task. But in our system, with our key accountabilities document and linking them from the vision and goals of the very top, from our CEO, everyone from the very top to the very bottom has a very clear understanding of how we're moving forward as an organization and how exactly what we are doing and contributing is making a difference. And I think that is something very special at Novus, that they give us the tools to feel connected to the end goals. It's very, in my experience, rare and magic. Well, even in my interview process, I understood why I was coming into Novus and I understood what my goals were for the first year and I understood the resources I had to work with to achieve those goals. So it was a real point of clarity and a really good place to start from. I understood where I needed to go, what I had to get there, and the support system and the structure around that. So it was very, very clear of process which removes anxiety for new employees. So as in the role of communications. I think something that we genuinely try to do to support the novice management system is to reinforce the common language and understanding of how the system works using key accountability documents in our everyday language when employees approach us. And maybe they have a dispute within the organization asking them to rely on the structure and to speak peer to peer before they elevate it to their manager. Manager once removed. All these terms just I think as leaders in any group, especially communications, it's important that we always refer back to the system and we always use the language and we don't step outside of that. And that just is a constant reinforcement to the organization. What's very important for people, I believe, when they come into an organization, is that they believe it's a land of opportunity if they're motivated by achievement and other aspects. I think what the Requisite organization does is it provides a structure that's fair. And I think working in an organization that you can trust is extremely important. So Requisite lays it out, this is the way it works, this is the system, and you understand where you fit in, but you also have to give that room for opportunity, which I think this structure, which structure and opportunity don't always go together hand in hand. I think it does provide. And I've lived it. I came in this organization as a level three. My boss told me, your job can be as big as you want it to be. And a year later I was a four and I've never once at novice had an idea that I've not been able to execute on and run with and be successful with. So I think that it's important to understand that with structure, there can still be opportunity. And I think that's the magic at Novice Sam.