What gives your company the competitive advantage when it comes to attracting the best and brightest talent?
When RReal looks for the best talent to join their team, they are not just looking for the brightest candidates. They are looking for the brightest, most compassionate candidates. They want People who will understand the vision of this nonprofit and join them in their mission of bringing solar energy to low income families and ending fuel poverty.
But, not all of these bright and compassionate people will be willing to relocate to northern Minnesota to work in the company’s offices.
That is not a barrier for RReal because the company uses Microsoft Dynamics GP on Azure and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online with Microsoft Office 365. All of their business systems can be accessed anywhere, anytime.
Mobile Workforce
According to Jason Edens, Director of RReal, “We can attract really top notch people by virtue of the fact that they can work anywhere.”
People can be managing projects, closing sales and handling accounting from any location. The only people that need to be onsite are the ones doing the manufacturing and installation of the solar panels.
Digital Nomads
More and more, the brightest people in our workforce are choosing to live as “digital nomads”, a phrase coined for people who want the ability to work anywhere with a digital connection and not be tied down to one single place. All those people you see in coffee shops with their laptops are not just students anymore, many are highly skilled professionals who value a flexible lifestyle (and good coffee).
Companies who adopt Cloud ERP/CRM systems can make that lifestyle possible.
Egalitarian Culture
In a previous interview Jason Edens said he strives to have an egalitarian workforce at RReal, meaning that everyone is equal.
One description of an egalitarian workforce says: “the work environment doesn’t depend on job descriptions and traditional management roles to define employees and structure the workforce. This allows employees to exist without hierarchies and function as an inclusive workforce.”
Reading the book “No Greatness without Goodness: How a Father's Love Changed a Company and Sparked a Movement” impressed upon me personally that treating people equally does not mean that they need to be treated exactly the same. It means determining what is right for each worker and seeing if that can be accommodated within the work structure to allow them to be the best they can be.
During our interview I challenged Jason Edens to think of ways his choice of Microsoft Dynamics contributes to that egalitarian culture.
He replied, “We are definitely a small company and under-resourced. A good example is of a young woman who was pregnant. Our small company was not in a position to offer a really lucrative maternity leave. But we were able to tell her that whenever she was ready to leave work she could work from home as long as she wanted to. For the last 6 months she has been working at home and she is so grateful. Even though we are a small company we can do cool things like that.”
Flexible Circumstances
Studies prove that when employees are grateful for their circumstances, they are more likely to stay with their employers, despite other challenges or even sacrifices.
A flexible work schedule and environment is a key motivator, often of greater value than a higher salary.
Microsoft Cloud
Jason Edens concludes, “Moving to Microsoft Dynamics in the cloud gives RReal a competitive edge. We can attract the best, brightest, most compassionate people. And this empowers us to serve more low income families.”
Are you able to attract the best and brightest digital nomads? If not, perhaps it is time to move your business systems to the cloud.
Click here to find out more about Microsoft Dynamics ERP/CRM Online.
By Anya Ciecierski, ERP Cloud Blog Editor, www.erpsoftwareblog.com/cloud