Netsurit Case Study
Improved Employee Retention at Mid-Size IT Company
No. of Employees: 320
Industry: IT Services
Highlights:
- Improvement from 9% to 75% of those promoted to management turned out to A Players or A Potentials
- Company receives Microsoft Small Business Specialist of the Year award
- Significant increase in employee retention
The Company
Netsurit is a South African managed outsourced IT company that specializes in the maintenance and servicing of small and medium enterprise (SME) networks. Orrin Klopper, the entrepreneur who co-founded the company, became involved in the IT industry when he was still studying at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) in 1994, selling shoes and clothes at hostels for spare cash while finishing his degree.
The Challenge
Staff turnover was a considerable challenge for Netsurit. Given the high turnover rates in the IT industry and the age demographic employed in IT roles, Netsurit was being severely impacted by high employee turnover. The cost and the impact to staff morale were significant.
Klopper joined a New York Young President’s Organization (YPO) group in New York City, and quickly realized that Netsurit, in order to be very successful in the highly competitive IT industry, needed to hire more high performers and find ways to significantly improve their retention.
“Topgrading has been the high point of my career. HR has earned the respect of the whole company for helping managers hire much better talent, which has produced the results necessary to hire more people, retain top talent, and achieve excellent results in down markets.”
- Sarika Thakor, HR Manager
The Solution
After recommendation from members of the YPO group, Klopper attended a Gazelles “Birthing of the Giants” course at MIT — an entrepreneurship leadership program designed to help entrepreneurs drive their companies forward. It was at this course that he was introduced to the Topgrading hiring methods.
Klopper made Topgrading part of his strategic planning for Netsurit – their “people strategy.”
Among the solutions he put in practice at the company are:
- Using the Tandem Topgrading Interview™ to assess candidates for crucial jobs
- Holding monthly meetings where Line Managers are trained in Topgrading best practices
- Measuring and recording employee performance, categorizing employees as A Players (the top 20%), B Players (the middle 70%), and C Players (the bottom 10%), and holding monthly meetings to discuss how to coach and manage each group
- Maintaining a network (Virtual Bench) to ensure they always have resources to fill vacancies
The Results
Since implementing Topgrading, turnover rates at Netsurit have dropped steadily, resulting in huge cost savings for job advertisements and external recruitment. Additionally, sales have enjoyed ??% compounded growth.
The company conducts an extensive client satisfaction survey each month. “Client Care” is a measure of clients’ overall satisfaction with the company’s services. Client Care ratings have steadily risen since Klopper introduced Topgrading.
Netsurit opened its doors in the late 1990s and today has 320 dedicated, technically skilled employees serving (how many?) clients in South Africa and the United States.
“Topgrading has definitely improved Netsurit’s performance. We’ve Topgraded the whole company and our sales and profits have skyrocketed.”
- Orrin Klopper, Co-Founder and CEO
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