Spinnaker Support - Back-Office Customer Service Team of the Year

Company: Spinnaker Support, Greenwood Village, CO
Company Description: Spinnaker Support is the fastest growing and highest-rated global provider of Oracle and SAP third-party support and managed services. Spinnaker Support customers get more personalized and responsive service, save an average of 62% on their annual support fees, and can remain on their current software releases for as long as they desire.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Back-Office Customer Service Team of the Year - Technology Industries

Nomination Title: Spinnaker Support

Spinnaker Support is a global provider of third-party enterprise software support, managed services, and consulting, with nine worldwide offices and 1,300+ customers spanning 100+ countries. In 2020-2021, Spinnaker Support increased annual bookings by 27%+, meaning more customers, new international offices, and additional employees (now 500+). To keep pace with our prodigious growth, the Human Resources department successfully underwent a major transformation from a primarily outsourced function to a highly efficient, automated global operation.

The Human Resources group is responsible for providing the tools, resources, and support required by the business and employees to achieve the company’s objectives. Only 18 months ago, the group consisted of two employees in the Colorado headquarters: the VP of Human Resources and the Director of Recruiting. They relied on a basic, low-cost, applicant-tracking database and utilized a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that provided a standard set of benefits and system capabilities.

While effective enough, the PEO did not allow them to develop customized programs for employees, nor did it provide for a single database of both domestic and international employees. Ultimately, they determined that this lack of human capital technology was seriously inhibiting its ability to deliver the best candidate and employee experience.

In August 2020, the company hired Megan Morris, a seasoned VP of Human Resources, with a track record of leading companies to quickly scale HR. In the past 18 months, she tripled and diversified the team, which included specialists dedicated to new employee recruitment and onboarding, a Compensation & Benefits Manager, an HRIS-focused Generalist, and an HR Business Partner to work closely with leaders and employees. The team has also implemented the Jobvite applicant tracking and onboarding system, replaced the PEO with the more comprehensive Paylocity, and built out the company’s first own benefit offerings.

The results? The HR team better supports managers with technology that enhances the search and hiring experience, enables organizational growth through greater velocity, and delivers insights through advanced access to employment metrics. Put simply: hiring is easier, faster, and far more consistent.

Additionally, the centralized employee information database has allowed HR to automate other key initiatives, including annual performance management and company-wide cascading goal setting. This has resulted in a measurable increase in employee satisfaction, even as employee growth reached 22.1% in 2021.

The numbers tell the story:

Our time to fill open positions outpaces our benchmark competitors by up to 10 days.
There has been minimal disruption to the 70% growth in full-time employees.
30-day new hire survey feedback is exceptionally positive, with 93% reporting that their on-boarding was very or extremely effective.
100% of performance evaluations are now captured through Paylocity which allows for automated workflows and reporting.

Spinnaker Support is distinctive in that we have no capital investments (e.g., equipment, software, R&D). Our global workforce is not just our most important resource, it is also our only “asset.” Therefore, the HR team’s mission of providing the best services is paramount to our ongoing success, especially during the “Great Resignation.”

Knowledge workers, particularly in technology, are in high demand and do not remain long at businesses with poor candidate and employee experiences. Hiring well and retaining high performers is essential to our forward momentum and cost savings. Our turnover rate of 7.0% in 2021 is very low compared to an average global industry rate of 18.3%.

With the internal team and new infrastructure, we have enhanced the employee experience far beyond where we began. Employees have internal experts who answer HR questions far more quickly than the PEO. The HR team can manage exceptions and apply policies in ways that recognize unique situations. Employees have someone they know who cares about them and their families. Managers have a streamlined hiring process and a single interface to review all their direct reports, domestic or international.

The business anticipates equal or greater growth in the next several years, and the HR team is ready. For example, Spinnaker Support acquired Dobler Consulting in September 2021. The transformed staff and systems were tested and proven as the team successfully onboarded a significant number of new, remote employees within days, tripling our managed services team.

As you would expect, it is a challenge to provide supporting materials related to a back office human resources team of a service company. As the way it should be, the HR team of a privately held company is highly efficient and essentially invisible to the outside world.