Sue Marks
Chief executive officer
Pinstripe Inc.
200 S. Executive Dr., Brookfield
Brookfield-based Pinstripe Inc. was founded in 2005. But even as a relatively young organization, chief executive officer Sue Marks says the organization has always been a forward thinking, innovative workplace.
“We’ve always believed in that old Darwinian adage that it’s not always the strongest or the smartest that will survive. It’s the one that’s most adaptable and able to change,” Marks said.
The company, which provides HR and talent acquisition solutions, has had more than 100 percent compound annual growth since its inception and even during the worst of the Great Recession remained flat, Marks said.
“Flat was the new up at that point,” she said. “I’m not going to say we’re perfect at it, but we’ve cultured a unique open and transparent risk-taking environment that helps us attract great people with track records of success. Those are the kind of people we want in order to grow.”
When Pinstripe realized a downturn was on the horizon, the company launched what Marks calls a judicious defense and a comprehensive offense throughout the company.
“We took a very head-on but creative approach to our business, particularly through the recession because we knew that statistically only 25 percent of the market leaders before a recession remain market leaders coming out of a recession,” Marks said.
The company has added new video technology that will allow Pinstripe to meet candidates before conducting in person-interviews and will allow them to present only the most qualified individuals to client hiring managers, Marks said. The goal for the new technology is to save Pinstripe clients time and money throughout the selection process.
“We’re a very forward-thinking company in terms of innovation and of our adoption of new technology and tools,” she said.
In the current economic landscape it is more important than ever for businesses to be willing to adapt to change, Marks said.
“The reality is, there has never been a more challenging environment to be a leader,” she said. “Industries are changing daily. Markets are appearing and disappearing in very short order. The challenge we must accept is to be life-long learners. We have to be flexible and learn to love change. In today’s environment the soft stuff is really the hard stuff and it’s the organizations that pay more attention to the soft stuff that are going to end up performing better for their customers, which will end up showing on their financial statements.”
