opinion

A Focus on the Office: Building the Team You Need

When I founded OrbitalPay in March of 2008, I did so with the understanding that it would only be successful if I managed to assemble a team of people who were competent, capable and fully engaged with clients. There is no way to digest all of the regulatory changes, stay ahead of trend curves, satisfy the support needs of every client and continue improving the offerings of a top tier payment processing company as a one-man band.

That’s why the team building concepts and strategies utilized by large organizations has always fascinated me. From the Toyota Production System developed by Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda in the late 1940s and 1950s to the autobiographies of industry leaders like Richard Branson and Jack Welch.

Evaluating your own company with fresh eyes at every employment inflection point is essential to building the team you need.

What I have learned during the growth of OrbitalPay is that hiring, sifting, sorting and creating a culture of competence is a constantly evolving process. During my time at the helm we have made consistent improvements in our hiring process which started off as a mostly interview and resume focused event but has now become much more technical to properly vet new hires and make sure they have the experience to be effective rather than just the charisma to get through an interview easily. That has become a crucial step forward in the next phase of our development at OrbitalPay.

Some of our longest tenured team members, including industry veteran Karen Campbell, have proven to us internally and to many of our clients externally that they have genuine value. Others who started strong ended up ineffective for one reason or another and eventually moved on. The key is to have defined metrics for performance, and those usually go far beyond sales or monetary statistics. Focusing on criteria, using initiative, and being willing to take action is also an essential component of corporate efficiency.

When we lose a team member, our sole intention becomes finding someone who fits our team better. That means clearly articulating the elements that were missing and finding a skill set that will fulfill those open requirements without making any of it more personal than necessary.

In one of our most recent moves we elevated Jordan Stewart to the position of vice president. That determination was based in part on Jordan’s exemplary performance within the payment-processing vertical and in part from our own internal analysis of specific efficiency elements we wanted to add to our management team.

Jordan has exactly the right skill set to fit the tasks the team needs completed and is much more of a straight-line thinker, which is essential to the role he is now successfully undertaking. His ascension has helped make our entire company even faster to respond to market forces and quicker up and down each vertical of our internal supply chain.

It’s important to keep in mind that when anyone at your company moves on, you aren’t really looking to replace that person or to fill the vacated position. What you should be doing is deciding what the criteria would be for the best possible addition to your team.

Often someone will work for your company for a number of years, and while they may have been the perfect hire back when they started — they wouldn’t be the right fit if they came along this afternoon. That’s because businesses are always in motion and the needs of your company today are likely to be far different from what they were years ago or will be years into the future.

Evaluating your own company with fresh eyes at every employment inflection point is essential to building the team you need.

Now that we have covered the team you need, it’s also important to discuss the team you want. While efficiency and quarterly growth are obviously important goals to keep in focus, the longer term success of your company comes down to other equally important factors like camaraderie, morale, an interlocking mix of personalities and other characteristics that are much harder to quantify statistically. These are the determining factors when deciding which person to hire.

Suppose you are looking for a new IT professional. Someone to handle system administration, internal IT requests and to be able to fluently discuss any number of support questions that arise from internal or external customers.

The list of people who “can” do that job is long. The list of people you would “want” doing that job for your company is always a whole lot shorter. Finding the right person to fit the rest of your team in ways that make them want to come to work in the morning is crucial to your long-term success.

The most competent team in the world will always lose to another team that is about equally competent but exudes the kind of confidence and caring about team goals that can only be fostered by a shared sense of community and loyalty. That’s an important point. A good team is loyal to their company or their fellow employees; a great team is always loyal to both.

It has been a long and winding road but in 2015 I believe OrbitalPay finally has the team it needs to succeed, as well as the team I want.

Getting beyond the distractions of office politics, focusing on the needs of our clients, and doing it all in a way that allows every team member to feel the level of respect, care and importance we all share is fueling our growth and making our company a great place to go to work each and every morning.

Steve Bryson is CEO of Orbital Pay, which offers a premier gateway billing solution as well as merchant accounts with competitive rates for all business types.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

profile

WIA Profile: Holly Randall

If you’re one of the many regular listeners to Holly Randall’s celebrated podcast, you are already familiar with her charming intro spiel: “Hi, I’m Holly Randall and welcome to my podcast, ‘Holly Randall Unfiltered.’ This is the show about sex, the adult industry and the people in it.

Women In Adult ·
trends

What's Hot Now: Leading Content Players on Trending Genres, Monetization Strategies

The juggernaut creator economy hurtles along, fueled by ever-ascendant demand for personality-based authenticity and intimacy — yet any reports of the demise of the traditional paysite are greatly exaggerated.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

An Ethical Approach to Global Tech Staffing

One thing my 24-year career as a technologist working to support the online adult entertainment industry has taught me about is the power of global staffing. Without a doubt, I have achieved significantly more business success as a direct result of hiring abroad.

Brad Mitchell ·
opinion

Finding the Right Payment Partner

Whenever I am talking with businesses that are just getting started, one particular question comes up a lot: “How do I get a merchant account?” It’s a simple question, but it has a complicated answer.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Taxman Cometh for Every Business

February may be the month of romance, but it is also a time when we need to think about something that inspires very little love: taxes. April is not far away, and the taxman is always waiting. This year, federal and most state income taxes are due Monday, April 15.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

The Continuous Journey of Legal Compliance in Adult

The adult entertainment industry is teeming with opportunity but is also fraught with challenges, from anticipating consumer behavior to keeping up with technological innovation. The most labyrinthine of all challenges, however, is the world of legal compliance.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
profile

Alexzandra Kekesi Takes Charge as Aylo's Head of Community and Brand

While Alexzandra Kekesi was earning her bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University, feminist thinkers influenced her deeply, inspiring her passion for sex work advocacy.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

New Year, New Tools for Tackling Chargebacks

Happy New Year! Looking back, 2023 saw some important developments for the industry. Visa lowered the limit on credit card surcharges to 3%, AI continued growing fast and Mastercard published an update to its Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation (BRAM) program.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Next Frontier in Computing, Storage Is Here

While I typically steer clear of diving too deeply into the technical nitty-gritty, in this month’s column I’m making an exception, because there’s a technological evolution underway that has the potential to fundamentally enhance technical outcomes and, more importantly, grow revenue.

Brad Mitchell ·
opinion

Raising Awareness and Taking Action Against Financial Discrimination

While foes of the adult entertainment industry often focus on “moral” concerns and perpetuate social stigmas, another form of attack can be equally or even more damaging: financial discrimination.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
Show More