Disrupting an industry is often the key to innovation, but Jim Scapa, CEO of the software and cloud solution provider Altair, doesn’t stop there. He has a passion for shaking things up inside his company, too, and believes a level of internal disruption is critical for keeping good talent engaged in today’s work environment.
“We have a very experimentalist culture,” says Scapa. “It’s centered around four values: envision the future; communicate broadly; seek ‘firsts’—which are original ideas—technology, and business models; and embrace diversity and risk-taking. Everyone has a sense that their ideas count, and they can throw them out there.”
Rethinking Career Paths
Leading a company that has more than 3,000 employees, Scapa discovered that having more experience isn’t always the driver of the best ideas. To encourage growth and engagement, he regularly reorganizes teams and people within his company, putting employees into new roles that they often would not have imagined themselves taking. By being challenged, they offer new ways of thinking, take more risks, and even make mistakes, he explains.
“I think about solutions in a nonlinear way,” says Scapa. “I pay attention to the aspirations of people around our organization. We see high-potential people bubbling up. We notice what they do well and where they can contribute. Then we put them in roles where we believe they’re going to grow further.”
For example, Scapa took an employee who was leading operations in Germany and brought him to the U.S. and put him in charge of development. Later, Scapa moved him back to Europe to run all of European operations.
“That period of time gave him a new level of insight,” he says. “When you’re in the field, you’re complaining about development. And when you’re in development, you’re complaining about the field. That cross pollination helped him bring a whole different ethos. Later, he became one of my three CTOs.”
In another example, Scapa took someone who was involved in insurance and moved her to the electronics side of the business.
“I’m willing to make to changes, and I don’t force people into new roles,” he says. “I watch their transformation. Sometimes these things are complete failures, and that’s okay, too, because we learn from that, as well.”
Shaking Up Company Structure
Scapa also reorganizes departments. For example, he changed leadership roles to focus on the company’s various verticals, which include aerospace, automotive, electronics, and financial services, instead of strictly being tied to regions.
“People are terrified of me reorganizing,” he admits. “I’m not just randomly doing these things. I’m paying attention to where the business is and what makes sense in the moment. I do think you have to constantly be changing.”
By changing the company’s organizational structure, Scapa says he creates more opportunities for people. “It’s scary to some people,” he says. “Initially, they’re thinking, ‘Wait a minute. Is this going to be a promotion for me to go from this role to that role or is that a demotion?’ I try and break that kind of thinking so they’re excited about the next opportunity, what they can accomplish, and how they’re going to grow. We’re a 38-year-old company, and this approach keeps the business feeling youthful.”
This somewhat unorthodox approach to leadership has proven to work. Altair has won a handful of “best places to work” awards in just the last year, including being ranked 35th on Newsweek’s list of Most Loved Workplaces of 2021. And according to Great Places to Work, 95% of U.S. employees call Altair a great employer, compared to 57% of employees at the average company.
Finding People Who Embrace Change
With an ever-changing environment, Scapa says he looks for people who are coachable. “People who are not going to be flexible are probably not going to be a good fit here,” he says. “We do a lot of hiring out of university. That is makes it easier because people coming out of school are generally a little more malleable. We can form people to fit into our culture, but we’re looking for people who can be agile. That’s what it takes to be successful here.”
Scapa says his willingness to change probably has something to do with his personality and birth order. “I’m the youngest,” he says. “The youngest likes to break the rules. I have pretty strong emotional intelligence. I can feel how people are feeling. I also pay attention to the market and to technology and to trends. If I see something that something needs to change, I’m going to change it sooner rather than waiting longer.”
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