Successful leadership is a fine blend of all skills creating conditions of engagement, happiness and performance in the workplace—and empathy and compassion top the list of necessary skills for modern leaders. “For a modern leader, showing empathy and compassion for your staff and those around you goes a long way,” believes Bobby Floujeh. As the CEO of Function Point, he personally leads with great passion and considers himself as a ‘roll up the sleeves’ type of leader who is ever-willing to help employees.
During a recent conversation with the team of Mirror Review, Bobby highlighted how it is like to be at the company’s forefront and lead with passion while also discussing the current and future plans of the company.
Following are some snippets from the fascinating conversation.
How did you embark on your professional career? What available opportunities inspired you to be a part of Function Point?
I started my career as a technical helpdesk analyst after graduating from Concordia University and earning my MBA from Queens University. Overall, I have years of experience in the software industry and as a customer service leader. For 10 years, I worked at NCR with continuous career progression, where I was responsible for service delivery in the Americas and accountable for large accounts.
I was appointed as the CEO of Function Point in 2019. In my opinion, Function Point is a well-respected software leader in the creative agency space. The opportunity to join and lead this organization with so much talent and potential was one I couldn’t pass up. My passion and love for working with new people and developing teams solidified my commitment to joining Function Point.
What are the core features offered by Function Point? Could you please explain the usefulness of the company’s software?
Our mission is to allow creative agencies to be creative. We do so by making sure that agencies have all the tools that allow them to boost profitability and productivity. Our core features are:
- Agency Financials
- Business Reporting
- Resource Management
- Project Management
- Team Collaboration
- CRM & Estimating
Our software is helpful in multiple ways. Through this, project deadlines can be kept, workloads can be evenly distributed, time can be tracked and invoiced, and much more. This information provides powerful insights which give a full picture of an organization.
Being the CEO, what are your key responsibilities? Could you please walk us through some notable achievements of your professional and personal life?
My key responsibilities concern customer retention, innovation, people management and growth strategies. I always strive for employee engagement and make sure that our leadership team understands that our number one asset is people.
Speaking of career-specific achievements, I am proud of my time at NCR Canada—being their youngest director. I stepped in at a time when one of the biggest clients was looking to pull their business. My tenacity kept the client engaged, and we garnered the client’s ‘Vendor of the year award’ after a few months. On a more personal note, becoming a father has been the most notable achievement throughout my career and my daughter motivates me in all areas of my life.
What strategies do you recommend for customer satisfaction? How do you respond to demotivating factors?
I believe if we take care of our people and encourage two-way communications, they will execute our strategies. Once that happens, our customers can be satisfied and they can be loyal over time. And once the organization is profitable, you can better support your employees and it becomes a positive feedback loop.
What you refer to as demotivating factors I view them as opportunities to grow. I think having a disengaged employee or client is much worse than having an engaged employee or client who is still willing to tell me what they are unhappy about. It gives me the opportunity to listen and work on providing them with services and solutions to make the situation better.
An example of how important it is to me to keep employees engaged that comes to mind is how Function Point rallied together and adjusted from working in a shared office space to working from home during the onset of the global pandemic. I’m especially proud of how everyone at FP were able to find innovative ways to stay and feel connected. The team organized FUNction Fridays in an effort to let our hair down and socialize via zoom calls. We would go on virtual tours of renowned aquariums and tour museums while enjoying a wine, beer or virgin cocktail. It’s being part of these community building experiences that really brings out how proud I am to be part of Function Point and what we’ve been able to accomplish during the most trying times of any of our careers.
As the leader, how do you ensure being ahead of the market competition?
I recommend listening to your clients to stay ahead of the competition. The evolution of customer centricity has really pushed a lot of vendors out of our business and I think that is the key to staying ahead of the rest of the market. To help us with that, we have recently hired our new Director of Strategic Partnerships and Customer Advocacy.
Additionally, we have also established Function Point’s first Customer Advisory Board (CAB) which is designed to understand what the industry’s thought leaders need in the long-term, in 3-5 years, and how Function Point can align its business goals and product roadmap to match those needs.
What does your life look like outside your office space?
Growing up, hockey was a huge part of my life and has truly shaped me to become the person that I am today. I am glad to be able to give back to the same community through coaching and I look forward to sharing this joy with my daughter as she grows.
I also enjoy spending time at the gym. Staying active helps keep my work-life in equilibrium. Back in 2018, I even participated in a bodybuilding competition.
What is your future vision for Function Point? Are there any upcoming services/solutions that we can anticipate?
I am aspiring the company to double its market share. In order to achieve our aggressive goals for revenue and retention, we need to succeed in transforming how we see our customers, creating a culture of ownership and transparency, and investing in employees, solutions and customers.
We are currently working on less glamorous things, such as finishing our APIs, to allow integration with numerous services and refreshing our code. This would enable us to create a great foundation for all the new features we currently have in the pipeline.
What would you like to convey to the aspiring leaders?
As a leader, you need to have the ability to empower those around you, as you are only going to be as successful as your team. I would suggest looking after your people, listening to your clients, being empathetic to their needs and the rest will take care of itself. Moreover, if you are a part of an ever-changing industry like ours, you should be prepared to anticipate changes.
Words of Motivation:
