Employee Performance Solutions
Employee Performance Solutions (EPS) is a Boston-based human resources consultancy focused on the specific area of behavior modification. Their founder and CEO Jamie Resker trains managers how and when to intervene in performance-related employee issues.
Jamie is recognized as an established thought leader and innovator in the area of performance management. She is the originator of the Performance Continuum Feedback Method®, a tool for systematically diagnosing employee performance issues and development opportunities and crafting messages about even the most sensitive behavior based issues. EPS teaches diagnostic and communications skills, which, through a series of exact steps, allow managers to communicate critical performance information to their employees in order to drive measurable and positive changes in behavior and job competence.
As you can tell, Jamie is a smart cookie.
EPS is in the right place at the right time. Labor statistics show that young people entering the workforce today will likely change jobs seven to 10 times in their careers. This means that companies will need to act earlier and smarter than ever before in order to keep their best people. By building a platform based on strong inbound marketing, targeted calls to action, vertical market segmentation and a clearly delivered message this company is positioning itself well for short-term profitability and long-term growth.
But she needs help getting there.
Jamie first contacted me about a short-term project re-writing her website. Her gift is oral presentation, and though she has volumes written for her interactive sessions she felt that the language on her site lacked impact. As I revised her content and rewrote her story Jamie engaged me in several other opportunities including design work (to create updated and intuitive graphics), a video project and the development of a web application to enrich and expand her client’s experience.
Graphic for a new EPS storyboard
Like most entrepreneurs, Jamie wants to balance impact with cost. And though she’s highly capable of learning new skills she would like to remain focused on her core strengths. As an adviser and project manager I have led the development of several projects, connected her with vendors and acted as a sounding board for her strategic priorities.
One of our brainstorming sessions led to the realization that there are pros and cons with her software development process. On one hand, the opportunity appears to be much larger than we had originally realized. Companies famously struggle in their attempts to attach objective measurables to employee performance, and the new EPS gateway could allow them to better compare performance, productivity and profitability. Prompting further market research, we are considering whether the tool she develops could be licensed to a third party and/or sold outright to a larger HR software company.
On the other hand, this tool, even at a small-scale implementation, represents EPS’ evolution into a software company and comes with all of the associated development and support issues that are inherent to that space. That’s not necessarily consistent with her core mission and expertise. But lean thinking and smart partnerships could lead the way to a co-equity arrangement where Jamie can save on up-front development costs, limit her liability and potentially expand her market share exponentially by creating a separate development, production and distribution arm of her company.
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“My original search was for a marketing communications type person who could help me fine tune my web site messaging. I had grown frustrated in my search…each time sensing the person I was vetting had their own way of doing things and wasn’t really listening to what I needed/wanted. Listening, asking the right questions and then framing out the, “so, here’s what I think you’re saying and did you think of this as a further possibility”, describes my experience in working with Kai Rostcheck. Detailed yet a big picture thinker who keeps volleying solid and creative ideas on how to move my business forward. Kai is really quick- he not only picks up on what I’m trying to accomplish but then helps. When it comes to my business and new ideas, I’m always thinking at light speed and Kai travels at the same pace! We haven’t done the long drawn out meetings…lots of quick and productive conversations that produce high value output and solid results. He’s also connected me to some incredible resources that I could never have found on my own and then done the in between communicating with these vendors to assure I get the product/service that meets my exact needs (in fact exceed them). In the time we’ve worked together Kai has given me some invaluable new perspectives on my business, growth opportunities and future direction. He’s a practical future focused thinker that sees all of the possibilities and then helps you see them too.”
Jamie Resker, President
Employee Performance Solutions
