Tom Hunt’s Post

Founder: "OK, let's increase the salary to £55k." Candidate: "Awesome, I assume you have flexible working right?" Founder: "Nope, office 8-6m Monday to Friday." Candidate: "Can't I work just one day at home?" Founder: "Nope, real work only happens in an office." Two days later... Candidate: "Unfortunately I've taken another offer." Priorities are changing: - Time > money - Flexibility > office - Family > commuting Employers: Act accordingly.

Manchester United Boots. Goldman Sachs. ^^ have all recently re-called all staff back into the office “to maximize performance." Really? What's going to make people more productive: - Water cooler small talk or a lunchtime stroll in the country? - Watered-down office coffee or a healthy home-cooked lunch? - A free slice of pizza on Thursdays or saving 3 hours a day commuting? To “maximise performance” you need to understand the “resources” you want to perform. E.g. what drives your people. And yes, it could be a conventional office. Or maybe it’s something different: - Time - Flexibility - Autonomy I don’t have all the answers. But I’m pretty sure that if you don’t adapt to the rise of remote work, you will lose some of your best people to employers who do. The lesson? Understand what drives your team. Not just your profit margin.

I turned 35 yesterday. So I tested an "ideal day": - Wake up - Work for 2-3 with black coffee - Run/gym/shower - Work for 2-3 hours - Eat lunch (60g protein, no bread) - Spa - Chill/walk with Bear - Dinner with a friend (shout out Max Feller) - Watch the football What's missing?

Steven Bartlett. Gary Neville. Debbie Wosskow. Big names. How? Because they worked with our next guest on Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur. Ash Jones lives and breathes personal brand. So much so that he created Great Influence… a business that builds personal brands for some of the UK’s biggest names. Ash was kind enough to break down the full personal branding process they implement for clients. Check out the full episode in the comment below 👇

I sent an offer to a potential team member 2 years ago. They were excited. I was very excited. They signed the agreement. But the day before starting... they email to decline the offer to take another role with higher pay. This really messed up my month. And I felt betrayed. Then, the following week they came saying they'd made a mistake and wanted to join again. In my head, I was like "No way", this chance is gone... we can't rely on you." But someone else in the team said: "Let's swallow our pride and give them a chance." So we did and they joined the next week. They've been one of the best hires we've ever made, and now crushes it with us. The lesson? Sometimes it's better to relax your "principals" or you might miss out on something awesome. Swallow your pride. Forget your ego. Agree?

Gossip is a cancer within your company. If you allow it to start, it will spread and affect everyone. Building a business is chaotic and stressful at the best of times, let's not make it harder. I have a friend who buys businesses and will interview everyone to try to spot it. He gets negative to try to draw people into gossiping about colleagues. He'll walk away from a deal if he finds it. My recommendation: Give somebody a firm warning and then move through the performance management process. If they end up leaving, make it clear to the business that gossip is not tolerated here. It will eat your company from the inside. It's a silent killer.

7 signs you may have a toxic culture: 1. Gossip 2. Favouritism 3. People are leaving 4. Lack of progression 5. Micromanagement is the norm 6. Low/no adoption of flexible work 7. No regular comms from leadership If you notice more than 2 of these in your workplace: Speak up, try to improve things. If things don’t change. Leave. Go where you're valued.

I have one regret: Giving up too soon on a business because I thought it wasn't “scalable”. It's 2014. I left a management consulting job to start a staffing firm. We placed virtual assistants at UK businesses. (Now a trendy business model) But in 2016, I stopped when things got hard. The VC brainwashing worked on me. It wasn't a "scalable" business. I needed a marketplace, a blockchain... or some AI. But, if I kept going with that "un-scalable" business, it would likely be pretty big now. Every business has challenges. Just: - Talk to customers - Iterate - Stay in the game Keep it simple.

It’s October 2007. Jim Collins receives a call from Steve Jobs. He wants to build “Apple University” to educate Apple’s people. During the conversation, Jim asks: “What did you work on first when you returned to Apple after being fired?” Jim knew about Steve's passion for product, so was expecting: - “Insanely great products” - “The potential of the Macintosh” - “Object-orientated operating systems” But Steve’s reply baffled him: “People.” Steve had found some people who remained at Apple whilst he was gone. And still believed they could change the world. Steve was one of the best “product person” who ever lived. But actually, no… Steve was a “people person”. People > products.

A great boss can change your life. They will: - Support your progression, development and earning potential - Create a positive working environment where everyone can contribute - Impact your confidence, your ability to take on responsibility and progress - Find out where you want to go in your career and work out how you get there Don’t choose a job. Choose the boss.