Collaboration

puck is going, as I say that all the time at Socius. When people ask what
differentiates us and keeps us ahead of the crowd, my answer is that it’s
our focus on being better at every interaction, every time, and not only
understanding our strategy today, but also where we’re going. We always
know where we’re going; we just may not get the time horizon correct.
We have a strong focus on helping our clients understand how
technology is changing and helping them adapt with that technology.
Cloud and analytics have really created an opportunity for clients to
get to know their businesses better through data and how that data
can help them better manage their business.
TPC: The threshold for achieving Inner Circle has shifted over the
years. Do you align your business goals for the year based on its
parameters?
JG: We did until three or four years ago. Back then, Inner Circle was
a metric that we beat our drum on. We wanted to be better for our
clients, and we used the retreat as a reward for our consultants.
We have shifted to focus our goals on what’s best for our business.
I try to be as optimistic as possible, and not dwell on the past. There’s
a time and a place for everything, and as long as we keep providing
value, that’s what is really important to us.
I have found that as the solutions get broader and clients grow
larger around the world, it has facilitated our ability to work with
Partners across the world. Just as there have been shifts in strategy,
there has been an evolutionary emergence of new products. In those
early days (after the Microsoft acquisition), I’m sure a lot of Microsoft
Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Partners felt that way.
TPC: We focused on hiring in our VAR Profile for this issue (editor’s
note: see page 32 for that article). How does Socius approach hiring
new professionals?
JG: The Academic Alliance got us started with events, and we have since
evolved our approach over the last three years to hit college campuses
pretty hard. We start with 10 intern spots each spring and at the end of
the summer we make a few job offers. When an intern comes onboard,
we have the Socius consulting and development teams training them in
ways we wouldn’t have thought imaginable five years ago. There is a new
way of doing things and thinking and communicating, and sometimes
the newest consultants help us refocus our thoughts in that way.
I never imagined a major in analytics, but we’re hiring those people
today. It’s exciting to see their aptitude in taking data and applying it
to businesses. We have a client that is a baseball entity and we created
a dashboard to help them see which of their themed nights is the
most successful. It maybe wasn’t a surprise to learn that the most
successful night was the craft beer night, but it was good to have it
validated! When people realize the impact confident decision making
can have on their business, it’s huge.
The last thing is to look at what is important to young people. It’s
more than a job; it’s being relevant and having camaraderie amongst
their peers. Culture is more important now than it ever was.
THEPARTNERCHANNEL.COM | FALL 2015 17