Bob Fox: Could you tell us about your company, the type of work you do, and the industry you’re a part of?

Robin Richards: CareerArc is a technology-based social recruiting and outplacement solutions. We look at the issues of recruitment, employment, and transitioning employees. The entire brand experience that employment has on a company is crucial, so we created a recruitment branding platform that help companies distribute and manage their brand and job openings on social networks.

*Robin Richards – Photography by Alicia Cho*

On the back end, we help companies properly protect their brand through the use of virtual outplacement and career transitioning services. On the front end, we help them amplify it.

We’ve helped to revolutionize space this because it’s been an elitist industry where only senior executives receive these kinds of services in the past. It’s our belief that if someone gives you their blood, sweat, and tears regardless of the outcome, you owe them a little bit of help getting them on their feet.

We brought the price and the access down by 80 percent. We’re growing very nicely, and my intention is to bring this service to 100 percent of Americans before I’m done here.

Finding good talent is always tricky and the piece-parts of attracting good talent are changing. It’s not just salary or capability of what you do and what they need – it’s environments and perks that are not traditional to what previous generations are used to knowing.

Bob: How big is your company?

Richard: We have 145 employees, and we are expecting to grow at least another third this year. Inclusion is very important to us as well.

Bob: Could you describe your organization’s culture and how that behavior plays into the work that you do?

Richard: As a long-time entrepreneur and starter of companies, culture is a critical aspect to productivity. If people are happy, they need less management. If people are given great deals of respect as individuals, then it’s up to us to have hired the right kind of makeup to the mindsets we bring aboard. Skillset is teachable, mindset is not.

Our base belief is three-fold. Number one, respect for all. We expect everyone to treat each other with respect. Number two, you have to be as clear as you can in your direction to people. I don’t like micromanagement. It’s important for top level to speak clearly and let people do what you’ve asked them to do. Number three is encouragement, as a fast-growing company you have to have employees who think “I can, and I will”.

Bob: Is there any way that you embody that culture into the physical work environment?

Robin: In our office space, we have about 2,200 SF of space, six to seven conference rooms, and five to six open-areas with just couches.

We’ve also included white boarded walls, a ping pong room with video gaming system, and a wonderful lunchroom where we bring in lunch or breakfast often. There’s lots of light, open spaces, and the cubicles are low. This is what matters to people.

Bob: When you designed the space, was there an overarching goal?

Robin: We retrofitted more than designed from ground floor. Colors mattered, and the overarching architectural thought-process was open space where we give enough closed areas for private conversations and heads down work. I also didn’t want to look down a narrow hall 40-yards deep. About 80 percent of the time I can get a glance of my employees and they can also see me.

Bob: How is the workplace helping you achieve your business goals?

Robin: I think people within the company impact productivity in most circumstances. With the proper culture and architectural design, people feel proud, open, and can get to know each other. This is where people begin to give you that productivity because you’ve given them that environment. We think our environment has a gigantic impact on productivity.

CEOs Talk Workplace: Interview With CareerArc’s Robin Richards