The Gump Description

Written by David Marceau, VP Sales for Ridgefield One, LLC.

                Since going into the Staffing business, I’ve been baffled by the reaction candidates have towards a job description being an exact match for the actual work duties.  We hear feedback like, “That’s not in my job description,” or “This isn’t what I expected.”  The end result is the employee quits the job.

                I’m of the school of thought that when you get hired to do a job, you go to work to do whatever the company requires to be successful (within legal and ethical guidelines).  A good example is when Forrest Gump’s drill sergeant asks him, “What's your sole purpose in this army?”  He replies uncertainly, “To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant!”  The drill sergeant barks back, “This is the most outstanding answer I have ever heard.”

            I didn’t always think like that.  I once had a job where I thought I was smarter than my manager and I could do things in a better method than I was prescribed to do.  Essentially, I was re-inventing the wheel.  Meanwhile the training I had received was acclaimed by Fortune Magazine as being the best in the field.  So to be successful, all I had to do was to do what I was told.

            I failed miserably at that job.  The one thing I agreed on with my manager was that at the end of my first year I should leave, and I did.

            The next time around, I decided that I wasn’t going to do things my way.  I was going to do like Forrest Gump and do whatever it was my manager told me to do.  This way, if I failed to accomplish the goals that were set out for me, it would be on my manager, not on me.  I also figured that the reason that guy was the manager was because he had sat in my seat for many years and had figured out the business.  So there was a chance that if I did things his way, I might just learn something.

            You know what?  I was wildly successful at that job.  The other unplanned benefit was, when the manager got upset at my team, other employees received his stern admonishments, but I was usually in the clear.  Most of my teammates would complain about the manager behind his back, but I was all right with him.  We got along because I just did whatever he told me to do, the way he told me to do it.

            I’ve taken this lesson forward and now try to apply it whenever possible.  Here at Ridgefield One, we’re a small company and things can move quickly.  Roles and responsibilities evolve as the company grows and often our employees are asked to do things that weren’t in the original job description.  Those who can adapt do well and are happier and have a longer tenure than those who refuse to work outside a narrow, rigid interpretation of the original job description.

            The same goes for the candidates we place with our clients.  One consultant, for example, started work using a basic entry-level skillset.  He did it well and accepted new challenges as they came along.  This enabled him to turn a one month engagement into over a year of work.  The client was happy with him and they got a lot of value out of him so they kept extending him.

            Conversely, we’ve had people quit the jobs we set up for them because the job turned out to be something other than what they had expected and they refused to adapt to the new circumstances.

            This has led me to declare that we should do away with the traditional job description.  All job descriptions should be one sentence, “Do whatever it is your manager tells you to do.”  I call it The Gump Description.

            Sure, it’s good to have an overview of day-to-day tasks, and certainly managers and recruiters need to have some parameters around a general skillset.  But in the end, it comes down to one thing.  When someone is hired by an employer, that employer has a goal above and beyond whatever it is they’re hiring for.  The employee is there to help the company be successful, whatever that means.  Sometimes that requires everyone to pitch in and do things that weren’t in the original job description.

Facebook, Twitter, and All that (Social Media) Jazz

Written by Elisa Zuckerberg, Marketing Director for Ridgefield One, LLC

Does Social Media Marketing really make sense for all small businesses? Does it really add to the bottom line for companies in all industries? How about Landscape, Accounting, or Insurance Firms? A Medical, Dental or Podiatry Practice? Many do use this forum as an attempt to communicate with their customers and patients. For retail it makes perfect sense. For other professional services, I wonder if it is necessary.

I’ve been managing the social media for Ridgefield One, a staffing and web development agency for over a year and a half now and am not quite sure how effective it has been at bringing in new business. I post a couple of times a day on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and reply to any messages or comments. I follow those who follow us, like those who like us, and so forth. We now have a decent number of Twitter followers and Facebook fans, but has it helped build brand awareness? Probably. Has it translated into sales? I do not know, perhaps indirectly.

To address my first question, if you are one who believes that all industries should promote themselves using social media, what’s the rationale? Some say it makes existing customers more loyal? Prove it… and while you’re at it explain how you measure ROI? I don’t believe that most companies are keeping track. I understand that some companies use it as a customer service tool. That makes sense; this is a matter of retention, but I’m still not convinced that it brings in new customers.

Since I manage social media for the company and use social media products personally, I am acutely aware of whom and when people interact with these forums. It’s tricky to elicit responses or encourage action; it is a game of sorts.

Samantha Scott, in her blog, getpushing.com, talks about a “pray and spray” effect. She describes the idea of “throwing out information, media like photos and video out on the Web and hoping someone looks at it, like your target audience.”  In her opinion, that does not work.  I agree with her. We don’t just want to measure how many fans or followers we have, but what we are doing with them. It doesn’t matter if your company Facebook page has 2,000 “likes” or “fans” if none of them are commenting, liking, posting or sharing with you.

A couple of months ago I conducted rudimentary research on this issue. I posted the same exact statement on both the Ridgefield One page and my personal profile. The personal profile received far more comments. Yes, it true I have more friends than Ridgefield One has followers, but I would still expect a couple of responses. I’ve done this several times since - same results.  It makes me wonder if followers and fans ignore professional posts because they see them as advertisements. 

Here’s what else I found:

People do not reply to anything that requires them to read too much or do any work!

Experiment: I posted links to articles that were timely, relevant, and thought provoking. Then I tried to elicit a response with a question which would prompt them to reply. NOTHING. Then I posted the question, “What was your favorite rock concert ever?” I received a bunch of enthusiastic comments immediately!

Observation: A friend of mine posted the following question on Facebook, “Do you brush your teeth before or after you take a shower?” In one day she received 43 responses! This proves my point. If that doesn’t tell you something about the dynamics of Facebook, then what does? You know what else gets people to react to posts? Sick children, sports updates, pictures from events, and any stupid video with animals.

I’ve been talking mostly about Facebook, now how about Twitter?

People who “tweet” think that they are so clever. Many use cryptic language in order to get their message across in 140 characters. It’s very confusing. Almost every tweet is a link to an article. Who has time to read all these articles, white papers, and blogs! And it’s never ending, just when you thought you’d cover all the important news, within seconds there are 100 more posts! With all this constant feed of information, how does a company get noticed? And if they do, does this translates into sales?

What we can learn from this.

If a business chooses to use Social Media Marketing, someone needs to manage it, have clear objectives, and make sure the social media manager keeps up with the technology and changing features. Clearly, the purpose of social media for business is to have a dialogue - communication in not one-sided. If companies only posts industry news or their own business updates, no one will be interested. Social media experts break it down like this:

Facebook and Twitter Posts

Ideally businesses need to measure social media performance. There are tools and methods to do this. Look out for my next blog: Utilizing qualitative and quantitative research to measure social media marketing effectiveness.

The attitudes and opinions expresses are those of one employee and not those necessarily of Ridgefield One as a whole nor its management.


Ridgefield One is an IT and Creative Web Service Agency located in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Ridgefield One also provides an Extra Set of Hands on a Temporary Basis.