This post is to share a bit about us as an employer and how we’re trying to attract the right people, plus a wee bit of exciting news about the latest person to join our team here at 345 Technology.
But first, we must acknowledge the workplace landscape we’re dealing with, which we think is very different from what anyone would have predicted just a couple of years ago.
The pandemic has given people a new understanding that many – or most – want to do something fulfilling, meaningful and well suited to the way we want to live our lives.
Uplift in people thinking of leaving their job
You’ve doubtless heard of the “Great Resignation”, which has led millions to abandon the traditional workplace. Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index reported that 41% of the workforce is considering leaving their employer this year. Gulp! That is an awful lot of people…
People who’ve had a taste of flexible work want more, and that means organisations need to adapt to provide hybrid work environments. Going back to the old ways of doing things isn’t going to cut it anymore.
For some, this means seeking new employment. For others, it means being brave and becoming self-employed. For almost everyone, it means taking time to reassess what really matters and being more mindful in choosing work that fits them and their family’s way of life.
Whether you’ve vowed never to sit in another commuter traffic jam or you simply want a more fulfilling career, your decisions about your future work are likely to come down to a few things:
- Doing meaningful work – focusing your efforts on a purpose.
- Being somewhere you’re respected – working with dignity.
- Feeling fairly treated – rewarding your efforts in a winning team.
More about 345 Technology’s culture
Our own challenge here is to recognise this changing workplace landscape and to provide an environment where all our teams – consultancy or head office – can actively enjoy collaborating, learning and growing together.
So, we’re working on taking some of the best learnings from established product companies such as Spotify, Amazon and Google, and bringing them to the tech consultancy world.
By working towards building agile teams made of permanent staff, we’re getting away from the traditional consultancy approach of a heavy reliance on contractors. Teams built like that don’t often get the chance to bond, gel and create their own high performing mini-cultures nearly as well as they might in some of these product-focused companies.
Our model is to build our own crews of people within 345 Technology who can develop and build their team’s domain knowledge and specialist technical expertise. We want to support our crews to learn new stuff as fast as they want to, in areas that matter to them and to our customers, and stick with us for the long term.
It’s not realistic for us to do everything in-house, so contractors will always play a role for us. But we want the core delivery that our customers can rely on to come from our own people – everything else is icing on our skills cake.
Recruit for attitude, train for skill
Technical skills are important – we wouldn’t and couldn’t be a good tech consultancy without them – but we know that they can be taught.
Far more important are the attitudes and values of the people we hire. These things are harder to teach, and it makes more sense for us hire only those people who are already aligned with our values. We can then treat those people like the adults they are and trust them to get on with delivering their best work.
What we believe
We’ve talked elsewhere about what we stand for and what this means in practice, but in essence we bring everything back to these three things:
- Do things properly.
- Treat people properly.
- Make a difference.
We create an environment to help people work in a great team, where they are accepted, trusted, respected and even cherished. That’s the foundation for doing great things.
It sounds quite lofty, but building the right teams means that our people have real joy in their work and feel satisfaction in making good things happen. And all of that leads to a feeling of belonging, so that when people join us, they feel well treated and they want to stay.
Always trying to improve
Things are never set in stone, so getting our culture right is an ongoing journey, and it means we need to keep listening to our people to get it right and to keep improving. Where we don’t get it right, we do our best to get things on track and move forward positively. There’s no culture of blame, because we certainly don’t think that’s any way of doing things properly.
We think that by us trusting the people we bring in to the 345 fold, we send a clear signal to the customers we serve, and that leads them to trust the teams we build. Putting trust at the centre of this is helping to raise our credibility of being a software and engineering consultancy that customers can rely on.
A case in point
Our latest recruit, Miroslaw (or Mav for short), recently joined us after spending 15 years working in web development. He had everything we’re looking for, which goes way beyond technical skills. He has strong values, wants to do the best possible job and to do it right first time. He’s also naturally curious and has ambitions to develop and lead in this same way.
Mav’s previous employer wanted everyone to return to the office. As with so many others, Mav wanted a more flexible way of working and so – like millions of others who were part of the Great Resignation – he left in search of employment that would better suit his circumstances.
Mav had other good offers on the table, including from one really big name, but he still chose 345. That’s music to our ears, because we’re not (yet!) the biggest name in the technical consultancy field – but people are seeing our setup, the way we treat people and the opportunities for growth – and they’re excited by what becomes possible for them.
We really love it when people consume our content and get to know us through it before we have in-depth conversations with them. Mav researched us thoroughly through our writing on the website and on LinkedIn. He also listened to several of Andrew’s podcasts and only then made a careful judgement about his future – rather than just taking a role with a much bigger brand and/or bigger pay.
That quote from Mav very neatly reflects the way we approach our own growth and business development – without being salesy, but by letting our work speak for itself.
We’re on the lookout for more people like Mav to join our ranks as permanent members of our team. If you think that your values align with ours and you’re eager to learn, we should talk.
