You’d think that with more than a billion dollars in revenue, everyone, especially the CEO, would be all smiles. But complacency is a dangerous thing, and even after posting $1.2 billion in revenue in 2006, there were changes CEO Frank Crum Jr. needed to make at his company if it was going to continue to grow and gain national recognition.
The professional employer organization — which Crum started in 1981 with his father, the late Frank Crum Sr. — was looked upon favorably by clients, but nonclients weren’t familiar with the company. The main problem was that the organization was operating under multiple company names, each with its own identity and procedures, leading to divided company loyalties.
“We have two buildings here and six floors,” says Crum. “It was divided because on floor three of building two, the payroll and billing department for what used to be Ameristaff Inc. sat. On floor two, the payroll and billing department for what used to be called Great American [Employee Services Inc.] sat. You have different managers on different floors, doing different things and almost competing. Ameristaff thought they did things right, and Great American, because they all had slight variances, thought they did things right. I said, ‘We need to bring all our companies together under one umbrella and make one family with one identity, one cause, one goal and one mission.’”
He wanted consistency and a unified brand, so he made the decision to unite everything under the FrankCrum name, creating the streamlined organization he needed to continue to compete.
“When you see Starbucks, no matter where you go, you know exactly what the product is,” he says. “As we get larger and larger in other states, people will learn what to expect from FrankCrum.”
He knew if he didn’t make the change, the competition would have taken advantage of the inefficient structure and passed him by.
“We would have been, as the years go on, an also-ran,” he says.“We posture ourselves to be a great PEO [professional employer organization]. I believe we are a very good PEO now.”
But change never comes easy. Rebranding under one name was a major challenge that created other hurdles along the way.
Here’s how Crum guided one change successfully and tripped on another, yet recovered to learn a valuable lesson.
