Jellyvision Knows Jack About HR - human resources

Workforce, March, 2000 by Kelly Dunn

Jellyvision was growing so fast it didn't have time to consider human resources--until employees asked for it. Then they used their creative edge to develop HR that is equally creative.

Fed by the runaway success of its interactive computer trivia game "You Don't Know Jack(R)," Jellyvision Inc. enjoyed the kind of growth that most entrepreneurs dream about.

The core creative team comprising the company hit its stride in 1995, fostering a harmonious corporate culture. Employees knew how how to discuss John Quincy Adams and Gomez Addams in the same smart-aleck trivia question, but by 1996 it was clear that they didn't know Jack about HR.

They brought this point home to founder Harry Gottlieb at a company-wide retreat in 1996.

The Chicago-based purveyor of original interactive experiences in entertainment, education and beyond had been moving the clever quips out the door so fast that it hadn't given enough thought to such trivial pursuits as compensation and benefits. Until the amalgamation of 30 writers, editors, programmers and directors brought it to founder Harry Gottlieb's attention at the retreat that year, various staffers squeezed such critical functions as recruiting and event planning into their already overflowing schedules.

Other employee concerns--notably the lack of day-to-day employee guidance and formal business policies--simply weren't addressed.

Gottlieb listened to the complaints and realized that these issues, all of them HR-related, threatened to engulf the creative atmosphere so essential to sustaining Jellyvision's future in interactive media.

"We needed to codify our values and ensure people were treated well here," he says. "Work ought to be a pleasant and meaningful experience in a healthy, supportive environment. In a company based on people's talents as much as ours is, HR and the organization of human beings are a primary concern."

Company president Liz Michaels adds, "There was definitely a commitment to how we wanted to be treating people and what we wanted to give them. We had the best of intentions for things like salary and benefits, but nothing was happening. It's pretty unique for a company of only 30 people to start an HR department, but it's only one example of how important we think the people are."

So began Jellyvision's quest to develop an HR department that would be true to the company spirit. As it turns out, HR is perfectly described by the company name, "Jellyvision," as HR inaugurates semisolid policies that can easily move or melt down completely around the company's vision in order to preserve it.

HR builds on a foundation of trust.

To some, marrying sound business policies to a wacky, tight-knit corporate culture would seem about as likely as combining Wayne's World with Greek mythology.

The company had to find someone who could orchestrate the necessary changes while staying true to Jellyvision's collaborative, caring and communicative style. As Michaels explains, "We needed somebody who could make HR an integral part of Jellyvision without becoming the negative entity so often associated with HR."

The company met its match in its very first HR director, recent MBA graduate Vaiva Vaisnys. Vaisnys had a background in marketing, with no previous experience in human resources, but, maintains Michaels, "she understood that HR had to be an intrinsic part of who we are. Vaiva was not the traditional fit in terms of experience, but she was the right fit for us."

To justify this trust, Vaisnys started to work with a crash course in Jellyvision culture. "My very first task was gaining everyone's trust that HR wasn't going to come in and lay down rules and a chain of command and communication," she says. "While HR was a department everyone recognized they needed and wanted, there was a fear that the good stuff was going to change. I hate to say it, but the preconceived notion of HR as an army of paper pushers still exists. So I took a lot of time observing and trying to understand how people work here."

Vaisnys next began an all-encompassing campaign to adapt the company's lackluster--or simply lacking--policies so they'd reflect Jellyvision's concern for its people. First, she tackled the area most concerning employees: a total compensation package consisting of below-market salaries, discretionary year-end bonuses, and a health insurance plan with high deductibles and narrow coverage.

Vaisnys partnered with Michaels and the brand-new finance director, Anna Hinich, to improve the budgeting process and allow for better benefits. "Coming into Jellyvision, there wasn't a dedicated finance staff and no firmly established budgeting processes," says Hinich. "I worked very closely with HR on the total compensation and benefits initiatives to make sure we could afford the improvements HR was proposing."

Hinich, Michaels and Vaisnys reviewed the company's compensation structure, and adjusted the budget so that salary increases became a reality by December 1997. Simultaneously, the team also devised a new, more profitable methodology for determining bonuses. To address the more long-term needs of the employees, the team implemented a 401(k) plan with generous matching that garnered 100 percent employee participation. "Keeping our values doesn't always mean finding the cheapest alternative," admits Hinich. "The primary objective is always to find the plan that works best for Jellyvision's needs."