52 and restrictive policies from previous higher- ups, Sefa was not permitted to conduct such a survey in the past. However, that changed when ELEAD1ONE was recently acquired by a new company. Waugh, Bauer, and Downing began working with Sefa in late 2018 to coordinate and prepare the job satisfaction survey, which was administered to call center employees in January. The trio then analyzed the results and presented the findings to ELEAD1ONE management in April. “The presentation they gave us was phenomenal,” Sefa said. “They compiled all the data and gave us a great summary — and it’s exciting because [it included] some of the things that I’ve been asking for and telling my company that we need. This data is going to help me drive home my points and get the support that I haven’t always been given.” Krispin, Horn, Waugh, Bauer, and Downing are now helping the call center conduct focus groups with employees to get a deeper understanding of why employees answered the way they did and what areas of the company need improvement. The professors will then recommend expert solutions and strategies on how to fix the turnover problem, which may even include the professors offering training and workshops to employees. “For VSU to come in and do this work for free is phenomenal,” Sefa said. “It’s great to have community partners that are trying to help us solve one of our problems. The last thing I want is for our parent company, CDK Global, to come in and say, ‘You know what, because of your high turnover, we’re moving this center to Cincinnati where our other center is or to Illinois where our corporate office is.’ That’s potentially 1,200 jobs that we would lose from Valdosta, which has a huge impact on everybody. “So the fact that VSU came in to help us out was just awesome, and I can’t thank them enough for the research they’ve done and for the help that they’re going to continue to give us because now it’s time to start diving into some of these issues that they have brought up in the survey.” Waugh said using his expertise to strengthen a community business has been very satisfying. “It’s great to be involved in the community and to do what we can to help address an organization’s specific needs and problems,” Waugh said. “Anything we can do to help is rewarding.”