Employee Interview- Elias Askins

This week’s employee interview is unique. Not only is today’s blog a highlight of our current service manager Elias Askins, but also a farewell during his last weeks at The IT Company. We asked Elias to reflect on back on his time at The IT Company.

Elias has been working for The IT Company for almost four years now and has truly enjoyed his time here. As the team’s service manager, Elias has been in charge of operational management within the office. From making sure the team has the correct number of resources, to assigning tickets, Elias does a lot of behind the scenes work to ensure everything is running smoothly. Although Elias has a lot of responsibility within the team, he has a nice balance of also getting to interact with customers often. He described himself as the bridge between the team and their clients.

When reflecting back on working for The IT Company, Elias shared a memory of a time he was able to take away the frustrations of a customer. He said that this particular client was having an issue every day and it was always something different. They called him one day and said “Eli, we don’t know what to do. We can’t work, this is frustrating, help.” Elias told us that his role was then to gather the team up, go on site, and make a game to fix the problem not just on a surface level, but long term. After the problem was solved, Elias said the life of this customer is way easier and they are able to actually focus on their work now rather than constantly having to call in saying something is broken. Since then, the same problem has not arose again for this customer.

These success stories are one of the things that make working for The IT Company so special. Not just that the  problem was fixed, but knowing that the customer felt like they were heard and important.

Elias can honestly say that The IT Company is different and stands out from the rest. “We are an IT company that focuses on the customer, the people themselves. We work with technology but we are in the business of happy customers first and foremost.” It’s easy to only focus on what is broken, but The IT Company focuses on more, genuinely caring about the customer and how they feel.

During his time at The IT Company, Elias shared that he has learned a lot about his leadership style. He said he has a lot of opportunity to explore different personalities that make up our team. By finding his own “voice” as a leader, Elias has become more self-aware of his strengths and areas that he can improve. He said these experiences are invaluable and he will definitely take them with him wherever he goes next.

The top three things Elias learned while at The IT Company that he will carry on with him are;

1. “Our industry, though technical in nature, is all about taking care of people and making their jobs/lives easier.  I feel that this is an area in which The ITCo excels.”
2. “Proper communication, whether with your own team or with clients, is absolutely critical to success.  Asking the right questions, understanding needs, and communicating ideas all equal a successful partnership.”
3. “There is power in selecting the right people to be on your team.  I trust everyone at the ITCo to make the best decisions possible to ensure customer happiness.  It truly takes a strong team to deliver world-class customer service.  I’ve been fortunate to grow and learn from an amazing team and I hope to take that knowledge and apply it in my new role.”

We are so thankful for Elias Askins and his time as a part of our team. While we are sad to see him go, we know he will do great things in the future.