Corporate History
Since 1991, W5 Technologies has been successfully providing outstanding quality engineering services and technical support for both the commercial and defense/government industries. We were a very small staff from 1991 to 2005 and have experienced exponential grow since. We know how to hire the right staff, treat them properly, and successfully integrate them into our customers’ organizations.
Our Approach
Foremost, our approach is honesty. Whether dealing with customers, vendors, or staff, everyone appreciates and responds well (and usually honestly) to honesty. When customers ask us questions, we provide honest answers, including “I don’t know – but will find out.” We share honestly with vendors about purchases. We are honest with our staff.
Having the right staff and managing them appropriately are the two most important aspects of successfully integrating support services into an organization and of maintaining the effort. With those two aspects in place, the third topic is to create a corporate culture that helps that staff, encourages decision making, delegating, innovating, using good tools, documenting work, and above all, performing like professionals.
Integrating Professional Support Services
Undoubtedly, the most important aspect of integrating professional support services into any organization and ensuring best practices and cost savings is having the right staff. Procedures, rules, policies, and tools are necessary but they are only useful in the hands of a motivated and informed staff. It all starts with having the right staff.
Hire Attitude
W5 intentionally hires for attitude, persons who, given a new task, immediately start thinking “I think I can do this….I saw an article about this….” and then states “I’m sorry, please excuse me, I need to get this done!” These folks take pride in the challenge of learning a new task. These professionals quickly become skilled and practiced at new tasks simply because they are willing to tackle new tasks with vigor. The first step in maximizing innovation, instituting best practices and reducing costs is to hire the right people, and W5 excels at that. Nearly all of our new hires come via personal recommendation of existing employees.
Match Staff to Task
Of course, it is important to match the correct staff with the task. The technical aspect of matching is generally easy; assessing whether the person has the right technical skill set for the task can be ascertained from their background and education. Assessing whether they want the assignment is different but is usually just a matter of directly asking them, that is, being honest. Our approach is to try assign people who are not only qualified to do the task but also want to do it. Their rationale may be that they feel they can grow professionally from the work, or that it is particularly interesting. It may be as mundane as the assignment is close to home so their commute is lessened. Whatever the rationale, assigning people to a task they want is not always possible, but things go more smoothly when it is.
Summary
W5 believes in honesty, in hiring the right staff, and in treating them like the professionals they are. Let this set of professionals help your program succeed.