Their gesture-recognition technology is utilized by Fortune 500 firms, such as CNN, NASA, BMW, Ford, Oracle, Intel, IBM, Federal Express, Autodesk, and Panasonic, to name a few.  Their list of patent and software licensees includes Microsoft, Sony, Hasbro, and NTT DoCoMo.

I had a chance to talk with Vincent John Vincent, President, co-founder and recognized gesture-technology guru recently about GestureTek, the work environment the company provides for the employees they hire and their plans for the future.

“The world of gesture-recognition has taken off in the last few years Mr. Vincent, what are your firm’s plans for future hiring pushes at GestureTek?”

“In the past 5 years, GestureTek’s employee growth has averaged approximately 30% per year.  Although we have no plans in 2008 for a major enterprise-wide hiring push, we are currently in need of software programmers, computer vision programmers, a product manager, sales and business development account reps for our interactive display business, as well as technicians for our interactive display business who would be responsible for setting up client installations and making them operational.”

“What technologies that your company currently uses appeals to customers and developers in your industry?”

“Our gesture-recognition technologies appeal to application developers, original equipment manufacturers and game developers in many industries. This includes museums, science centers, location-based entertainment facilities, amusement parks, retail stores, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, trade show exhibitors, event planners, real estate presentation centers and showrooms, architects and designers, Fortune 500 corporations who have boardrooms, showrooms and presentation centers, healthcare organizations, television networks, original equipment manufacturers who make camera enabled hardware (such as mobile devices, pc’s, set-top boxes, and consoles), application developers, game developers, audio visual integrators, advertisers and marketers, and digital signage solution providers.

“What advice would you give to a prospective employee who wanted to obtain employment with GestureTek?”

“Be patient.  Be persistent. Let us know how and why you will be able to help take GestureTek to the next level to which it is heading.”

“What does a typical day for an employee look like at GestureTek?”

“This really depends on the nature of the job.  Let’s assume we’re talking about an operational employee involved in executing on client projects. A typical day would involve liaising with vendors to source or purchase services or components, scheduling various activities associated with the installation, liaising with clients on project-related issues, liaising with internal sales-representatives on project-related issues, liaising with development staff to resolve technical issues associated with client installations, shipping components to installation sites, documenting data and updating project plans. Whatever position you may occupy within the company there is plenty of opportunity to be creative and to help the company evolve the ideas and products for which it has become so famous.”

“Give our readers a rough outline of the background of your current employees.”

“Many are used to working for smaller companies.  Many have technical, application development or operational experience. Many have a production or manufacturing background.  Most are college or university educated.  Of those with university education, many have degrees in computer science or computer engineering.”

“What do you like best about working at GestureTek?”

 ”It’s great because no day is ever the same.  The fast-paced, competitive nature of the business can provide a real adrenalin rush because everyone is constantly shifting into high-gear to win a job or execute on a job.  As is typical in an entrepreneurial company, everyone has too much to do, too little time and too few resources.  It’s always a challenge to execute client jobs with 100% accuracy at lightening speed.”

“Describe the office environment around GestureTek.”

“It’s a fairly casual environment.  People work hard (sometimes too hard) but they also have fun.  As is common in an entrepreneurial company, everyone is so busy doing their own jobs that they don’t always have the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the broader business strategy.  GestureTek is currently looking for ways to expand and enhance internal communications within the company, and to make the company an even more fun place to work.”

“What qualities does GestureTek look for most in prospective employees?”

“What GestureTek looks for in an employee depends on the position.  Certainly specialized expertise in application development, vision programming, etc. is critical for certain technical positions.  In general, GestureTek needs what every other entrepreneurial company needs – positive employees who are self-starters, who demonstrate a can-do attitude, who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard, who are flexible enough to pitch in and do things that might not necessarily be in their job description, and who are nimble enough to switch gears when the needs of the business change. “

“How many of your employees have been with GestureTek for over ten years?  How many were hired in the last year?”

“Ten years ago, we were a small start-up with very minimal employees.  As a result, only a small number of our employees, with the exception of GestureTek’s two co-founders, have been with the company for more than 10 years.  Last year, from January 07 until the present, about 12 employees were hired.”

“If an employee makes a mistake that costs the company money and negatively effects its image, what, if any, disciplinary action does the firm take?”

“Mistakes are normal and human.  If this happened, the employee’s manager would notify the employee of the error, discuss how the error could have been avoided, and agree on future strategies for minimizing the likelihood of the error happening again.  Serious errors are less likely to occur in environments where operational processes and financial guidelines are clearly documented.  It’s incumbent upon senior management to share guidelines and procedures with employees so that they understand what is expected of them.  In an ideal environment, employees are praised and rewarded for conducting due diligence and for taking an active role in identifying and preventing mistakes that could cost the company money and negatively affect its image.”

“How would you describe the culture at GestureTek?”

“Our culture is an interesting blend of traditional and new age management thinking.  As is common in many entrepreneurial companies, the co-founders feel an incredible sense of ownership and accountability to the company, so they enjoy being involved in many aspects of the day to day business.  As the company has grown and the skills and capabilities of the GestureTek management team has increased, we have naturally experienced a few ‘growing pains’, since the role of the owners has changed to focus more on building the roadmap for future growth and success of the business.  Similarly, as is natural in an entrepreneurial business, employees are encouraged to show initiative and take responsibility for their actions, yet at the same time, they are encouraged to keep the co-founders in the loop. A great deal of knowledge and experience lies with the co-founders of the company which, if tapped, can help avoid mishaps.”

“How much authority and responsibility is given to employees?”

“Employee ownership and accountability is encouraged and authority and responsibility is readily given to employees who prove they can handle it.  It’s important to note, though, that the nature of our business in developing custom gesture-control applications requires thorough attention to detail, rigorous adherence to project specifications and constant communication and collaboration between team members to ensure the smooth execution of a project.  This business may not always be conducive to the ‘maverick’ approach to doing business.  It’s not good business practice to ‘reinvent the wheel’ every time, or to try new and unproven processes or procedures in order to complete a project.”

On behalf of everyone at trenchmice.com, I would like to thank Mr. Vincent for talking with us today about GestureTek and answering our questions.

This happened after rumors that dissident major shareholder Waterford Finance and Investment Ltd carried the board’s decision to restructure the company’s current board and shake up its complacent managers.  Apparently the two sides came to an agreement during the proxy battle that will see the company made up of a board of directors nominated directly from Waterford but will still be headed by current chairman Garfield Emerson, while the new CEO will be Shane O’Leary, who is a former executive for EnCana and BP.

We were able to contact company officials, who wished to stay unnamed, for comment on the current situation at Calgary Petroleum Ltd.  Stating that the new board still needs to be voted on and this will occur at First Calgary’s annual corporate meeting this Friday, but the company would release a press statement at this time.

In conclusion, customer, investor and employee confidence in a company can be a finicky thing; boards need to stay aware of their customers, investors and employees ideas about the company and people who run the company.

Restructuring a company requires input from all who are effected by such decisions and this seems to be what is missing in this situation, input from the employees who will be doing the work that produces the product the company sells.

This comes after Cott recently parted ways with former CEO Brent Willis, after the corporation was informed by Wall-Mart, its largest customer that it was going to loose some of its valuable shelf-space and merchandising support at the world’s number one retailer, and the recent appointment of Director David Gibbons to the empty post of CEO at the corporation.

Rumors floating around the corporations have employees doubting the new CEO and dreading any plans he might have for cutting costs at the corporation.

Nobody at the company could be contacted, despite repeated attempts, they are probably busy planning the demise of thousands of highly trained and valued employees, and may want to hold off on any announcement until  Thursday, when they have a scheduled meeting of the board.

In conclusion, Cott has been the talk of troubled waters lately, but they have been awful quiet about the whole affair, you’d think they would at least implement a policy of commenting to try to alleviate the current stress being experienced by many of their worried employees, but then maybe they don’t expect to have to deal with many of these employees soon.

Turning the rumor mill as rumors that the growing firm as plans to put even more workers to work, by opening additional plants at Pune and other sites which weren’t named.

The plant at Singur is in the planning stages Emcon officials said when contacted for comment, they did confirm rumors of the Pune facility, but would not give specifics about any other planned plants in the works in India’s growing automotive sector.

In conclusion, all the big and small manufacturers of parts for the automotive industry and the car makers themselves are surely making plans to unveil new, Earth-friendly, car models by 2010, Mother
Earth would be proud, if it wasn’t for the previous 2000 years of human progress.

Trench mice was able to contact Mr. Ken Oke, a peaceful and helpful man, about the current situation, saying only that the town will be hit hard by the closure that most of the 130 people live in the community and it’s always been the reason many people stayed in the town, and he’s not sure how this will effect the rest of the people in the town whose jobs depended on the factory, only that he expects this to hit hard.

In conclusion, apparently CanGro Foods has been shopping around for a buyer for the factory for while, as well as other parts of the company that they apparently want to sell, unfortunately and obviously, these move no one has jumped at the chance yet.  Hopefully, for the town’s sake and the people who work at the 102 year old factory, the new buyer will keep the place running.

Kolkata, India – Many Canadian companies, especially in British Columbia where I live, faced with rapid reduction of manpower in the highly-trained workers required to provide their customers with the level of services or products expected.  Have in recent years, gone to first an independent attitude by starting small businesses or franchises and then a new concept for many of then and certainly a new concept for an industry like coal mining, an idea called the multi-job concept.

Now, Western Coalfields Ltd, a coal India subsidiary, is planning to implement this new idea of employees, trained and completing, more than one job on the job site, is taking hold in a few of the minds of India’s executives worried about where they will get the workers they need to keep production at current levels and even increase it in the future.

To date, an explosives-carrier’s job required him only to transport explosives, the rest of the time he just waits.  Now, he can be trained for additional tasks related to carrying explosives.

WCL officials contacted said that workers who multi-job could be paid higher wages and the company needed to head in this direction if they were to meet production levels in the future.

In conclusion, technical trained employees are always hard to find in any industry that relies upon skilled workers to complete jobs that are essential to an industries success.  Many companies around the world, not just India, will be watching companies that are heading down this road to see if the benefits are there to allow all industries to move to this form of employment.  If it allows workers to become even more valuable to the companies they work for and get paid accordingly then its a good thing, I guess, but will it take jobs away from individuals who might not get jobs accept for the labor intensive India labor market.

Talking to Wallem representatives was fun and enlightening, as the company indicated that the they have in recent years been rethinking policy and moving toward recognition and then implementation of policies to alleviate the shortage of trained officers for their operations and that the planned expansion of the companies in-house training centers is part of an overall plan to allow the company to be a leader in the industry in the decades to come.

In conclusion, this is a healthy attitude, sure to spark belief in the firms direction, in both employees and investors, who are truly in touch with the future of their industry and are looking for both additional opportunities and good examples for other companies to emulate, we salute their diligence and understanding of the importance their workforce plays in the future of their industry and profits, bravo!

Quebec – Rumors of trouble with the Canadian operations of U.S. based Crocs Inc were confirmed today as officials for the sinking Canadian manufacturing division of the company that was founded by three businessmen from Boulder, Colorado, announced they were eliminating 262 jobs at their Quebec facility.  Apparently, the jobs will be heading down south to Croc’s Mexican plant, where the wages are smaller and the employees less power, sounds like heaven if you’re an employer.  Certainly this makes sense from a money point of view; it’s the human factor that is getting lost in the equation.

This in turn has fed rumors of the total closure of the company’s Quebec facility and the subsequent loss of a total of 670 high paying Canadian jobs, which in conjunction with the high Canadian dollar and competition from over seas rivals in Asia, Europe and India will result in the closure.

Leading industry experts, worried workers, and even-more worried company executives at the firm, talking about a possible revamping, restructuring of the company’s overall composition and roster, and the resulting job losses because of the restructuring, in which no job will be safe according to sources at the firm.

In conclusion, apparently its okay for companies like Crocs to throw away once valued Canadian employees, who we will admit make more in wages and benefits then their Mexican counterparts, who are rumored to be the beneficiary of any restructuring plan the company may be thinking about implementing.  While at the same time expecting to do business and make money in the Canadian retail market, Crocs has recently announced the opening of, at least, four new Croc’s branded Canadian retail outlets this year, according to the company sources we talked to.

Maybe, we as Canadians need to go back to the old days when company’s had to be responsible for and cared about more then the bottom line, which we will admit needs to be watched, and they weren’t just throw away elements in a big corporate game of chess.