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82

BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – May/June 2017

The room is abuzz with activity at

SkillStorm.

Music plays. Call bells hail

triumphs – whatever the

magnitude. Headsets are home

to animated discussions.

Adorning a wall are bold, orange

images of core values – passion,

customers, fellow Stormers

(moniker for SkillStorm’s internal

team), work and play, tenacity

and winning.

SkillStorm assists its clients with information

technology needs – either through on-site

personnel or cloud solutions. Headquartered

in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, it has a presence

in several states (200-plus employees

nationally) and one location in Indiana.

“As far as on a daily or weekly basis, yes

it’s a grind,” acknowledges executive vice

president of recruiting and delivery Brian

Harris. “The conversation you’re having with

folks is the same – it’s just about different

technologies and different projects. But to

incentivize, we’ll do daily awards, weekly

awards and biweekly contests. Those rewards

are chosen by our employees.”

A young team of Stormers comprises the

Indianapolis office. The age range is 23 to 33.

“We’re very strategic on who we bring

in, not only from a skill set (perspective), but

you have to fit our culture,” Harris relates,

pounding on a table for emphasis. “Not

everybody does and that’s OK. But we have

to get it right from a hiring perspective. We

don’t want turnover; nobody does.”

Sandwiches, sports and ‘sprints’

Sports lovers find like minds at

SkillStorm. Excursions range from bowling

and golf competitions to spectating at college

and professional basketball games.

“The majority of the employees here

have been collegiate or professional athletes,”

Harris reveals. “It goes back to time management,

work ethic, commitment. It works well for

what we do and it’s translated very well.”

To streamline communication among

teams across various locations, SkillStorm

conducts daily company-wide ‘sprints’ – 10-

to 15-minute daily virtual conferences.

“It’s extra buy-in because you know

everybody else from the different offices,”

Harris asserts. “We’ll award employees in

front of the entire organization, so there’s a

big hoopla. Everybody likes a pat on the back.”

Staff embraces community service

opportunities as well.

“We do a number of different things.

The most recent one was helping local food

pantries,” Harris imparts. “It’s as simple as we

bought cases of bread and peanut butter and

jelly, and took an afternoon of doing nothing

but delivering food for folks that are in

tougher situations than most of us.”

In their element

“It may be loud in there,” Harris cautions

good-naturedly upon entering the open work

area. “What we do is nonstop on the phones.”

As he steps away, Daniela Tarailo smiles

and offers a chair. Confident and affable, the

resource delivery manager has been with the

company for three-and-a-half years.

“This was my first job out of college,”

she recalls. “I didn’t have experience other

than family business and internships in the

summer. What made it stand apart for me

was the big, family-oriented environment. I

played competitive college basketball and I

liked that we could go ‘head-to-head’ and

compete, but still root for one another and

win as a team.”

Technical recruiter Brittany Miller sits a

few feet away.

“Everybody’s really close and I enjoy

coming to work every day,” she observes.

“The culture is awesome.”

Abruptly, a beaming Harris emerges

from his office.

“Miss Brittany has been delivered some

awards today!” he declares. “Here’s your

Rookie of the Year award and your Dream

Team award.”

SkillStorm

Backing Up the Words

By Symone C. Skrzycki

2017 NEWCOMER

Team lead recruiter Vinnie Pellecchia and resource delivery manager Daniela Tarailo are two of

SkillStorm’s fastest-rising employees.