The leadership team at HyBridge Solutions is focused on a strong, collaborative company culture while expanding the team’s capabilities and customer commitment. HyBridge delivers professional services for complex Infor and UKG projects and has recently been named one of the best places to work in healthcare.
The Early Formation of HyBridge and the Core Pillars of the Company Culture
After earning his degree in human resources, James Wilson began his career in HR with a local boat manufacturer. He then moved into the supply chain department, where he helped implement a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to help automate manual processes. He was a key part of the project team, which inspired his passion to create a positive impact on his colleagues and customers. This ultimately set his future career path.
James then became a Lawson (now Infor) system administrator at a regional hospital in eastern North Carolina. There he was able to expand his competency with ERP systems while gaining an appreciation for the unique challenges of healthcare organizations and the importance of collaboration with teammates.
A couple years later, James joined a healthcare consulting firm where he met his future business partner, Crawford Hammett, and formed many long-lasting professional relationships with future HyBridge team members. James and Crawford immediately connected through a mutual appreciation for customer service, understanding the importance of building strong relationships with clients and teammates at all levels.
Over the next few years, James and Crawford witnessed their firm and others go through mergers, acquisitions, and venture capitalists chasing exponential growth at the cost of quality. With another merger looming, they believed there was a better way to do business.
So, in 2006 James and Crawford founded HyBridge Solutions, Inc. Commitment to customer service and strong relationships formed the backbone of HyBridge’s mission. In addition, creating an environment where collaboration and diverse ideas can thrive played a huge role in shaping the culture. In a dynamic work environment where employees are spread out across the country, supporting freedom and responsibility is crucial to empowering team members.
While HyBridge scaled, leadership adjusted along the way, allowing the culture to continue to thrive. As the team grew from a handful of consultants to now over 80 team members, James and Crawford recognized they could not micromanage a team of that size. In response they created a flat management structure that gives employees the freedom and flexibility to get the job done in their timeframe. This mutual trust fosters the loyalty and commitment of employees.
HyBridge’s core priority and responsibility is positive customer outcomes. And James and Crawford understand that satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers. Therefore, they listen to feedback and adjust policies to provide employees with the freedom and tools needed to succeed while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. One recent example is changing the time off policy to eliminate limits and increase time-off flexibility.
What Makes HyBridge Successful?
Trust, empowerment, responsibility, and accountability are the keys to building the strong relationships that keep an organization running, even in uncertain situations.
During onboarding new employees are assigned mentorship and receive frequent touch points through their first three months. Making employees feel welcomed by giving them a chance to communicate and collaborate, regardless of their title or experience, provides a sense of belonging. Nurturing relationships with employees by involving them in goal setting also promotes ownership. After onboarding, team members continue development through engaging in ongoing training and collaborative groups.
Relationships between customers and employees are also founded on trust. This enables the company to grow organically and helps find the right people that fit well within and align with the existing company culture.
Another key component to fostering meaningful relationships is communication.
“Our team members have to be effective communicators,” Wilson said, “especially in a partially remote environment. I think a good way to achieve this is to gain perspective through compassion. Communication and compassion for others are the biggest soft skills that every good consultant must have, even above the hard skills required for the job.”
A good illustration of this in practice is the response to the pandemic.
“We weren’t sure how this would impact customers and employees,” Wilson said. “So we came together as a team to discuss how we could mitigate risk and continue operations. Our technical infrastructure enabled us to continue to support our customers as we were already set up to work 100% remote.”
HyBridge then shifted focus toward its customers. Healthcare organizations were all significantly impacted by Covid, and many clients considered postponing or cancelling their projects. HyBridge was able to adjust to individual client needs to ensure continuity of operation and, in some cases, continue with mission critical projects.
“Not only were we able to avoid layoffs, we grew 55% in headcount during that period,” James said. “To do that, we took care of our existing employees and began recruiting individuals who maybe hadn’t considered consulting. People were reevaluating their career goals, and we were able to capitalize on that to attract new talent.”
Building and Maintaining Customer Relationships
Even without a global pandemic, change is constant. Especially in the healthcare industry, where change affects patients, customers, and employees.
The ability to adapt to change separates the top companies and employees from the rest. With a global shift to remote work, it became clear that customers with a cloud strategy held an advantage in the marketplace. They had the ability to pivot to a remote workforce and maintain access to mission critical applications.
While the technology enabled remote work, it quickly became apparent that the way HyBridge develops relationships would change. Absent the ability to have in-person meetings, verbal and written communication skills became critical to maintaining client relationships.
“We hire self-starters, invest in their professional development, and trust that they can do their job,” Wilson said. “Articulate your expectations and goals and give them the support they need to deliver quality outcomes. Do not try to micromanage them, but instead trust them with their work while giving them the support they need.”
As Wilson and the HyBridge team have learned, freedom, responsibility, and collaboration are the most critical aspects of maintaining an attractive and engaging workplace culture. As they continue to navigate the ever-changing landscape and evolving customer goals, HyBridge has the team to truly make a difference in their industry.