Closing the door on departures

GTE Internetworking knows how to hang on to its network operations staff.

By Mitzi Waltz
Network World, 4/6/98

High-tech personnel are hard to find and retain, and the formula for building a successful and stable team can be elusive. It's certain, however, that GTE Internetworking is on to something. Only one employee has resigned from the Internet service provider's 43-person Network Operations Center (NOC) since November 1996, and that was because he was moving out of the country.

NOC Director Joe Leonard says there's no secret formula for his success, nor is there any one element he can point to as more important than another. Rather, he is more like a coach who succeeds by continually focusing on all the fundamentals. In this case, the fundamentals are hire carefully, promote internally, reward regularly and educate well.

"When we bring new recruits into our group, one of the things that's most important is how they're going to fit. It's even more important than technical knowledge," Leonard says. Team-oriented people who are smart and willing to learn can excel at GTE regardless of their background, he says.

Flexibility is one of the most important attributes Leonard looks for when he evaluates candidates. The ISP industry and the daily workload at GTE change rapidly. One day's crisis may be a downed T-1 line, while the next day, it's routing around multiple T-3 outages while pushing the telephone company to fix the problem.

Many applicants come to GTE with impressive backgrounds, but some may be reluctant to learn about new technologies or may resist adopting faster ways to perform familiar tasks, Leonard notes. Others have less experience but will thrive because they're willing to take the initiative, ask questions and learn.

For example, Michael Ruffini joined the ISP when he was fresh out of school with an English degree. He moved up rapidly from his entry-level trouble-shooter post to become a member of the network engineering team. As he puts it, "You can teach people how to fix a T-1, but you can't teach people how to think for themselves."

Leonard fosters an interdependent, casual atmosphere at the NOC, which employees say relieves some of the pressure. Co-workers are encouraged to help each other solve problems, and managers make a point of listening and responding to ideas from the rank and file. Pizza dinners and quarterly parties also contribute to building team spirit, Leonard says.

Upwardly mobile

Too often, network operations workers feel they're in a dead-end position and grab the first job offer that comes along, Leonard observes. That was the case at GTE, too, until the company recognized that some workers felt they had to leave in order to move up the career ladder.

With the career advancement structure in place, "people in our group see that there's a path from the NOC into an engineering group," Leonard says.

Rather than just talking about promoting from within, GTE makes it happen. "I have our managers sit down with people and lay out a career path. They may say 'I like what I'm doing, but two years down the road I'd like to be a project manager in your information services group.' We try to show them how to get there," he says.

GTE employees cite internal promotion as the biggest incentive for sticking around. The policy is important in an environment like the NOC, where both the work and the workplace can be stress-inducing. For the rows of network staffers watching wall screens, keeping an eye on network maps and answering frantic phone calls, it helps to know their jobs could grow into something bigger before too long.

"It's very fast-paced, very unpredictable, but that's the nature of working in the NOC," says Kay Trepanier, a network controller. "You never know what might happen next."

Luckily for Trepanier, her NOC days didn't last forever. She just moved into a newly created position as telecommunications analyst to leverage the experience she gained as a front-line trouble-shooter. Most employees in the NOC move to a better position within two years, Leonard says.

GTE's work atmosphere is different from Trepanier's former employer, a competing ISP. "It's the professionalism," she says, noting GTE's policies and procedures outlines.

That makes moving up easier, too, she says. Before she assumed her current position, Trepanier familiarized herself with the tasks for which she would be responsible. A telco guideline that includes step-by-step instructions also made her feel comfortable tackling the new job.

Internal promotions aren't the only incentive, of course. GTE's salaries are in line with other local firms, and include 10% to 15% differential pay for second- and third-shift workers. The company also offers a performance bonus program and standard benefits. Although such compensation packages are fairly common throughout the industry, frequent salary reviews help set GTE apart from the competition.

"Every quarter we review the employee's salary," Leonard says. Employees who learn extremely quickly are moved up in the company on a fast track.

Training for success

GTE also gives its employees the tools to learn. The company offers internal training for trouble-shooters on T-1, T-3, frame relay and TCP/IP issues, among other topics. These aren't just generic professional certification courses, but ones that are specific to GTE's network and procedures.

Employees who want or need certification can use self-study materials or take advantage of the company's generous tuition assistance program. Trepanier is completing a Unix certification program at nearby Northeastern University, in Boston, while others pursue Cisco Systems, Inc. certification or complete a degree.

While some employers are hesitant to fund training for fear of workers jumping ship with newly acquired skills, GTE's impressive retention rate shows that the benefit might even help instill employee loyalty.