b'questions based on things that might have shown upThatissotrue.Andyourexecutionon on the talent profile. During feedback calls with thehowtofigureoutthebalanceneeded CSS Talent Team, we can get a clear insight into thebetween work and family and flexibility? unique talents for each person and their situational talents to let us know how to best coach them forLori: Yes, this transformation is also about the sup-development and success if we do hire them. port to the AEs. Its a team selling environment. Yes, The other thing we do is we send a Top Talent reportthe AEs go out and sell, but the account team really to everyone who completes the assessment, whetherfulfills on it, and weve gotten that down to a pretty or not they come on board with us. This way, theygood science over the years. And thats been super have access to their results and are able to utilize andeffective for the AEs to have time to be out selling take actionable items away to help with their careermore, meeting with clients, having productive busi-development.ness conversations, whether with a new or current client.DoyoualsousetheassessmentsforThats a big part of that success toonot just the coaching and feedback calls?flexibilitybutthewholeteamsellingenvironment and the roles and responsibilities of each team mem-Lori: Yes, all the time. We also use the CSS Growthber, being very clear on what they are responsible for Guides development tool also on a regular basis. Itsand what the other person is responsible for.not just a one and done: we use these tools consis-tently, all the time, to help us develop and coach ourElizabeth: It took us many years to get that down. employees. Its like the wheels of a car and the car cant func-tion without one of them. The team really works well Tell us more about this big win! together, and it took a long time for us to get that process down and for us to change the way that we Elizabeth: This is our first time winning it, and thisdid business. Its very well-known this is an outside is only the second or third Station of the Year awardsales role and outside sales organization; the account given. They have changed the award from individualteam understands that the sellers have to be out vis-salespeople to more of a group and station approach.iting with clients and that we are here making sure There are very clear benchmarks.the business runs as it needs to. The whole organiza-We are measured in four categories: tion knows that this is a developmental and outside client facing situation and no one is sitting behind a 1.Traditional TV business computer all day. Because of our previous experience 2.Digital with Hurricane Harvey, we were better prepared and 3Enterprise more agile for the pandemic, and we had the systems 4Premion and trust in place for to operate our business as nor-mally as possible.We consistently exceeded all four buckets in the year. The team is really proactive; our AEs are very activeLori: The reason we were so successful last year is be-and help with peer-to-peer training regularly. TEGNAcause every single person contributed to the success. gives us very clear benchmarks and we pass along su- It wasnt just a handful of people who achieved their per clear benchmarks to the team. revenue number. Everybody really stepped up and contributed to the overall success of the department.In the whole transformation would youThankyousomuchforyourtimeand saythattalenthasbeenacornerstoneallowing us to spotlight you. Congratu-pillar? lations again on being selected as 2021 Lori: Absolutely, it is all about the people. You canStation of the Year!have lots of good processes, but if you dont have the right people in place, then it doesnt matter. 64 How This Organization Won National Acclaim by Focusing on Talent'