When Rural Sourcing, now rebranded as Sparq, came to Buffalo in 2021, the Atlanta-based company hired its first 40 employees in less than 12 months.
Since then, the business, which uses a 100% remote model to tap into underutilized technology talent, has more than tripled its local team to 133 workers and aims to get to 250 within the next couple of years. The company, which employs 820 nationwide, does business-to-business consulting and provides outsourced digital engineering for clients.
Natascha Thomas, Sparq’s regional director for Buffalo, chalks it up to the company’s business model and culture.
“We’re not this big, flashy name,” she said. “We need something else, and I think that’s what we offer – a good work-life balance and a respectful, supportive work environment.”
Here are four ways Sparq has tripled its workforce in Buffalo.
Going fully remote.
Sparq used to hire around its hubs, or development centers. But in 2020 when the overall workforce went remote, the company made the conscious decision to stay remote and hire staff anywhere across the country.
“It gives our colleagues the flexibility and freedom to work from home,” Thomas said.
Having stability and fair pay.
While huge technology companies were making news headlines for laying off workers, Sparq kept its reputation for being a consistent place to work. Also, the company allocated a few million dollars during the pandemic to give staff raises, as competitive salaries were on the rise.
“I’ve been in technology for 20 years,” Thomas said. “This is one of the things that solidified Sparq is the place for me.”
Promoting based on brand.
People aren’t promoted internally just based on their job performance. It’s also based on brand – or workers’ willingness to help others, share information and mentor peers. In other words, staff have to have the mind of engineers and the heart of teachers to be successful at Sparq, said Thomas.
Creating a supportive work environment.
The way Sparq runs its client accounts and leadership teams, employees’ wellbeing is protected.
For example, as a regional director, Thomas’ priority when it comes to client accounts is her team. The account manager’s job is keeping the customer satisfied.
Then there are multiple managers under each director whose job it is to mentor their employees.
“My manager when I first joined as a senior colleague was just there to help me on my career path, to coach and advise,” Thomas said. “So that’s all he had to worry about, making me the best person I could be. Pay, write-ups and difficult conversations came from the director. It freed the manager up to be a coach, not a punitive person.”
Although the workforce is remote, Sparq tries to match staff with clients’ time zones so that, for example, a team member in Buffalo isn’t working on a Pacific Daylight Time zone with a California customer.
