The Challenge
CTS’ Client – a charter school in The Bronx, NY – was determined to pull off a huge undertaking. They wanted to launch a recruitment push at the end of the school year and hire over 100 new teachers and additional staff (totaling over 200 new employees) by the beginning of the following school year. With a timeframe of 2 months, this was no easy task.
Determined to achieve their goal, the client purchased over 200 new MacBooks. When CTS was asked to help with the laptop configurations, half of the devices had a name associated with them, while the other half were yet to have names assigned to them.
The charter school culture is very competitive, and first impressions are important. When newly hired teachers and staff came to the school in late July for training and preparations, the client wanted to make sure the new laptops were ready to hand out, in a backpack filled with other welcome gifts.
The client was understandably nervous. They had the technology but had to continue hiring with limited time. The client needed a partner they could rely on; one who would exhibit composure and remain on call and accessible to continuously configure the computers as they added new hires over the course of the Summer.
The Solution
The CTS team got to work immediately and configured the computers who had a staff member associated with it. Once the configurations were completed, CTS remained on standby as hiring continued.
CTS prepared by:
Anticipating the needs of the school: The CTS team gathered the details, mapped out a strategy which included resourcing and timelines, and communicated the strategy to the client, so they had clarity around CTS’ role and ownership of the project. This instilled confidence within the client.
Organization, Time Management and Resources: CTS’ summer is very busy with school projects (namely their School Readiness Program). The team is busy implementing new projects and device switchovers, installations, etc. while the students are not in school, so CTS had to plan and gather qualified staff while ensuring other projects were covered. CTS was aware that 100 computers needed to be configured within a week.
The Outcome
CTS’ client accomplished a significant goal, hiring 200 staff members over the Summer. CTS was also successful configuring 100 computers within one week. Since the school had a huge recruitment push until the last minute, CTS was being given the names of staff members up until the day before the start of their new employee training.
“I have been so impressed by CTS’ work ethic, their courtesy and kindness, and the evident care they have for each other. It is energizing to walk in and out of a space where such a natural team is operating. Their willingness to jump in and get a job done while keeping one another's spirit high is a testament not only to their own quality as professionals, but to CTS' quality as a company.”
The client recognized that a lot of work goes into configuring computers and that this wasn’t an easy project. The scenario was an evolving/shifting/changing situation given the fact that active recruitment was happening up until the last minute.
The client called out the CTS team’s excellent teamwork, as well as the positive attitudes that each member possessed. The CTS team was lighthearted and confident, helping transform a stressful situation for the client into a seamless one, strengthening the already solid partnership that existed.
“I just wanted to take a moment to send along my deep gratitude for the team that has been supporting us this week. Our dedicated CTS team has been indispensable to our preparations. There is still so much more to do, but it fills me with relief and confidence to know that CTS stands at our back.”
