The concept of partnering is at the core of the culture of
StoneHenge Partners. We partner with clients & employees
alike.
The culture of a company often reflects the
personal values of its founder. StoneHenge Partners is no
exception. Here are excerpts from an interview with Mike Fletcher,
President.
"It's all about relationships," said Fletcher.
"Some of our employees are former clients and some of our clients
are former employees. That's a testament to our high reputation in
Tulsa," where the IT community is tight and everyone knows everyone
else.
"We never want a client to be unhappy that they teamed up with
us," said Fletcher, "and we never want an employee to be unhappy
that they signed on with us. We're not happy until they are
happy."
We expect to grow while maintaining our core
values. Our service offerings will continue to evolve, but our core
values will not change."
-- Mike Fletcher, president
Partners with clients
Partnership is fundamentally ingrained in the firm's
culture.
"There is a need in the market to listen and respond to a
client's needs-not impose a one-size-fits-all retail solution. Our
value lies in our adaptability and flexibility," Fletcher said.
Faced with IT problems, clients often turn to prestructured
tools and methodologies that force them to alter their business
functions to fit the tool. By contrast, StoneHenge Partners has
developed flexible tools and methodologies that adapt to the
client's needs.
"You know, what makes us a success is the way we work, the way
we go about our business. Well, the same is true for our clients.
We can't come in and give them an off-the-shelf solution to their
problems, because we don't know their business as well as they do.
So our value is: we find out how they do their business, then we
partner with them to develop a customized solution that does it
better."
Partners with employees
StoneHenge Partners has attracted some of the most talented and
experienced IT professionals in Tulsa, and a big reason is the
company's loyalty to its employees.
In a typical IT staffing firm, when an employee's contract with
a client ends, so does his job - and his paycheck. At StoneHenge
Partners, however, when a consultant completes a client contract,
he moves to "the bench," continuing to draw a paycheck and training
to improve skills while waiting for the next contract to open
up.
"We want to create a place where people look forward to coming
to work. Where they are enthusiastic about their jobs. Where they
are continually learning to do it better. Where they feel they make
a difference. Where they are given the authority and responsibility
to do their job in whatever way works best for them. And where they
get the credit (or criticism, sometimes) that goes with it,"
Fletcher said.
"People respond to that," he said.
Partners with ... well, our partners
StoneHenge Partners opened an office in Hartland, WI, near
Milwaukee, in 2002. Fletcher said the decision was based on
relationships. Pat Sloan, director of the Milwaukee office, has
solid long-term contacts within his community. A longtime business
associate of Fletcher, he chose to affiliate with StoneHenge
because its core values matched his idea of what a company should
be.
In the future, Fletcher said, "we expect to grow while
maintaining our core values. Our service offerings will continue to
evolve, and our locations will grow, but our core values will not
change."