Interview: Elizabeth Roe Pfeifer, VP, Organizational Development

Oct 5, 2009

Elizabeth Roe Pfeifer has been with Research In Motion since WAP was the ‘next big thing’ and the BerryBerry was closer to a pager than a smartphone. She sat down with Red Canary to talk about managing the company’s talent as it grew into a global enterprise.

Tell us about your background

I’ve been at RIM for 11 years, when I joined there was one other person in Organizational Development (OD), so I’ve had the opportunity to help our company evolve.

In 2001, I was promoted to vice president. I still have the overall scope and responsibility for the department, on a global basis.

How many people do you have in OD now?

Globally? Around 600.

Why do you call it Organizational Development?

When Mike (Lazaridis) and Jim (Balsillie) were looking at bringing HR to RIM, they wanted it to be a partner to the business. At the time there was concern that some people might look at human resources as a “personnel” department, very much a “pink slip” organization, and that’s an old-fashioned way of looking at it. They wanted something different, a partner with the business.

Have you seen that at other companies?

HR has evolved over the last 10 years, and human resources professionals have done a great job of helping businesses to see the additional value of having them as partners and involving them in decision-making.

So what’s changed for the way that you are talking to existing and prospective personnel? Have your tools changed? Have philosophies changed?

Well tools have certainly changed, in that there are many more tools from a software perspective, but I think what’s really changed is [OD’s] involvement within the business. What I mean by that is having our business partners, as we call them, literally sitting with our business units.

From an HR perspective, that individual has a better understanding of what that business [unit] is going through, so as we build programs, as we support the business, we are able to ensure that those programs are suited to their needs.

From an employee relations perspective, you have a better hands-on sense of how teams are interacting, so that you can get in early and turn things around if there are issues.

We talk about “RIM Speed”, This is a place where it doesn’t take 6 months to get something done, we do it in two weeks.

There’s much more awareness because you see the business as a manager would.

You’ve watched RIM go from local technology company to a global player, how do you manage that kind of growth?

We’ve been good at recognizing what we need to do to evolve and really identifying the specifics of what we’re looking for.

What it takes to work at RIM

What are you looking for now?

We’re looking for a bit of everything, quite honestly. I know you’re more interested in the software side, but one of the nice things about RIM is that it’s not just a software company. We have the opportunity to [hire] engineers in manufacturing, hardware, or in sales and marketing.

RIM is looking for quite a number of positions throughout the organization, and certainly there are a number of positions within software that are focused on different technologies or software protocols, etc, and at a variety of different levels of the organization. We have openings throughout Canada, in Toronto, Mississauga, or Ottawa, and a number of offices in the United States.

We provide [local] people with the opportunity to have ex-patriot assignments, and also have people come to North America

Pete [Devenyi] talked about the pride that people have in working at RIM. So talk to me a little about your hiring approach and what it’s like to work there.

When we first started it was very much that we were Canadian technology company, and now you can’t go anywhere in the world without seeing BlackBerries. What’s nice about that is that it helps bring us all together around the globe.

RIM has always had [an] entrepreneurial feeling, its very important that people have an entrepreneurial approach, they need to be creative and independent,

What I mean is that we don’t have a ‘university’ where you go after you’re hired and learn everything about the company.

At RIM you hit the ground running right from day one, and that’s not easy for everybody. We have to make sure that the people we hire have that sort of ability, and that’s where [we look] for a strong, inner core; the confidence to be able to say “ok, you’ve introduced me to these six people, I know what my role is, and now I can just run”. People thrive on that.

Do you broadcast that requirement?

It is something that we’re making more clear on a lot of our advertisements, and its certainly something we talk to at the interview stage, so people are aware, because that’s really important, because as you know, there are people that just aren’t going to be comfortable in that environment.

We have so many different buildings, that even if you’re in Waterloo, half the time you’re calling instead of walking. We learned very quickly how to operate remotely

I’m not saying that we just hang people out to dry, it’s more that you need that type of personality to that’s going to be driven to look for the information, because not in all cases is the information going to be in front of you, you need to be comfortable to go out there and talk to people.

So working at RIM is not like working at a big, IBM-type technology company.

Right.

What else would surprise people about working at RIM?

I think the pace, because when you say it’s a fast-paced environment, people say that they totally understand what you mean, and then when they’re here, and people say, “Wow, you’re right, this really is a fast-paced environment.”

We talk about “RIM Speed” internally, and that’s not a bad thing. This is a place where it doesn’t take 6 months to get something done, we can do it in two weeks. I think that’s what people like, we know what we need to do and we do it.

Pete (Devenyi) mentioned that, he talked about how there’s autonomy, and that people feel that they can give feedback that’s going to be heard

Yes, absolutely.

Innovation and the Global Enterprise

How do you innovate as an employer, both in terms of retaining talent and recruiting it?

Well, as I probably said, innovation is key to our culture, we [provide] that opportunity to employees through projects and constantly encouraging people to push the boundaries and really look at things, and not take things for granted.

How does RIM’s growth into a global company impact people moving across the organization?

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen our [Waterloo] campus, but we have so many different buildings, that even if you’re in Waterloo, half the time you’re calling instead of walking. So we learned very quickly how to operate remotely. (laughs)

We’ve done a tremendous job managing our growth from a global perspective, in terms of our satellite offices, etc. We’ve never really pinpointed one of our offices as ‘central’. We treat everyone equally.

How do you manage multiple locations and virtual teams?

We provide [local] people with the opportunity to have ex-patriot assignments, and also have people come to North America, its not just one way or the other. It’s very popular. Lateral movements are something that we’re seeing more and more of; people want to gain experience. Its not necessarily that they’re moving up in seniority.

For us, it’s very helpful from a business perspective, especially when its a new location. It’s like cross-pollination.

Where do you see growth, and where will it be concentrated?

I think there’s going to be all kinds of opportunities. We are still recruiting in multiple locations around the globe because our business dictates that we need to. If there’s one thing that’s been a constant for me since I’ve been at RIM, it’s growth. Constant growth.

When I started out at RIM, I thought “okay, I’ll be here maybe 2 years”. But RIM provides people with the opportunity to challenge themselves, and here I am 11 years later.