Let's say you've got a marketing department that's rocking it, but you just found out your content manager is leaving. Is your first response panic or something else? Welcome to The Marketing Accelerator Podcast, featuring three insights in about three minutes. I'm Drew Dinkelacker. And today, I'm speaking with Jen Macias DeMeyer. She's the VP of Marketing at Homebase. That's an organization that specializes in smart technology for multi-family homes. Jen, you've lived this experience. What's your first response?
Jen Macias DeMeyer: I have lived it, unfortunately, too recently, and my first reaction was, of course, disappointment, maybe a little bit of panic, sad, but my first response is to pause.
Drew: Okay, that sounds good. But there must be some back story here.
Jen: The back story really goes into when I first join a department or a company and taking a look at not just the roles of the people in my department and what they're assigned, but what else are they able to do? What are their hidden talents? What are things that maybe they've done in the past that they're not getting paid for right now because they've moved on? It doesn't mean they're not good at those things. And same with across departments. If you're able to, depending on the size of the company, take a look and ask questions and be curious and learn more about each person, you're better equipped to manage situations like this, and, for instance, I have a programmer who has a Journalism degree.
Drew: You have a good understanding of the skill sets within your labor force. Explain how that ties together with pausing.
Jen: Well, when something like this happens, it's very, very easy and understandable to react with, let's get that job description back out there, let's replace this person. How are we going to continue to do what we did before without having that role? But, if you know that there are other resources that you can outsource internally for at least the time being, that gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate. Does that role still fit your needs right now, does that role need to be replaced as it was, or is it modified a little bit? Is it a higher level, lower level, and, in the meantime, you do reach out to those employees to see, hey, I need some help, we can back off on the frequency and scheduling, but to fill some of these voids and to not overwork the employees who are here. I'm reaching out to that programmer with the Journalism degree, and he's helping with our content, and he's not the only one. And you can look for that blog soon, by the way!
Drew: I like the concept of internal outsourcing; so obvious, but so easily overlooked. At Marketing Accelerator, we optimize marketing leaders with insightful content, exclusive Round Table engagements, deep dive analysis and one-to-one coaching. I'm Drew Dinkelacker.