What I learned after losing 5 people in 30 days

"We lost another one," my head of people whispered at the end of our executive meeting.

My face got hot. My chest tightened. It was 2013, and this was now the fifth person to resign in less than a month (on a 30-person team). I asked for details.

"Just like the others, Jesse,” they said.

”We hired them roughly 16 months ago out of college. Taught them how to run Facebook campaigns. Then some VC-funded startup offers them a 50% pay increase. They're gone."

My first reaction was a combination of fear and worry. How would we ever build a big, game-changing company if we couldn’t hold onto our people? We're screwed!

Then, I got curious. What was leading people to leave? I pulled the remaining 15 or so young team members together and just asked questions.

I don't believe most people (especially young ones) care THAT much about compensation. They care more about the value of learning and the experience they gain.

Armed with that insight, we made a few BIG changes. The last one will really surprise you. (Hint: we, again, copied McKinsey's playbook for talent.)

At the time, we had a simple framework decision: Partner (what we called our clients), People and Profit. If we couldn't satisfy all three, we didn't do it.

We decided to move PEOPLE to the front of this framework.

What did that look like? Every six months, each employee had a discussion with their manager and someone on the People team. 

The employee would talk about what they learned and what they wanted to learn in the next six months. 

They might’ve said, "Well, I was deep in eCommerce. I want to work on a marketplace client, like Uber or Instacart."

Or they might say, “I really want to learn conversion optimization.” Or, “I want to improve my client-facing skills.”

Whatever it was, if you were performing well, we'd move the employee to a new assignment, which felt like a new job and a new opportunity to learn.

Beyond this, we tripled down on learning budgets and apprenticeship coaching. 

This ranged from taking online courses to active feedback and coaching on public speaking.

We created a system where every 18 months or so, you'd receive a meaningful promotion. The titles were:

• Growth Marketing Analyst

• Senior Growth Marketing Analyst — this required an exam/certification (more on that in another email)

• Growth Marketing Lead — “project manager"

• Director of Growth Marketing — "team/client manager"

• VP of Growth Marketing — PnL owner

Here's where it got interesting.

Top performers could be promoted every six months, so it was possible to become a Growth Marketing Lead in roughly two years. 

Growth Marketing Leads were paid $125k+.

While compensation isn't THE most important thing, we realized that pathways to compensation and structure supported everyone in feeling like they were "moving" towards something.

Another small but helpful idea Jon came up with: bonuses every six months, but you had to be here to get them. 

This, at least, allowed for a predictable departure time, which is hugely valuable in a services business.

This was straight out of the consulting playbook. Remember my story about how McKinsey alums called me when I got a job offer there?

The other thing McKinsey did was help facilitate my finding my next role.

So I did the same at Ampush. We created a policy that if you stayed at least two years, Ampush would make introductions and help you find your next job.

If you stayed over four years, I would PERSONALLY make phone calls.

We did this for three reasons:

1. We aimed to serve people

Four years at Ampush meant an employee contributed a TON, and we wanted to help them find the best thing for THEM. 

Starting at the two-year mark, we'd have these conversations earnestly to help our employees think about their next steps, and if those next steps made more sense internally or externally.

2. Client and industry goodwill

We played the long game, and getting the CEO of what is now $100 billion company to compliment our talent went a LONG way! Reputation compounded.

3. Good karma

Helping people ALWAYS pays back. It’s not always clear how or when, but it will happen. Put out more value and you will receive a ton back. 

I made these intros (screenshot above) with love for Andy Wells in my heart and no expectations. But I will tell you that he now leads a 100+ marketing team at DD and has over 30 GrowthAssistants!

So there you have it: a huge problem, how we solved it and some tremendous benefits!!

Have a great week.

jesse

PS My Sales Accelerator has a spot for an agency owner who wants to work with me to grow sales. If you’re interested, book a call to find out more, here.