Meet Tyler Marcus and Gradmor

Tyler Marcus is CEO of Gradmor. Prior to being a founding partner of Gradmor, he utilized data analytics and finance to drive acquisition efforts at multiple startups. Before these management roles, Tyler worked as a Financial Data Analyst in both tech and healthcare. Tyler holds a BA in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a member of the Honors Research Scholars program, where he aided professors in data analysis.

Gradmor provides data-driven financial insights into your workforce. Our solutions are backed by our People Financial Intelligence (PFI) methodology that gives organizations insights to drive better business performance — whether it’s better understanding the costs of employee turnover, assessing productivity financial impact or optimizing recruiting strategies for better financial growth. With our combination of financial analysis, data analytics, and strategic growth expertise, we help businesses align their workforce strategy with their business goals.

Define a “great” company culture.  

A “great” company culture must have clear company purpose and values, employee accountability, and transparency from leadership. A company’s ability to define its purpose and what it is trying to accomplish is critical. It keeps employees motivated and allows you to attract the right people who align with your mission. Company purpose should also coincide with a clear set of company values that permeate how the company operates. I believe that having a culture of accountability is critical as it eliminates the problems that occur in organizations due to employee politics, which can lead to toxic company cultures. Lastly, transparency from leadership in the organization is critical to building a culture of trust between management and the employees, so everyone is on the same page. 

In a nutshell, what is Gradmor? 

Gradmor is a consulting firm that provides financial insights into the workforce. Our mission is to help businesses understand how workforce strategy impacts their bottom line. We do this with our assessments, analysis, and reporting in key areas of workforce strategy, including organizational planning, talent acquisition, talent management, and employee performance. Some examples of the solutions we provide include developing workforce planning models, calculating the cost of employee turnover, assessing productivity financial impact, and optimizing recruiting strategies for better financial growth. 

Tell us about how you measure the cost of a toxic or “bad” company culture. 

The way we measure the cost of a toxic or “bad” company culture is by looking at data around turnover, employee engagement and productivity at the organization. Once we gather the data, we can then begin to put financial numbers behind it. So, for example, let's say a company has a turnover rate of 40% with most it occurring before the employee works at the company for 6 months. This would be a sign of a toxic company culture as employees are jumping ship pretty quickly into their tenure. We’ll then begin to put financial numbers around it by calculating the cost of turnover to see how much it's impacting the organization’s bottom line. Once we do that, we’ll look at engagement, productivity and performance metrics and conduct financial analysis to assess the impact in those areas as well. 

How do you measure the cost of a bad manager? 

The way we measure the cost of a bad manager is by looking at data such as manager’s team performance, performance reviews from their team members, employee turnover and engagement metrics. Once we gather this data, we’ll look to see how the bad managers compare to other managers within the company to ensure that the costs associated with a bad manager is specific to that person’s team and not a company wide issue. We will then conduct financial analysis around the metrics by factoring in the team’s financial performance, turnover costs and financial costs due to lack of employee engagement to determine the financial impact of a bad manager at the company.  

What advice do you have for leaders to create a business case for talent software that makes their People team better? 

The most important thing for people leaders when creating a business case for talent software is to include data and financial metrics when asking for buy-in from their executive team. Most business leaders, especially CEOs and CFOs, want to know a solution's potential ROI before making an investment. If you are able to connect how a new talent solution is going to lead to better financial performance, it will increase the likelihood of it getting approved. 

Can you give us an example of how you partner with different companies?

We partner with companies in a few ways. One way is by completing a workforce financial assessment, where we go in and look at where a company could be facing workforce challenges and determine how much it has cost the company historically and how it could impact the company’s growth prospects in the future. Our workforce financial assessments range from calculating turnover costs to determining where within a company's hiring process additional optimization would provide the most financial value. Another area where we partner with organizations is with our analytics and reporting, where we track specific metrics so organizations can measure how effective their workforce strategy is in driving business performance over time. This helps companies understand how their workforce strategy correlates with better financial outcomes, gain better financial visibility into their workforce effectiveness as they grow and uncover workforce challenges before it creates a financial burden.

What are some patterns you’ve seen over the last year in how organizations partner with you? 

We’re seeing a lot of requests from organizations to help them calculate employee turnover costs and figure out new ways to improve employee performance. With a major increase in employee turnover and shifts to a remote workforce, most organizations have had to adjust their workforce strategy. By helping them understand the financial impact that these workforce shifts are having on the company, it's allowing them to take action in the best way possible that aligns with their financial goals.

What is the #1 problem you see COOs trying to solve right now? 

The biggest problem we see COOs facing right now is managing their talent remotely. Between the great resignation and less visibility into how workers are performing because of fewer employees in-office, COOs  are struggling to figure out the best way to manage their teams in this new work environment. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share? 

One thing I’d like to share is we have found that there is a direct correlation between workforce strategy effectiveness and financial growth and performance. The more that organizations think of their workforce as an investment instead of a cost, the better business outcomes they will receive.