Ownership for All

Internal Data Resources’ ESOP stimulates engagement and growth

Internal Data Resources Inc. is proud to be recognized by SIA for the third year in a row as a Best Staffing Firm to Work For.

Since it was founded in 1998, the firm has expanded its reach beyond its headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia, opening offices in other major cities like Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas; and Denver. It provides staffing solutions in a wide variety of industries, focusing on IT and healthcare. No stranger to success, IDR landed on SIA’s Fastest-Growing US Staffing Firms list in 2021 with a 15.7% compound annual growth rate between 2016 and 2020; in 2021, its revenue rose another 70%.

Throughout all these channels, IDR has earned its reputation as a valuable and trusted partner to its clients and consultants. For nine years running, the firm has won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Diamond Award in both the client satisfaction and talent satisfaction categories. But IDR’s clients and consultants aren’t the only ones who praise the firm for its track record of excellence — its internal employees do as well, as proven by the firm’s third listing among SIA’s Best Staffing Firms to Work For.

IDR values employee engagement and growth, which have been a top priority for the company from the start as well as through a global pandemic. To President and CEO Ashley Holahan, it all boils down to IDR’s employee stock ownership plan, which she helped the company establish shortly after she joined as a senior financial manager in 2009. The ESOP is a vital part of the organization that is open to internal employees and consultants alike.

“As an ESOP, we have a shared-ownership mentality, which leads to a commitment for growth across the company, which in turn is one of the keys of having that year-over-year growth,” Holahan says. “Our job is to look after our clients and employees, which includes our ESOP participants. Our ESOP enhances the way that we do business because our employees are owners. They recognize that they have a stake in our future, ownership of delivering one-of-a-kind solutions, and the power to solve challenges faster.”

By extending the ESOP benefits to its consultants, IDR gives them the opportunity to engage in the company’s culture and success, and it provides an incentive to continue working through the organization. The ESOP also enables the company to serve its clients and internal employees better, Holahan notes. “By taking better care of our employees, we are able to produce higher-quality service and talent for our clients,” she says.

Values-Driven Mindset

To hear the employees tell it, though, the ESOP itself is a product of IDR’s values — from having an ownership mentality to striving for excellence and continued personal growth — and it’s those values that are the foundation to its success.

Take, for example, Senior Account Manager Samantha Green, who has been with the company for nearly 10 years. “It’s a place where you are encouraged to be the best possible version of yourself,” she says — something that looks different for every person every day. Green appreciates that it forces her to grow, which is a personal value of hers. “It’s forced me out of my comfort zone to learn about myself and other people and to be more open-minded and compassionate.”

Another product of IDR’s values is its approach to employee development. Its hiring and onboarding process is designed to create a sense of camaraderie and jump-start employees’ individual growth and leadership skills. When they are hired, employees are onboarded in monthly classes that together learn IDR’s business practices, procedures, core values and mission.

Hadley Hutchinson, an account manager who joined IDR nearly a year ago, says of her onboarding class, “The team that I started with —there were five or six of us who started together— instantly became my best friends.”

New hires also attend leadership development training together, studying and discussing a book on leadership and personal development— the first step of many on their journey as company owners. “IDR believes in providing our employees the tools to succeed both personally and professionally,” Holahan adds. “Leadership development provides our new hires the opportunity to work and communicate closely with our local leadership teams to learn and improve their leadership skills.”

Additionally, management skills are important to IDR employees’ professional growth. “Managing other people teaches you a lot about yourself and allows you to grow personally and professionally,” Green explains. To that end, IDR gives account managers the autonomy and skills to learn how to manage newly hired recruiters.

The Sky’s the Limit

The emphasis on professional and personal growth leads to fast advancement within IDR. Green, for example, has been promoted five times. Hutchinson, meanwhile, is on her third role since she started as a recruiter last year.

Not only do employees get the opportunity to advance based on hitting sales targets, they are able to work with leadership on identifying and addressing company needs as IDR continues to grow, Green says.

“It’s really attractive that there is no end point, at least for the foreseeable future,” Hutchinson says. “I’ll always have something to work toward. And that makes me motivated to do my best.”

What’s also unlimited is the company’s commission structure, which Green considers unparalleled in the industry. Having had multiple other staffing firms try to lure her away during her tenure, she hasn’t been compelled to leave, she says. In addition to the commission package, IDR offers internal employees other excellent benefits — such its corporate athlete program, which provides an annual health and wellness benefit for those who have been with the company for at least six months. The Corporate Athlete program speaks to the company’s commitment to employees’ mental health and well-being.

Our People, Our Future

IDR is defined by its commitment to its employees, which is the basis of its unconventional decision as the pandemic took hold not to cut any staff. “We made a decision as a company that instead of reducing our workforce and salaries, we were going to do the opposite and continue to grow and invest in our team,” Holahan says. And IDR followed through as it eased through the shutdowns, maintaining its team spirit through virtual happy hours, virtual games and even virtual baby showers. The offices began reopening in June 2020 with small pods of distanced employees, who were as committed as ever with the ownership mindset that’s become a pillar of IDR.

“We knew there would come a time that the economy would come back, and when it did, we’d be ready,” Holahan says. “That probably was one of the best decisions we made as a company.”

As the world emerges from the pandemic, IDR’s future certainly looks bright. In a time when other business struggle to hire and retain talent, IDR’s loyalty to its own ensures that its people are happy and committed in turn. Green, for one, can’t imagine going anywhere else. “It would be hard for any other firm to match IDR’s culture and values.”