Sitima Fowler, General Manager, Integris (Rochester/Buffalo)
It’s not every day that I get a chance to sit down and talk to the CEO of a $30 billion market cap company. I recently got to do just that, though, when I had the pleasure of speaking to Marty Mucci, CEO and President of Paychex Payroll and HR Solutions.
In 2010, Marty took over a $10 billion company and, through hard work and dedication, tripled its profits in just under ten years.
How? Here are three of his most valuable tips to help you grow a successful, thriving business.
1. Value Your Team: Marty largely credits his success to his team. He prides himself on the “small company feel” of his business, despite having over 16,000 employees. He values each one of them, and welcomes their feedback, opinions, and ideas. He goes out of his way to make sure his employees are recognized for their achievements, but also makes sure that they are always motivated to keep moving forward. “It’s very important I think that that our employees have a buy-in and understand where we’re going as a company so that they can be part of it,” Marty explains.
2. Set Clear Goals Throughout the Company: Marty sets clear goals and values and makes sure they are shared across the board. His motto is: “How can we do the best for our clients, employees, and share owners?” He believes in open lines of communication and allows his employees to have a say in how the company achieves these goals.
Per Marty, “I think culture starts at the top. We set values, define values that we had as a business, and we agree with them from top to bottom across the entire organization in the way we’re going to treat our clients and the way we’re going to treat our colleagues, our fellow colleagues. We work in partnership, we’re accountable, we have high integrity.”
3. Embrace Change: Marty cautions, “Keep an open mind in the face of change.” He believes in forward thinking, always embracing change in order to grow and beat the competition. For Paychex, this involved an investment in technology. Paychex has streamlined its mobility app to allow clients to access paystubs, get their W2’s, sign up for retirement plans, and many other services that historically involved personal interactions in person or on the phone.
While Paychex continues to offer customer service and a helpline if needed, Marty acknowledged that the current mindset of most people is the desire to do it by themselves, on their own time, and online.
Marty’s decision to invest in technology has allowed his company to change the way his services are marketed and sold. He is aware that people no longer want, or need, to talk to sales reps before deciding to purchase a product or service. He has focused his attentions on an online presence that allows potential customers to look at his services, try them out, and even purchase them completely online.
Marty Mucci’s recipe for success is a combination of acknowledging the value of those you surround yourself with, having clear goals across the board, and never being afraid to embrace change.
“They have to see what you’re trying to get to, what’s the goal you’re trying to get to. You don’t want to just tell someone you’re changing for change sake. We’re changing because there’s going to be more opportunity for you. More opportunities for you, more products and better service for our clients, and a better investment for those who invest in the company.”
Marty’s advice really hit home with me on a personal level. While Paychex provides payroll support and Integris delivers quality computer support services to small and medium sized companies, our businesses have a lot in common. We both rely on our relationships with our employees as well as our customers. The quality of our workspace is as important to us as the quality of services we provide for our clients. We know that happy employees who feel valued and have a sense of ownership with their employer are far more likely to deliver a fantastic and memorable customer experience.
Recently my company, Capstone IT, merged with Networking Results, Live Consulting, and Choose Networks to form Integris. The transition wasn’t easy, but we did it for the same reasons Marty talked about during our interview. We wanted to create more opportunities for our employees while offering more products and services to our clients. We are learning to embrace change along with the challenges that may come with it.
If you want to find out more about incorporating mergers and acquisitions for your company’s growth, you can contact me and I am happy to share our lessons learned.
If you love to be inspired like I do, check out these other great success stories at www.RochesterRockstars.com.
