One of the many reasons I joined K2 is because engaging and rewarding our IT talent is at the forefront of every conversation at K2 Partnering Solutions and is part of our DNA. I knew from the very beginning of my career that consultants are just as much a customer of the industry as the companies that use our services. I would discuss that concept with every new hire joining my team as I knew without it, we would have no business.
Early in my career, we had a dedicated phone line for our elite consultants — the “red phone” — a private number for them to call if they needed anything. Yes, we installed an actual red phone in our offices for this purpose. We also talked about frequent-flier type programs and the best quality programs were put in place for our consultants’ benefit. And our growth was phenomenal.
We still lost consultants, but we always sought to learn from it. When one of our valued consultants selected a different company to represent them, we brought them into a round table so we could learn what we missed, how we disappointed them and what we could do to ensure this never happened again. Of course, there are employees within K2, or any company, that work tirelessly to ensure that both of these customers are taken care of. Without everyone working seamlessly together, we would not have a business or this incredible industry.
Back to K2. In 2015, K2 created a unique online social “invitation only” talent platform for our elite consultants: K2 Konnect. The platform is one of our company’s three key pillars, validating the importance of our talent. Through it, our elite technology consultants enjoy first rights to the best projects, are able to engage with like-minded experts, enjoy rewards and benefits, grow their careers, upskill or reskill, and build their own personal brands.
Within the platform’s “Share and Earn” program, our IT talent are able to earn a share in K2’s growth. Meanwhile, our Elevate program, also through K2 Konnect, engages the talent and enables them to earn benefits and rewards for their engagement, such as professional training, which enables their continued career growth and individual success.
Like many companies, we host all-expense-paid incentive trips to incredible locations, but most companies limit that to internal staff. K2 recognizes our talent isn’t simply one group, it is all of K2. So, K2 Konnect consultants are eligible to win a chance to be one of three consultants to join K2’s top-performing internal staff by contributing to the online community. Unfortunately, the global pandemic delayed this year’s trip to Croatia; however, we will plan to travel together to Croatia as long as it is safe for all in late 2021. Some of our trips have included Greece, Roatan and Singapore. K2 Konnect is a thriving online community that creates social connections that add value to all parties.
An app for that. K2 Konnect provides an on-demand liquid workforce for the agile elite technology space, enabling employers to access fully vetted and referenced technology talent. We include ratings for 360-degree transparency from both our talent and clients, all of which is accessible within our mobile app. K2 Konnect simplifies all within the mobile app for our valued talent, making life easier for the necessities of daily life, time and expense, benefits, etc.
Our platform builds stronger, fluid relationships with our talent. What works today in engaging talent hasn’t changed much from the beginning of my career: listen, learn, engage, share and reward. Today, much of that is now enabled by an AI technology suite versus the brown bag onsite lunches or over a beer at the local bar. The principal remains: Our talent is THE differentiator. Talent is our customer, the brown bag lunches and beers remain (well, post-Covid), yet at K2, we are agile, moving faster and seamlessly charting new territories with our valued talent.
