Collaboration. It’s a $1 billion industry, according to an ABI Research study on worker mobility and enterprise social collaboration. And it’s projected to grow to $3.5 billion by 2016.
No wonder lots of ink has been spilled on this business buzzword on everything from how to start (hint: build trust) to doing it better with social platforms, to using it as a way to achieve that holy grail of business: innovation.
Two years ago, the Harvard Business Review even touted the need for another C-suite executive: the CCO. A chief collaboration officer would be charged with integrating the enterprise as companies scramble to innovate from within. Authors Morten T. Hansen and Scott Tapp argued that with a little flexibility, existing execs such as the head of HR or the CIO could take on that task.
But in an ideal scenario, this most critical of business strategies would have a dedicated individual toiling to make collaboration part of the daily doings of the company. The CCO would have their place among the top brass. Despite the highly trained focus on the benefits of collaboration, according to Jacob Morgan, a principal of the social media consultancy Chess Media Group and scourer of collaboration practices, there’s only one CCO in the U.S. And The Motley Fool has him.
Todd Etter, one of the founders of the multimedia financial-services company that dishes advice on stocks and personal finance, has held the title for the past two years. Now, The Motley Fool is well known for its tongue-in-cheek approach to management (all the employees are called “fools”), and its “rule breaker” investment advice, but the company’s stuck to a core philosophy of enhancing productivity through unconventional practices such as unlimited vacation and an Etter institution, The Foolympics, a two-week event in which employees compete for small prizes (and bragging rights) in challenges that range from brain teasers to business puzzlers to physical competitions. Etter says it’s “silly,” but tapping into the diversity of things the staff loves for five or 10 minutes at a time bonds employees and enhances overall productivity.
They even have proof. Last year, voluntary turnover was 1.6% at the company, as compared to CNN Money findings of 2% at SAS, 5% at Microsoft, and 8% at Zappos. Not to mention the cost savings. Motley Fool’s head “People Fool” Lee Burbage says the cost to hire and train a new employee averages about 1.5 times their salary.