Is your company a great place to work ?

Over the last 20 years I have had the privilege of working with some of the UK’s top brands and inspirational leaders in helping them bring on board the UK’s top talent. I’ve often asked why brands such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Asda, Tesco, Orange, Ikea and O2 have been so successful with their recruitment. My answer is simple… they make it a great place to work.

So what makes a company a great place to work?

A Great Brand

In my early career I had the pleasure of working with Cliff Burrow’s (Board Director at Starbucks.) Cliff became MD of habitat nearly 25 years ago. He had a simple mantra, he wanted staff that he would be happy to invite for dinner and secondly who were proud to work for habitat. At that time habitat had been in the doldrums the product had deteriorated to such an extent that the brand had earned the moniker ‘Shabitat’ [] Cliff had a simple philosophy; get the right people and they will be integral to promoting the brand, ultimately they are the brand. Cliff used the phrase “people with X factor” long before Simon Cowell. .

Your People Come First

Tesco and Ikea have championed this belief for over a decade. Tesco’s simple philosophy was that if you look after your people, they look after the customers and that looks after the profit. Ikea was innovative and progressive decades before many of their competitors. Their seven pillars for a successful company are a lesson in simplicity and common sense, the one I particular like is a manager “We believe in people! It takes a dream to create a successful business idea. It takes people to make dreams a reality” Wow. If you strut around the Board like a lord of the manor exerting your rights to “as jus primae noctis” (think someone else’s wedding night) it doesn’t go down well. Times have changed and, if you are going to go back to the middle ages, it should be more along the lines of noblesse oblige, as superman’s uncle Ben says “with great power comes great responsibility”.

Leadership

The eternal business question, what makes a great leader? We all have people we maybe don’t like there goals and aims; Genghis Khan, Sir Alex Ferguson, but I guarantee if Genghis was givening lectures on management at the LSE (London School of Economics), alongside Sir Alex, the lecture hall it would be packed.

A Clear Goal

One of the senior directors who impressed me most, with his clear and concise goals is Nick Moore, formally Habitat, Orange, Natuzzi and Conran. Nick is an entrepreneur who, whatever company he joins, will instigate a simple road map to success and he is the ultimate smart planner.

Career Progression and Internal Development

Brian Tracey advises to create a hot house in which the talent within your company can thrive and grow. Internal development is vital to fulfil the potential of your people “The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channelled toward some great good.” ― Brian Tracy

You

As a manager and an individual you should be aware of the cultural shadow you cast. The ethos and culture of a company is created by the individuals who make up that group, you are in charge of your own destiny, you can be a cultural architect. As Lailah Gifty Akita, Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind so succinctly states “Go realize your dreams.” ―