For the last two years, Modis, Inc. has focused on redefining its infrastructure, and the effort is paying off in dividends. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based IT staffing company is having its third year of solid performance and is looking at finishing the year with growth that beats management expectations.

Jack Cullen

“We took a look at our business and what we were expecting to get out of it,” said Jack Cullen, president, “All of that starts with the people we hire. We want to teach them the Modis way.”

To create the Modis way, company executives developed an intensive inhouse curriculum—a clearly defined set of standard operating procedures. Cullen, along with senior and regional VPs, managers, and salespeople discussed and developed the training content. Using the company’s best resources, Cullen extracted not only a solid plan, but also a strong management team and a motivated staff. “For a company to succeed long term, it needs to invest in its most critical resource,” said Cullen. “For us, that resource is our staff and consultants. Being part of a $2 billion holding company enables Modis to make that investment and capture the ROI.”

Domestic resources
As a subsidiary of international staffing firm MPS Group, Modis is a leading provider of temporary IT staffing for corporate and government companies, with an estimated 60 offices throughout the US and Europe. The company also provides technology projects and project management services, handling recruitment and hiring for permanent positions.

The redesign of Modis’ infrastructure included beefing up training, building a higher-end customer service department, negotiating with and retaining customers, spin selling, and strengthening overall quality and service. As part of the industry for more than 20 years, Cullen felt that creating the program inhouse was vital to the company’s success.

“There are many experienced people that work here. Through my experience, I got a good look at what outside people bring in,” Cullen explained. “I believe we have a huge amount of market intelligence and resources within our own company. Who knows our business and company better than us?”

By keeping the program inhouse, every employee throughout the company has the same knowledge and information, explained the president. “This operating procedure enables all Modis branches to work on the same page regardless of branch size or location. In all of our branches, employees will be talking the same lingo and having the same meetings. The structure of the organization is completely in alignment,” Cullen said.

As a result of this alignment, Cullen has seen improvement in the amount and quality of new starts and in employee turnover. “We set out and defined metrics, measured them, and worked with our people to develop a customer-tailored program.”

Special recruits
Because Cullen feels a business can’t be efficiently run without effective employees, the inhouse training program mainly consists of defining a quality salesperson. Salespeople are trained to understand a client’s exact needs to deliver a perfect resource to them.

“Historically, salespeople would talk to customers, get the specifics they were looking for, get back to the recruiters and give them the specifics, and handle the resources from there,” Cullen said. “The industry has gotten a lot more complicated, and companies are looking for particular individuals. Buyers are better trained and more demanding. It’s important for us to be right each time we recruit a candidate for a specific environment.”

The intensive training has worked, with Modis’s key numbers significantly increasing from a year ago. Last November, the company was averaging approximately 104 starts per week; this year, it’s averaging 112—an increase of about 7%. And so far this year, the company delivered 5,200 new hires, quite a jump from the 4,800 placements made a year ago.

A different business
As a result of the company’s redefined processes and rigorous training, Modis’ salespeople and recruiters are equipped with the necessary tools to be successful, and managers are stronger coaches.

“In the marketplace today, we have competition from large companies as well as small, locally owned firms. Many of these competitors typically get a job order from a client, post it on the Internet, get a response, and send it to the client. That’s not the business I want to be in. Our clients are paying us for our services, so we have to deliver at a much higher level,” Cullen concluded.