In an industry known for triple-digit employee turnover, professional janitorial service provider ServiceMaster by Stratos has maintained record low turnover. President and CEO Stacy McCall believes that’s directly related to a purposeful focus on a positive employee culture. “Our employees are the frontline of our business, and it’s…
Don’t call it a buzzword – discussions on “company culture” have only just begun! But with so many companies, both big and small, turning their focus toward cultivating a culture that’s both attractive to employees and productive for clients and customers, the questions arise: How do we cultivate…
Before you read any further, let me point out that we love our clients! Right now, we have a strong roster of exceptional clients with whom we love working. These clients provide meaningful, challenging (in a good way) and worthwhile work in which we get to use our…
Right off the bat, there are a number of answers that can be given for this question: Your company is experiencing (or is about to experience) a crisis You have a special event or product launch coming up You just want to get more exposure for your brand.…
Longtime Obsidianite Lauren Hannaford recently earned a new title – mother. She joins the ranks of the rest of the Obsidian Mamas, which now includes five team members and accounts for 14 children! When asked how having a baby has changed her life, Lauren says she gets up…
All professionals have specific tools that they need in order to do their job well. Plumbers, electricians and homebuilders are rarely without their tool belts, stocked with various wrenches, gauges and rulers, and architects and engineers no longer rely solely on paper and pencils to chart out their…
Red Door Wealth Management is an example of a company successfully identifying a niche audience – one that Gretchen Gassner Turley, director of client relations, could personally identify with and, therefore, communicate to successfully. She gives some of her insight into the company’s niche audience of female breadwinners…
The success of any business can be directly attributed to how well the business understands its targeted audiences, for only then will the business be able to best serve (and communicate with) its audiences. However, being able to further drill down niche audiences – specialized segments of your…
Recently, I read an article on Forbes.com, titled “Why Richard Branson Says You Should Never See Yourself as ‘Big Business,’” which focused on how to retain culture as businesses expand. The author, Allison Coleman, used input from multiple well-known entrepreneurs for the article, which gave tips such as…
We are currently on the hunt for a new senior account manager at Obsidian, and I will be honest; we are very critical during the process of adding to our team. We can’t just hire anyone, though - we know exactly what we are looking for in our…