Finding Talent & Letting it Go!
Keiran Brown, CEO of Uber Office on retaining talented staff
For the Uber Group, finding talent has been an organic journey, and sometimes a painful one. Although I feel very encouraged to be surrounded by our current team it has by no means been easy to get where we are. We have had to say goodbye to some wonderful people, we have made some great hires and we have had some failed hires too! I think subliminally I am always recruiting, having worked in recruitment for ten years prior to starting my property business it comes naturally to me to look for the value in people as soon as I meet them. I have learnt that hiring for your own business should be handled with great care. These people will be the future of your company.
Follow your instincts both at the time of hiring and at the time of firing. You’ve built up your organisation, you know when the time is right to bring people in and you must also know the right time to show people the exit. Unfortunately, we all have a shelf life and if people are not delivering for the organisation they should not have a spot on the payroll. My key piece of advice would be to get great HR advice from an external consultant and keep your company headcount down.
100% of my work force were unemployed before they joined the Uber Group. CVs can be misleading and I am keen to hire people from all walks of life. I have found boundless energy in giving people new opportunities. Whilst working in recruitment I used to ask people the reason they wanted to leave their jobs – but half the time you knew their answer probably wasn’t the truth. When interviewing people who aren’t currently in a job I tend to find you get real answers it’s easier to detect raw ambition. There is also a genuine hunger to work, to prove themselves and to be part of something.
Hire people who ‘buy in’ - you can spot these
people a mile away. These guys will stand out from the crowd. First to arrive in the morning, last out at night and I don’t mean just physically. These are the people who are constantly connected with one another and bring the passion and enthusiasm to take your company to the next level.
Invest in your people and I’m not talking about money and training courses. Invest time and energy into geting to know your people, find out what makes them tick even from the initial interview stage. I always go way ‘off CV’ and really try to find out who I’m sitting with and how they might impact our organisation. Once they are on board, I ensure my team know where I am and what I’m thinking and encourage them to share their own thoughts and ideas for the business. These people are family. You spend a huge proportion of your day with them. People’s skills are not always their hidden passions. A number of our staff came in for one role and are carrying out a completely different role now they are settled. I hate being ‘boxed in’ and I think it is very narrow minded of employers to not tap into human potential.
Find a balance Share business successes with your team make sure they feel like part of the show. Ensure your team get valued time out and time off from the organisation. Having staff who are ‘always on’ will not create the best output. Take your staff out for meals, parties, events: be generous. Support their charity interests and personal interests.
It’s a two way street. Your people will give you as much as you give them. And remember sometimes those streets go in different directions. Never hold on to people pulling along another road.
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