Update on Contest

Just wanted to let everyone know.  I can see there have been a lot of people looking but so far I only have ONE response.  So don't not send something in because you think someone else already has done it!!  Its worth a shot to WIN!!!

Contest

Everyone we are really excited about our new blog and decided we are going to start running random contests to see who is following the blog.  So for our first contest we will be giving out two gift cards to the first day and first night employee at EVERY SBU who emails me the following information:

Email:  marci.clawson@focusservices.com

Subject of the email:  "BLOG"

In the body of the email:
Your first and last name
Which SBU (Site and Project) you work in
If you work Dayshift of Nightshift

I will be posting the winners on the blog tomorrow and get the gift cards sent out to you.  Good luck to everyone!!

UT Employees get a DISCOUNT at Apple Spice Junction

All UT employees can now get $1 off any box lunch sandwich when you show your badge at Apple Spice Junction.  Only one per badge.  Their sandwiches are amazingly good!  You should try one, you will love it.

Here is their information:

Apple Spice Junction
Phone: 801-475-8555
4669 S. Harrison Blvd, Ogden, UT 84403
Hours: Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 3:00 pm 

Q1 Newsletter from VP of Operations

As Q1 has come to a close, I would like to pass on a few thoughts as to how we did as a company.  Before I do, I would like to share a story from my boyhood:

I was one of three starting running-backs in the wishbone offense for my Pee-Wee League football team.  Though I wasn’t a prolific scorer or rusher, I played an important role on the team (even if at the time I didn’t recognize it).  Our team was incredible; our rushing attack pounded on teams with us sometimes winning games by three or more touchdowns.  Finishing the year 10-1, we easily road through the playoffs towards the championship game.

On a bus ride to our final game, I began to be filled with fear. At first I wasn’t sure what it was. But soon I realized how afraid I was of letting my team down. To be candid, I was afraid of being a leader.  I went to my coach and told him of my dilemma.  His responds kindly with cliché coaching advice to overcome adversity and pull through.  The words were less than comforting.  I couldn’t shake the fear and anxiety.  I was terrified.

As we all exited the bus, I approached my back-up running back and asked him to start the game for me.  I had convinced myself he was the faster and stronger runner so what I was doing was noble and honorable for the team.  I knew I was lying to myself but I couldn’t shake the paralyzing fear. I gave up my starting position minutes before the championship game.

I sat and watched as we fell behind, 14-0 at the end of the half.  I stood on the sidelines as the opposing team shut us down time and time again.  I hung my head as we left the field—defeated.

Now I don’t think that my being in the game would have turned the tide, but I know that in my mind the event would have been different.  I would have at least gone down giving it everything I had.  I would have least gone down with a fight.  Instead, I hid; I hid behind my fear of leadership.

A key principle of aviation is this: if you turn from the oncoming wind you cannot takeoff.  You have to face the wind.

Are we facing our winds?

This last quarter has shown great moments of success.

·         Our overall hours grew by 7% from Q4 to Q1 which makes eight consecutive quarters of hours growth. This is unprecedented in our company’s history.

·         The Saveology project has grown by 937% since its first month of dialing last April. It has grown by 144% since Q4 alone.

·         Calvin Bradbery was promoted to the Director of New Business in Dubuque, Iowa. He has been with Focus for a long time and helped achieve record highs of success in QAS and performance for years.

·         Ron Greve was promoted from the top coach in the Dubuque, IA facility to be the PA. Ron has been a long-time successful coach for the IB Bundles team and possibly the most successful coach in the history of the campaign from a revenue per call perspective

·         John Patton II is one of the top performing coaches at Focus and comes from the Roy, UT facility. He is such an inspiration to hard work and dedication. He rides his bicycle to work every day, drives incredible results from his team, and is a living testament to beyond expectations. Most of all, every time I see him, his positive attitude and energy drive me to be better

·         Kevin Montano was sent on an assignment to our partner located in California, to help manage their team in our own Beyond Expectations format. He sacrificed two weeks away from his family to help us through a crucial time in our launch of the IKANO project (in our Philippines call center).

This is a fantastic list. Something we should all be proud of. But what about our wind that challenges us? We had some signification misses:

·         We missed Service Level on Change Service for four months in a row

·         Qwest Consumer Outbound in Rock Falls had another month of very low performance

·         We had over thirty-five documented quality concerns from our Philippines and Stateside clients

·         We lost a new business program due to performance issues to an internal center in Ohio

·         Our company attrition finished at 21.75%. We lost over 200 employees in the month of March alone.

Our company objectives for Q2 are as follows:

·         Hit Service Level on all programs

·         Decrease company attrition to 15%

·         Hit revenue targets for all programs including Outbound Consumer each month

·         Double the Saveology program in Roy and Central Ogden, Utah

·         Double the Direct Response team in Central Ogden, Utah

·         Launch two New Business programs in Dubuque, Iowa (May)

·         Launch the Central America facility (May/June)

Each one of us can contribute to these objectives in a significant way. Every Agent, Coach, Site Lead, PA, Director, Regional Director, and Vice President plays a crucial role in the reaching of these objectives. All of us can recommit to being more engaged, more focused, and better leaders. I hope we can all learn from my mistake of running from my fear of leadership.  Let us face the wind before us and hit every mark.  My mentor, Greg Brohlen, a LT. Colonel in the U.S. Army, taught me “Don’t ever stop.  It’s never enough.  You don’t stop until you’re number one on every list, on every program, for every minute of every day.”

To heed that challenge, we need leadership.  We need individuals who will face the wind, take the challenge, and fight with everything they’ve got to be victorious.

Is that you?

 

Don N. Markland

Vice President – Operations

Manager of the Month (Roy - B2B) - April

Laura Mower- Laura has been a strong support for the B2B team. Through all the changes we have seen in recent months, her team's performance may slip- but she is always able to help them increase back to the floor expectations. Her coach the coach scores are consistently in the high 90%. She has such a great relationship and rapport with her team- she shows them how much she appreciates the hard work they all do but she isn't afraid to stand up and say "This isn't working". She can always get her agent's buy-in through leading by example. She has been able to take her low performers up to the top 3rds on the team. We appreciate her hard work and dedication to excellence.

Agent of the Month (Roy - B2B) - April

Tammy Porter- Tammy has been a part of the Focus team since 2003. One thing we love about Tammy is how reliable she is. We can always count on Tammy to show up on time- rain or shine! She also has a great relationship with her teammates. Recently, we lost one of the campaigns that Tammy specialized in, so she faced a challenge of jumping headfirst back into the sales queue. She defeated the challence by coming out in the #1 poisition for her team's MTD stack ranking! We appreciate all the hard work she does and her willingness to overcome challenges.

Employee of the month - Ogden qwest

Luaren Boucher is our employee of the month for April. Luaren always exceeds expectations regarding performance, and attitude. Lulu is always happy and upbeat, always willing to hit goals that are set on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. If she is given something to work on, she works on it with a positive attitude and never offers kickback. Luaren always show up to work with a smile on her face and interacts with her coworkers in a positive way. Her quality and her RPC are always at goal and very impressive.