Third Thursday Thoughts, 2nd Edition

What do you see as Silver Linings that came out of 2020?
We kept our employees productive during the initial shutdown with process improvements and streamlining workflows. In doing so, when things started getting back to a new normal, we were better prepared to serve our clients as they got back to business. In fact, in the second half of 2020, we had the highest revenue earned in a month ever recorded in the history of Marcum Search. We also utilized social media to increase our followers and build relationships. We were able to grow our presence on LinkedIn by 62% since March of 2020.

As a business leader, what are your top priorities for the company moving forward?
To grow our business as the Talent Advisory arm of The Marcum Group, providing top talent solutions to all our clients while motivating and maintaining positive morale within our high-performing Marcum Search team. Also, to change and evolve as necessary in fluid situations to achieve the highest level of productivity and success for both our employees and clients.

How do you set expectations high for your employees?
We strategically use our Birkman^® tool to help us manage our employees to their full potential. We assign tasks based on strengths and interests leveraged from the Birkman^® results specific to each employee. The Birkman Method^® drives setting employee goals, coaching and mentoring sessions, and transparency of each employees’ needs.

What are your strengths within the Marcum Search organization?
As we enter into 2021 during a Pandemic – but can see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of vaccines, social distancing and mask-wearing – we continue to strategically lead and motivate our team. We leverage our team by creating awareness, understanding differences in personality types within the team, and striving to meet everyone’s specific needs. In the beginning of 2020, we had a two day company retreat where each employee had their Birkman^® assessment in hand and shared their Birkman^® colors with the group. The Birkman Method^® helped our employees understand their unique personalities as well as those of their colleagues through the use of four colors (red, green, yellow and blue) based on individual interests, usual behavior, needs, and stress behaviors. We saw clear improvements in our business relationships once a higher awareness was brought to the team. In fact, we even started displaying Birkman^® colors on our signatures as a reminder of our stylistic differences when communicating with each other. Being cognizant of personality diversity has really enabled Marcum Search to achieve an ideal work environment, providing each employee the opportunity to work at their fullest potential by proper education and implementation of The Birkman Method^®.