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Company Background
SEI Information Technology is a premier technology support specialist with expertise in customer support, managed IT services, and custom solutions. Since 1969, SEI has helped its clients optimize their IT operations and remain focused on their core business. In 2002, SEI increased its workforce by 25% to a total of 510 employees and opened a third customer support center in Grand Forks, ND (a fourth will open in fall 2003 in Eastern Europe).
Emergent Company Highlights
Workforce Need: Retention of qualified and motivated workforce
Emergent Practices: Open and accessible executive team, join-the-ranks management style, link performance to pay, priority on work/life balance
Programs: Merit-based pay program, tuition reimbursement, employee-satisfaction surveys, employee-recognition programs, mentoring program, telecommuting options and employee surveys
Key Statistics:
- In 2003, SEI’s turnover rate at its customer support centers is 16.7%.
- In 2002, SEI’s Customer Support facilities exceeded industry standards in abandon rate (by 43%), talk time, (by 38%), hold time (by 79%) and first contact closure rate (by 35%).
Awards Won:
Emergent Practices Description
With major call center operations across the United States, SEI Information Technology understands the importance of retaining a skilled workforce that is responsive to its customers’ needs. SEI currently enjoys turnover rates of only 16.7%, 7% below its turnover rate from 2000-2002.
SEI offers a number of unique and innovative programs to help develop its employees and ensure they are operating with maximum efficiency while still meeting their personal needs. It all starts at the top. CEO John Jasper, who first joined SEI in 1983, believes that frequent interaction and communication with his employees is a way to both understand them and to help them grow. It’s common to see him visiting SEI call centers across the country, even during the third shift.
Executives also look at the results of its semi-annual employee surveys and monthly and annual client surveys, and enact changes that will positively affect the company and its workforce. In fact, since the employee surveys were introduced in 2001, changes have been made to HR policies regarding tuition reimbursement, 401k matching and vacation/leave time.
Employee recognition and development is also a crucial part of SEI’s culture. The President’s Award is presented quarterly and recognizes employees that have been nominated by their supervisors for outstanding performance. In addition, annual dinners, quarterly staff gatherings and special summer events are held to nurture a collegial work environment and show appreciation to employees for their hard work and dedication. To facilitate professional development, SEI created the Associate Consultant Managers program in which senior level managers mentor younger consultants. SEI also offers tuition reimbursement for job-related courses. To ensure that SEI was consistently delivering high-quality service to its customers, the Company launched a business initiative to monitor and strengthen service levels. It created an extensive performance tracking system in 2001 that provides reports that enable employees in its customer support centers to consistently measure their teams’ performance compared to established goals and industry averages. Managers review the reports and coach employees about specific performance issues and provide insight on how their individual contributions impact the company overall. As a result of this approach, SEI noticed an immediate improvement, meeting all of its performance goals in just one month.
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