Vantaggi
* Always a pleasure to work with the Deputy CEO. He really values his employees and is grateful for individuals hard work and dedication. * The company are pretty good as a whole at getting work from big logos, despite being a SME and less well known than some competitors. * They attend quite a few relevant events. * Good opportunities (note that I’ve put good opportunities rather than progression, the two are fundamentally different). I’ve heard of several people moving from one team to another. The company accommodates career moves within the company to different departments. Perhaps this could be offered as a secondment rather than a straight switch. * Clear business goals. The SLT clearly know what they’re doing and where they want to go. Annual meetings update the whole company on revenue/overall performance. * Very revenue focused company. Can benefit staff with salaries/bonuses etc. * Intelligent people. Whilst working at Content Guru I did feel like I was working with intelligent people that knew their stuff, even the graduates pick up on things pretty early on. * You can make a big difference. You’re given a lot of responsibility early on. * Because of its size and CEO involvement (which impressed me) everyone knows everyone. The CEO knows the name of everyone in the building, something which is pretty uncommon in most corporate workplaces. * CEO / SLT prepared to get their hands dirty and get involved in opportunities.
Svantaggi
* SLT need to be more willing to say no to opportunities that aren’t right for Content Guru; rather than trying to work out how we can meet a customers needs when they are asking for something Content Guru do not organically offer. This can reduce credibility in the customers eyes and ultimately mean we lose opportunities we invest time in. * Pricing model could do with updating. Customers always complain it is not clear. You could have a different rate card book for public sector clients too. * More appreciation for supporting/enabling functions. Without them, no revenue is generated either. Acknowledgement of their importance and value in an opportunity, rather than just praising Sales. * Clearer career progression. There isn’t enough in place at the moment. * Investing in employee wellbeing more, making sure they’re happy and do not need any support. * Investing in employees full stop! Asking them what they want to learn, what are their aspirations and making a clear career path based on this. This will increase retention. * Stop hiring so many graduates to grow the team, it’s better to hire more experienced colleagues who will make a bigger difference sooner (even just 1/2 years experience). A lot of the graduates do not necessarily want to work in sales and just accept the job for the salary, leaving a few months later. Hiring BDMs with experience mitigates this risk. * More regular pipeline/strategic planning calls. Meeting once a week on a Monday for an hour isn’t enough, and the focus is just on pipeline and opportunities rather than collective planning. Get feedback from your team! What’s working? What isn’t? How can we all help each other? There’s too much focus on individual targets at the moment, having a team target would incentivise everyone to help each other more. * Big ratio difference between male and female employees (very few females). This can make a laddy atmosphere. * More of a team feel. This could be achieved by socials (eg pumpkin carving, end of quarter celebrations etc). * Weak maternity and paternity policy. Could do with looking at trends in tech industry (most of tech policies are very generous, Content Guru’s are quite average).