Maintaining or increasing the profitability of businesses in today’s hard-hit economy poses difficult challenges on many fronts for business owners. Consumer confidence in the United States withered to 47.7 % in October, down from 53.4 % a month earlier,1 and the general deterioration of the economy still hovers over businesses despite reports that the recent national gross product growth signals “an end to the worst recession since WWII.”2 Yet the business management consulting industry appears to have found a well-balanced niche as these firms are not only weathering the nation’s financial uncertainty, but are also simultaneously providing assistance to those businesses looking to do the same. As a result, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports business management, scientific, and technical consulting services “is the fastest growing” and among the highest paying industries in today’s job market.3 Typically, these consulting firms provide companies with services ranging from expense management and financial planning to asset management and industry-specific services. The industry’s breadth of experienced experts and their knowledge of the latest technologies, government regulations, and management and production techniques have furthered its rapid growth, which has steadily increased in demand over the past several decades.4 The industry has fortified its stronghold on the market because many of its workers are highly educated compared to other industries’, with many managerial and supervisory positions awarded to those with the most extensive education.5
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Valicom Chief Operating Officer J. Jeff Poirior
J. Jeff Poirior: Faring Well in Rough Economy With Innovation and Executive Leadership
To remain competitive in today’s economy, some business management consulting firms are attempting to keep above the fray by enhancing their products and services. J. Jeff Poirior, chief operating officer at Valicom a telecommunications expense management firm — says his Wisconsin-based company is a primary example. Poirior, who already served in executive roles prior to joining Valicom in 2006, received a promotion this year and will continue leading the company’s business operations, strategic planning, budgeting, service delivery and development, and key account management. But he also assumed the new responsibility of heading sales and marketing so Valicom —whose primary focus is to handle clients’ telecommunications and technology expenses and to find cost-savings reduction, in part, through proprietary software — could help develop a new product for an early 2010 launch.“My academic experience was invaluable to me in terms of product service launch because I had not been exposed to sales and marketing before,” says Poirior. Specifically, Poirior credits his ability to adapt to the new challenges, and therefore help keep his company competitive, to the case studies, team projects, and seven-step problem solving approach he learned while attending MBA courses at University of Phoenix. He says his education also gave him the added advantage of gleaning the best practices from professors and team members currently intertwined with the current market. This tool, along with having a “realistic benchmark” on other companies’ performance, allowed him to immediately put his education to work for his company, Poirior says. Valicom also requires its employees to possess college degrees.6 “At the end of the day, if I didn’t have my degree or wasn’t pursuing it, I probably would not have had an opportunity to share new thoughts and ideas to help expand the company in this economy,” says Poirior, a 2008 graduate.
Labor experts’ projections indicate Poirior may be on target with his decision to prioritize education. Although the need for the consulting industry increases with the growth of globalization, company outsourcing, and new technology, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics further projects job competition will be “keen” because of the industry’s generous salaries and benefits.7 Between 2006 and 2016, the sector’s wage and salary employment is expected to grow by 78% compared with other industries’ 11% growth during the same time frame.8 As of May 2006, the media hourly earnings for the industry’s general and operations managers was $58.97 compared to $40.97 for other industries.9 “Individuals with the most education and job experience will likely have the best job prospects,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics states in its 2008-09 Career Guide to Industries.
Poirior says his company is mindful of the poor economy, which led to Valicom awarding him for the time being with more stock options and flexible hours rather than a monetary increase for his executive promotion. However, he says, his increased investment in the company automatically increased his desire to fulfill the company’s vision, partly by communicating with and retaining an effective staff instead of using his executive status to outshine his team. Again, drawing on his University education, Poirior says, he is more apt now to build better communication into his management style.
One of the problems Poirior says he saw at Valicom was poor employee retention. To help counteract this problem, Poirior says he used his University of Phoenix training to hire employees using the Myers-Briggs personality test and other similar techniques. A business management consulting firm like Valicom, he notes, needs employees who are detail-oriented and not “bored” by routine work, like scouring through invoices to find cost savings for clients. Poirior says his results have been phenomenal, with employee turnover rate dropping from the high double digits to now the low to mid-digits: “I probably have the best team in the field in this company’s 19-year existence.” As a result, he says, his company poises itself to retain top talent in what labor analysts suggest is an industry that can be considered by clients as either a necessary budgetary cut or a investment necessity to survive an economic recession.11 “[Solving the retention problem],” Poirior says, “has been a huge fix, as well as a personal achievement, for me as an executive within this company.”
1 Thomas Reuters. (October 27, 2009). US ECON: US October Consumer Confidence Down To 47 .Retrieved October 29, 2009, from http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/10/27/afx7048901.html.
2 Dougherty, Connor. (October 30, 2009.) Economy Snaps Long Slump. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125681908931715735.html?mod=article-outset-box
3 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Career Guide to Industries, 2008-09 Edition, Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services. U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved October 28, 2009, from http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs037.htm.
4 Bureau of Labor Statistics.
5 Bureau of Labor Statistics.
6 Yaremich, Marissa. (September 16, 2009). University of Phoenix Knowledge Network Interview: Valicom Owner Nancy Peckham and Chief Operating Officer J. Jeff Poirior. Unpublished.
7 Bureau of Labor Statistics.
8 Bureau of Labor Statistics.
9 Bureau of Labor Statistics.
10 Devine, Robert J. Developing Good Leaders: A Measured Approach. CPP Inc., Retrieved October 28, 2009, from https://www.cpp.com/Pdfs/CPPleadership_whitepaper.pdf
11 Bureau of Labor Statistics.
