Letter on the Third — November 2023
Dear Datamax Family,
Growing up in sports, I always believed in practice… even when it wasn’t officially scheduled. In between our basketball games and team practice sessions, I’d head to the gym or the court by myself. I’d lift weights or run laps or whatever I needed to do to make sure I was on top of my game. I knew I wasn’t the tallest person on the court, so I'd better be the most prepared. I had a motto, a “train of thought,” if you will: Always be training.
It’s the same mindset here. Whether you’re brand new to Datamax, or you’ve been here 20 years, training and education are deeply embedded into our culture ... and your career curriculum. It starts at the top with a vision shared by myself and our executive team, and continues down through our managers, our manufacturer partnerships, and certainly our newest employees. To add a little perspective, consider these numbers (pulled from our DCAD system): Over the past 15 years of recorded service training, Datamax Inc. has logged 99,691 hours of service training, with a corporate investment of $5,281,693. That’s a culture committed to training.
Training to Stay on Top of Our Game.
Perhaps the most obvious example of a Datamax training methodology is our Konica Minolta Pro-Tech, Canon ATSP, and Microsoft Gold Partner advanced certifications that our IT technicians and service teams earn year after year after year. The recognition is great. However, to me, it’s much more about logging in the hours to make certain that we’re still learning and we’re the absolute best that we can be when our clients need resolution. Is it a lot of work? Sure. Does it pay off in the end? Absolutely.
Training to Breed Familiarity.
When I first came to Little Rock, I knew little to nothing about my new home. So, I got involved with organizations like the Young Presidents Organization, Rotary Club, and as many different nonprofit organizations and associations as I could. I also chaired River Fest (one of the largest music festivals in the state)… all so I could familiarize myself with the business community at large. I attended Copier Dealers Association Meetings and served as Chairman on the Canon and Lexmark Advisory Boards to learn from others in our space, and to hone in on what best practices we could bring back here. In your own space, where are there opportunities to better familiarize yourself with your local business community?
Training as Part of Our Culture.
It becomes apparent to employees here as soon as they arrive: Training is essential to our culture here. From Canon Boot Camps to in-field shadowing to whatever manufacturer trainings are presented to us, we want to see you succeed (even if they don’t know it at first). In fact, when new employees fill out their weekly feedback sheets, it’s not busy work. Their responses help our managers train on what we could do better from an onboarding perspective. It’s important that you know that we’re committed to your success. But you’re not going to meet your greatest potential just because you willed it. It’s important to set goals, but if you’re not willing to put in the work – to roll up your sleeves and train– those goals remain nothing more than wishes. That’s where practice comes in. Always be Training.
The Best is Yet to Be.
