Picture of Ursula Yardley

Ursula Yardley

Finding an Unexpected Perfect Fit

Prior to joining Accurate, Ursula worked with a large telecommunications firm that merged with another firm in what was proposed to be “a merger of equals.” It didn’t quite turn out that way, she says, and despite having worked there for a number of years she began to feel it was time to seek new opportunities. She decided to take a severance package and move on after helping the company close down the center she had been running inventory control for.

“There were other opportunities, but I kind of took it as a sign that this was the time to move on to something different,” she says. In fact, she admits, ‘I was a little bit tired of the physical inventories.” There was a lot of physical work involved as well as audits on a quarterly basis. It was time to try something new.

That something new brought her to Accurate in 2008, where she’s been now for more than 14 years.

Finding an Unexpected Fit

Having been at her prior company for 13 years, Ursula initially had planned to take some time off before accepting another job. Accurate, she says, was the first place she’d interviewed during all of those years and, while she thought the interview went well, she says, “I didn’t expect to get a call back before I even made it home!’

She was asked to come in for additional interviews and met with the VP of sales, and Dave Dickerson, Accurate’s founder and CEO. “I liked him right away,” she says. And, she adds, “I had already been sold on the company the previous day when I interviewed with the director of human resources and VP of customer operations.”

The interview process, Ursula says, was more like a conversation than the typical litany of questions candidates are asked to respond to. “It was more like a meet and greet,” she says, “and it allowed me to quickly learn how the culture was—it was very down to earth.”

Immediately, she thought: “I really want this job.” The company wanted her too.

She accepted a position as customer service manager, something quite different from the inventory control role she had held previously, and a role that would give her experience working “on the front lines.” She was responsible for a team, and for implementation and onboarding, and later account management which later moved out and under the sales umbrella.

A Culture That Really Resonates

Accurate’s culture is built on four core values pillars that unify the company with a common purpose, define where they’re headed, indicate what they’ll do to get there, what they believe in, and how they will behave with each other and their customers. They are:

  • Take ownership: be accountable for your actions, your team, and the company.
  • Be open: be open to new ideas.
  • Stay curious: stay curious even as you move forward.
  • Work as one: work together to create the best customer and workplace experience.

Ursula is quick to note that “stay curious” is the one that most resonates with her. But, she adds, they really are all present—“every individual pillar has its own weight.” All she says are evident at the company.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Over her years with Accurate, Ursula says, there has been “a ton of growth.” Along with that growth has come new opportunities for her and others.

Recently she had an opportunity to take part in an anniversary celebration for Accurate that a select group of longer-term employees were invited to. “It was very intimate because it was just a few that had been around forever,” she says. “It’s a nice memory.”

Ursula also says that she feels a sense of pride and accomplish as she looks back to consider the people she has helped to develop. Her area, she says, is a great training ground for employees coming into the organization. Many move on to other roles which, she says, has been extremely gratifying for her as a manager. “There are a lot of people sprinkled around Accurate that originated in customer service,” she says. This includes people who started with her as reps and are now supervisors.

Ursula recalls that, when she came to Accurate, she initially felt that she would be glad to leave her people responsibilities behind. And yet, she says, she’s glad she moved from one management role to another—and also glad she made the jump from inventory management to customer service. It’s a role she she’s herself remaining in for the foreseeable future although she says she would like to explore other areas of focus like “analyzing requirements and providing input to product and development—working on systems and process, and automation.”

She doesn’t know what the future with Accurate may hold but, she says, she’s open to opportunities.