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The human resources function seems distributed throughout the company. Individual managers are responsible for their own hiring, which is normally done through the informal, social network within Wired. Wired occasionally posts openings on the Net and through email, but it rarely has problems finding people who want to work at Wired. The challenge, according to Todd Sotkiewicz, Vice President of Operations, is to "replace yourself" -- consistently hiring your own replacements. The goal is "growing the company in terms of quality rather than just quantity," and Wired's method of hiring is unique. Employees are responsible to find their own replacement and recommend such candidates to their manager. Also, they should preferably find someone who is `wired', so that they can integrate quickly into Wired's distinctive structure. As John Battelle said, "That's our biggest problem, is finding people like us, who get it, who are Wired people."

Catherine Hüchting, Director of Circulation, states,

"If you hire somebody, you're more responsible for the quality of their work and the way that they behave in the department setting. I think that's important, because if you get `corporate minded', you get further and further away and you create this hierarchy. We don't really want that. We're trying to stay flat here."

Because some human resources functions are required for state and federal compliance, Wired does centralize compliance, time cards, and payroll functions within the administration. Also, Wired has many company sponsored parties and a lunch club program, which are intended to strengthen social bonds in the firm as a whole. But such efforts are becoming more difficult as the firm expands to a size where every face is not familiar. Still, Wired employees strive harder to make it work. Steven Overman, Louis' assistant, for example continues to push the lunch program, "It has become a scheduling nightmare to organize a group of people from separate departments to have lunch together. But I think it's really crucial."

But professional expertise is increasingly needed, for example, Wired secured a medical benefit plan in November, 1994, though a plan was scheduled to go into effect the previous summer.

Connie Hale, Associate Managing Editor, said,

"What I regret is that I don't have a sounding board here. I think it would be valuable to have someone who is either a consultant or has had a lot of experience, like Ian Stewart, who I could go to and say, `I'm not sure about this person....' Also, someone who I could talk to if I had a problem. And actually there isn't.

Ian was actually a financial planner. But because he had alot of experience and was really asute in human relationships and office politics, if there was problem, you could go to him as a sounding board and also alert him of the problem. You could also get feedback from him to help you resolve it. The need for that is especially strong because so many people are young and inexperienced that there is a vacuum. A wisdom vacuum. Ian was kind of an in-house sage who had a peculiar ability to be completely detached from the situation, yet help you solve the problem. That's still lacking here."

Will the administration be able to keep up with the exploding growth that Wired is experiencing? This is a major concern for Jane:

"What we need is a centralized person, I'm not saying 'department'... We need someone who is good at recruiting. Who is a really excellent judge of human character. Who likes to nurture people, help them with their careers, help them grow. Who can help them figure out what the opportunities here are. Who can be a filter point for all those resumes."

PEOPLE

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CULTURE

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