Back filling, hiring locally
I’ve had quite a few people in my network that have been hired over the last 6 months, many who have never been in to the office of their new employer, or met other members of staff face to face, but have been on-boarded at home. They have become an integral part of the organisation they are working for; and have been working from home (WFH) all that time.
Over the last 20 years I have hired people in so many locations in the UK, Europe, as well as the US & Canada and other satellite offices for clients. In many cases these people may start working locally and eventually visit the company’s HQ facilities at some point in the first 12 months, but many never do.
I build sales and leadership teams predominately for start-ups and with the sales teams they are often hired locally in the territory they will work and cover. However, due to the travel restrictions in place with COVID-19 many people that previously covered a larger territory such as across Europe or even in multiple States in the US & Canada, no longer have the reach they had, without having to quarantine for two weeks after a trip.
Adjusting the strategy
This has led many companies to change tack, alter the strategy and restructure the territories far quicker than they may have wished. COVID-19 has made many organisations bring forward the growth plans and start hiring locally. This has happened especially where they have committed to a territory, either in generating business or supporting new clients. This has resulted in taking on, Direct New Business Salespeople, Pre-Salespeople and Customer Success Managers to support the growing client base in each territory. Many start-ups recruit heavily from their employees’ networks, especially in their early stages, but COVID-19 has pushed this forward to hire locally outside of the normal comfortable networks they have available.
It is not even that they will go and visit clients face to face all the time, but clients also want to know that the organisation is investing in growing a local team to look after them and that it is going to be a permanent fixture and not just seen as a satellite sales destination. In many cases they will do most of their work online via Zoom & WebEx, but it will not be seen as foreigners coming over the border. The days of the marauding salespeople flying in, in a hit and run sales campaign, going on a roving trip into the neighbouring territory to generate sales, is now a thing of the past. It’s fine to gauge the temperature of a market but companies are having to invest to show clients that it is for the long term not just for the short term, ‘smash & grab’.
Companies are having to accelerate the ‘land and expand’ approach model, showing customers and potential customers that it is a serious expansion, to gain the confidence of a potential client base. No client wants to be sold to or supported by a voice or face thousands of miles away. They want to know that there is a presence locally and that they are part of a strategic growth of the company they are looking to work with, even in this digital, cloud based world we live in today, probable more so now with COVID-19.
Making it happen
Over the last six months we have seen many clients hiring people almost on a country by country or even on a regional basis in Europe, and similarly in the US and Canada, where in the past it was the responsibility of people flying in. Now they cannot physically manage what they did in the past with COVID-19 around. Having people locally has become important, essential, and almost a necessary for many companies to ensure they give the confidence to the customer and potential customers.
You could almost say with everyone WFH it no longer matters where home is anymore, the importance comes in being on-hand to easily visit clients (safe-distancing) when needed, without the need to isolate/quarantine after a visit.
With start-ups who are always looking and chasing the growth curve, they need to be agile and react to the market fast, COVID-19 has certainly made it necessary for many companies to be alert and respond to the market changes. Start-ups are typically the companies that react to the market changes quickest, they must be bold and decisive. It was reported by Inc.com, in July 2020, that 80 percent of start-ups are anticipating profitability for 2020. They have added people other companies have laid off, and by being agile, hiring people locally, are transforming the business to meet the needs of clients and the market.
Moving everything forward
For many, sales are down by 10 percent and they have had to invest more earlier than anticipated but it will pay off, in both the short and longer term. They have also maintained the sales by reaching into other territories that they would not have ventured into as early as they have done. Some have been able to cut costs in other areas of the business (office expansion) and used the budget to hire locally in new territories.
It has highlighted the deficiencies in the business model and made the CEO’s learn fast to correct these. Start-ups are not for the faint hearted but for the bold, who are willing to act and act fast.
About the Author
Howard Longstaff has over 25 years of experience delivering people within the talent acquisition arena.
He has worked extensively across the UK, Europe, USA, Canada as well as in South America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Over the last 20 years he has specialised in two fundamental areas, although he often covers a wider remit due to his thirst and understanding of technology. The first area which he has a real passion for, building ‘Sales Teams’, pulling together the very best ‘A Players’ and creating something very special for his clients.
To do that, he needs to have a clear understanding of what his client wants, so establishing clear communication with the client is paramount, understanding the nuances of what they are looking for and documenting this. Understanding the technology, the opportunity, and the growth potential all help to find the ‘right fit, first time’. He is one of the few head-hunters that is willing to guarantee his work, offering 12 months free replacement.
The second area he loves getting involved in, is the leadership team, the C-Suite, helping to get the balance right, cover the gaps in knowledge, skills and experience, working on the assumption that ‘No one is perfect but a team can be’?
Howard is someone who thinks outside the box, has an eye for detail, but is perceptive, looking beyond the surface of just skills and experience. He wants to know and understand the candidate behaviour as well as the emotional intelligence, the motives that drive the candidates he interviews. He is looking for the best fit for his client but also looking to ensure it is a fit for the candidate as well.
In the last 25 years he has also built his own companies and opened offices in New Zealand, Los Angeles, New York and most recently several companies in London. Specialising in technology companies, he has delivered permanent resources across practically every department. This has predominantly been for technology start-ups (Enterprise Software Co’s) but also for many leading management consulting and enterprise clients.
Howard is someone that uses technology to enhance the hiring process, to save time, money and effort and take the pain out of the process, but to find those ‘Exceptional People, who are so hard to find’. He operates a ‘Private Client Video Portal’ keeping everything together, the video, as well as psychrometric behavioural assessments on candidates and interviewing on an emotional intelligence level. He has repeatedly built teams across three continents, so has a good breadth of knowledge across the talent acquisition arena.