Behind the Scenes of Recruitment

CATEGORY TRAVEL / DEVELOPMENT

Behind the Scenes of Recruitment

Nina from RedSeven & Kim from Monument

‘If there is a strong sense of natural camaraderie between ouremployees, this bleeds into the workplace and makes for a dynamic,passionate, supportive environment’.

Building a team has never been more important here at Mantra. With new offices opening not only in the UK, but also abroad, we are moving through a really exciting phase of expansion. The process of recruitment, therefore, is integral to successfully building the business. It’s about finding the right people, people who will work hard, move up through the company and go on to become future leaders themselves. Whilst sales is undeniably a numbers game, when it comes to recruitment, there’s much to be praised with regards to finding the quality amongst the quantity. We caught up with Nina from RedSeven and Kim from Monument to discuss how the recruitment process is changing to accommodate this.

Nina: ‘What we’ve noticed is that times are changing. Where once you would put an ad online, in the newspaper or pinned to job boards for people to respond to, nowadays, because there’s so much competition for quality people, we’ve started head hunting as well. Interestingly, some of our best recruits have been those who were passively looking, sometimes even those who weren’t consciously seeking out work in this industry to begin with’.

Kim: ‘I wish we could have x 10 new staff each week who were incredible, that would be the dream, but we’re not quite there yet. It’s more important for me to focus on finding the right fit - even if that means we are recruiting fewer people - than to take on people who aren’t quite right for the company. It means our levels of retention are higher, the team is happier, and the business will grow a lot faster in the long run. We’re lucky in that we have the time, now, to invest in headhunting, in finding quality recruits, and spending time talking to each individual’.

Whilst, of course, the traditional format of recruitment is still very much in place - and for the most part a successful model - the uptake of headhunting almost inverts this process, as team members such as Nina herself actively go looking for people that would work well at the company, rather than waiting for them to suggest themselves.

In a way, headhunting is more time and costeffective. Nina knows what she is looking for, having been a part of RedSeven for some time, and has learned how to spot the qualities needed in a new starter. RedSeven have seven core values that make up the backbone of their employees. These include, positive mentality, strong work ethic, honesty, self-motivation and teamorientation (amongst others) and it is these attributes that Nina looks for in potential talent. However, even with this knowledge and a sharpened eye for recruiting, the interview process itself is not without its challenges.

Nina: ’The difficulty with the interviewing process in general is that the qualities that make up a fantastic salesperson are often quite hard to measure in an interview. Things such as a strong mentality, resilience, honesty. Honesty’s a particularly tricky one! Ask anyone in an interview whether they’re honest, and they’ll (obviously) say yes!’. In order to combat this, the interview process as a whole is thorough, ensuring that the best of the best are sought out amongst the applicants. I asked them to take me through the process from start to finish.'

Nina: ’So we begin with a quick chat over the phone to gauge whether or not they have basic communication skills, this is followed by a face-to-face meeting - here at RedSeven we run this in the style of a group presentation. This is due to the fact that, as mentioned above, the recruitment process is evolving meaning that lots of our recruits weren’t previously looking for work in this sector. The ‘open days’ are therefore an opportunity for us to get to know them, but also for them to get to know the business. The final stage is a one-to-one meeting with those people that have impressed us on the open day. By this point, we hopefully have a pretty good idea of whether or not they are right for the business and have what it takes to succeed in this industry.’

One thing that’s for certain in this industry is that it is all about communication, something that Kim - head of recruitment at Monument Promotions - ensures that she covers immediately.

Kim: ‘The first thing I ask people over the phone is ‘Do you like talking to people?’. Meeting and talking to new people is at the heart of what we do, so it’s hugely important that our recruits ac-tually enjoy this aspect of the work, that they feel comfortable picking up the phone as well as meeting people faceto-face’. In line with communication skills comes likability, another attribute Monument promotes as one of their key values. ‘It sounds silly, but you have to get on with your colleagues! If you want to be a part of the team, you need to be willing to operate as part of a team, and getting on well with each other outside of the company only serves to enhance the group dynamic in the workplace. If we all get along, we support each other, we inspire each other, and the company thrives - it’s as simple as that’.

Nina networking at an Amplify 2018 Event

The marketing and sales industry is extremely personable, therefore communication and presentation of self is of paramount importance. If you don’t know how to ‘sell yourself’ and therefore how to sell the business, how are you going to succeed? This comes down to a plethora of things - presentation, language used, energy, business tactics - some of which are innate and can’t be altered, but some of which can be cultivated. Kim explains that something as simple as likability goes a long way.

You gravitate towards certain people for a reason, and whilst it’s not always entirely beneficial to mix work and play, in some instances it can create a wonderful working dynamic.

Kim: ‘I always say to people, ‘Look, have any of you worked in a place where you resent coming into the office each day because there are people there that you don’t like?’. When that’s the case, it’s horrible! It makes for a stagnant, tentative workplace, and that’s not what we’re about here at Monument. Because we’re so strict on recruitment, the whole team get along really well and want to work together’. Furthermore, they are looking for people that take an active interest in what other people are doing. ‘Be interested in those around you, in the wider industry, don’t get stuck thinking about yourself all the time. Remember that you’re part of a team’

Kim Lopes of Monument Promotions originally started at RedSeven in 2016

A keen interest in those around you as well as in your work helps to generate a healthy sense of competition and ambition, which in turn make up two more attributes for becoming a successful Entrepreneur.

Nina: 'often I find that the people that end up being the best have an incredibly strong sense of competition. I, for one, hate losing. It’s not an option. That in itself really helps to drive me forwards. I enjoy being good at things, I have a a lot of self-confidence, and I think it is this combination that has built in me a strong sense of self-motivation’.

Kim elaborates upon this, highlighting the importance of having ‘a bit of drive, a bit of gusto, especially when the company is in its infancy. You need every single person to be working as hard as they can to get it off the ground and to establish a sense of who the company is in the industry. This really should be a company-wide ethos; you can’t just rely on the people at the top to do all the work and drag you along with them. In fact, it’s almost more important for the people at the ‘bottom’ to really drive things. Expansion isn’t just something that occurs from the top’. It’s a little bit like the sporting industry in terms of their sense of competition and the process of moving up through the ranks. Nina explains that their ‘managing director is really into his rugby, and that sense of competition and play is totally transferrable to how he operates in our industry. Sport is a fantastic analogy for navigating the sales world. You train hard, you set goals and you move climb up the ranks. You should see us when we go go-karting!’.

A strong sense of camaraderie and a healthy dose of competition are the foundations of a fantastic team - in any context - and both Kim and Nina make good use of the Mantra network, often looking at PR, (friends of friends) to bring on board:

Nina: ‘If there’s one employee that you love and who does well for the company, then it’s likely that their circle of friends will also be of that caliber’. You gravitate towards certain people for a reason, and whilst it’s not always entirely beneficial to mix work and play, in some instances it can create a wonderful working dynamic.'

Kim explains that ‘it helps having a connection beforehand. If you think about your friends, your circle of people, your network, they’re there for a reason. You gravitate towards the right people because they have a similar outlook, similar fundamental values and similar perspective on the world…. all of these qualities bleed into the workplace in a fantastic way’. A sense of loyalty and connection is already established which makes it easier for the ensemble to operate in a cohesive and dynamic manner in the workplace. Whilst this process may seem lengthy, it is an integral part of building a successful company.'

Kim explains that ‘we’re lucky in that we have the time, now, to invest in headhunting, in find-ing quality recruits, and spending time talking to each individual’. For her, ‘the main thing is quality. We tend to have a really good reputation in terms of the quality of our team members. I’ve spent enough time working with people who aren’t up to scratch, and it’s really demotivating! I’d rather work alone, than work with someone who isn’t hitting the mark. which sounds ruthless, but that’s what building a team is about - finding people who work well together, people who bring the best out in each other. After all, these people are the future of the business. New recruits make up the foundations of the company, without which it simply wouldn’t and couldn’t grow. The people at the ‘bottom’ are just as important as those who are running the ship. They are the future.

This is where it gets interesting as we consider what we can learn from the recruitment process in terms of planning ahead, staying one step ahead of the game and predicting future trends. If we look at patterns of behaviour from the last generation and compare it to the Millennial generation, there are some noticeable changes.'

Nina: lends a keen eye to this, and has found that ‘particularly with regards to mentality, there has been a real shift in the Millennial generation. Generally speaking (of course), we have had quite a sheltered upbringing. We haven’t had to face much adversity, we have been provided for and supported through our education etc.. What we often find with new recruits is an attitude of ‘I can’t do it’ after they reach their first hurdle which can be frustrating’. In terms of self-development, Mantra are hot on instilling their team with confidence, pushing them to their maximum potential and ensuring that people don't just sit on their laurels. The company is bigger and better than that. Nina goes on to explain the importance of adapting to meet the next generation’s needs and pushing them in the right direction:

‘I’ve been watching The Apprentice recently and all of the challenges are really just about putting pressure on these people, pushing them to their potential through placing them under extremely stressful circumstances - that’s when they will show their true colours. Until someone is pushed to their limit and put in a challenging con-text, only then is it possible to gain an insight into the strength of their mentality and the resilience of their work ethic. Sometimes this means that you have to take a risk on someone and it’s not always that it works out. You might lose some of those people that you had high hopes for and your rate of retention might drop; however, this is all part of the process of fine tuning your team

Milennials ‘are going self-employed because they want autonomy', they want to be in control, to be their own Boss and take charge of their careers. The sales structure ticks a lot of these boxes’.

RedSeven offer fantastic incentives for people to take charge of their own career paths within a supportive business framework, thereby encouraging their guys to be better than average.

Kim explains that their ‘WhatsApp group is mental! We have 30 guys all messaging all the time, the support is ridiculous. People actually care. They’re involved, they’re interested, they’re dynamic…and it’s all genuine. We mark our successes with group events and have a crew night every Wednesday. Friday they’re going go-karting, we went to Lazer Quest last week, ran a hot chocolate hot-desking event and had a fantastic Christmas party! Matt also took the guys to Ibiza and we’ve got the ski-trip coming up as well, so we have a really strong social calendar to compliment the business’. Things aren't slowing down, that’s for sure. These guys work hard and play hard.

Nina: ‘Our goal at RedSeven is by May 2020 we want to open offices in another 8 locations. (Monument / RedSeven / RedLine). In order to do this, we need to have 8 new starters in each location, so 24 every single week. We understand that sales has a high turnover of people, but if we can grow by 24/week, there are going to be some absolute gems within that turnover of new starters that will go on to be future Leaders .Start thinking... this could be you.

Nina Collis of RedSeven Marketing started her career with them in 2014