One idea to Build your Business, one idea to Scale your life. Every Wednesday.

Welcome to Winformation Weekly. My 13 years’ experience of growing a business from £0-£100m, and the life that goes with it. All wrapped up, in one winning weekly email.

^{No AI, ever. Written for humans, by humans}

Business

6 Absolute Musts When Hiring People

I have directly hired 250+ people and been involved in the recruitment process of many thousands more. Whether you’re are taking your team over the 100 mark, or looking to take on your first ever employee, these are the things I learned are a must when it comes to hiring. Some of these I learned the hard way.

1. No one is better than just anyone – According to employment site Grass Greener the true cost of a bad hire, isn’t just the salary of the employee. When you take into account indirect factors like harm to the brand, good employees becoming disillusioned, wasted training costs etc, it’s actually 3 x their salary. The worst thing you can hear someone say is “we are desperate, we just need anyone for now”. Please, believe me when I say, if you can’t find the right one, then no-one is the best option.

2. The recruitment process doesn’t stop the day they start – Start date is really only the beginning of the end, not the end itself. The induction is super important, they should have a celebrity experience of your business. They are still judging their decision and probably still fielding calls from the other companies they turned down to join yours, don’t give great candidates a reason to change their mind early!

3. Only start the process once you have time blocked the process –One huge way you can guarantee missing out on great people to your competition is to delay the recruitment process without communication. Never just put out the advert and go through the process naturally. You have to work back from your ideal start date, and block out time in your diary for each step of the process.  

4. Values first, recruitment second – If you are hiring people into a business without rolling out the values of the company, then stop. You may know “roughly” what values your business hold dear, but until you make these “a thing” both internally and externally, you will be attracting the wrong people.  

5.  Stories Sell – Some of the best recruitment tools are stories of people that have already succeeded. If you had someone that started as an Apprentice 5 years ago, who now manages a team, then your ideal hire should be meeting this person during the interview process. People will buy into tangible success they will hope be emulate once they start.  

6. Robust probation period – For all of the reasons explained above, you must have a crystal-clear probation period, communicated at interview and then again at induction. Ours is on month 6, a full meeting to discuss the first 6 months, but 3 months is also OK. Use this process to really assess the employee’s skill and more importantly attitude. Are they a brick you can lay other bricks on when building your empire?  

7. Crystal clear vision, on repeat – Great people are happy to join a start-up of 5 people, but they have to know they are on a journey with the company to a bigger, brighter future. Humans want to feel part of a winning, growing team. So as the Founder / CEO – you have to keep painting that vision during the recruitment process and after. 

Life

5 Ted Talks to Help You Build Cast Iron Resilience!

So many people think that resilience is something you are born with. Like ginger hair, (or Moroccan sunset as I refer to my fiery barnet), you either have it, or you don’t. I’m telling you this isn’t true. It’s a skill, that you can develop with practice or lose over time if you overlook it.

Here are my top 5 Ted Talks that will help you build cast iron resilience. Let me know what you think!

Dr Lucy Hone shares three resilience strategies: accept suffering as part of life, focus attention wisely, and choose actions that help you. 

Joana Baquero discusses resilience as a daily mindset, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, self-awareness, and cultivating positive habits to overcome challenges. 

Denise Mai discusses building resilience as a superpower by embracing challenges, learning from failures, and cultivating a positive mindset 

Raphael Rose explains how stress, when managed effectively, can be transformed into resilience by adopting a growth mindset and learning from adversity. 

…Plus More!

About Me | Q&A Time

I love a Q&A! Please reply to this email and ask me anything. I respond to every email I am sent. As you may know, I Cofounded Carrington West, a business myself and James Fernandes started in a garage with no heating in Portsmouth. We had 2 slow laptops and 2 mobile phones. Our business today is a £100m organisation. When I say, I started at the very bottom, I really mean it. So, please, ask me anything, I will always reply! 

Really good questions could be the basis for an answer I share on this newsletter, don’t worry…anyone asking will always be kept fully anonymous! 

Until next week! 

Let’s win, together!