Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

Technically speaking, our recruitment process has not even begun yet.

However, back in January I did mention that we hoped to have our GM M&S in place before the end of the year.

As a result of the interest generated when we kicked off the process of recruiting Derrick as our GM for DDD WCW, a number of people contacted me about this second position.  Some of these have kept in touch with me to keep tabs on our progress with a view to being considered when the process begins.

In case there are other interested people out there, here are some details of our status.

1)   Where are we now?

As noted in other posts, we’re working through a considered process with a view to getting the right people on the bus to get us where we want to go.

(a)  In Software Development?

As the first step in this process, Derrick joined our team back in April.

Since that time, Derrick has been working on a few aspects of upgrading our capability for software development, including:
i.  Re-building our software development team to ensure everyone in the team is aligned with where we are headed;
ii.  Further establishing processes aligned with the values espoused in the Agile manifesto;
iii.  Upgrading the tools we use in these processes;
iv.  Establishing product roadmaps for each of our core products, and getting his head around the other opportunities that our customers have presented us with;
v.  Meeting and greeting a significant number of our customers around Australia as the first step in the process of understanding their needs.

This process is still ongoing, and is rooted in our desire to set ourselves up to be able to scale our client base (and revenues) without the equivalent scaling in our team size.

We’ve also been focused on finalising the releases of two software upgrades that had been worked over a significant period by the previous team, but to the point of release:
i.  NEM-Review 6 was released about a month ago; and
ii.  We’re finalising the upgrade to deSide 3 currently.

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(b)  In Marketing and Sales

The release of NEM-Review 6, and the pending release of deSide 3 has meant that the current M&S team (currently Kim and I) are investing considerable time in both:

i.  Finding new clients; and

ii.  Continuing to delight** clients (both new and old) with the ways in which we make the electricity market understandable.

** note that we certainly understand that we don’t manage to do this all the time – however it is the goal we continue to strive for.

Whilst this process is an ongoing one for us that I devote time to almost every day, it is taking a special focus at present.

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(c)  Hence for the recruitment

As such, we’re not yet ready to commence the recruitment process, though the noted below will give you more indication of the how, when, where and why of what is to come.

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2)   Key questions I need to answer

Derrick has previously commented that he appreciated the care and attention I devoted to the recruitment process for the GM DDD WCW.

In the months of late 2009 and early 2010, I devoted hundreds of hours (maybe thousands) to this process – both before the advertisements were placed, and afterwards in spending considerable time with all the shortlisted candidates.

Given that the person we hire as GM M&S will be equally critical to the way in which we achieve the ambitious vision I have outlined for the company, I will also be devoting considerable time to the selection of this person.

Prior to even being able to commence this process in earnest, I still need to devote considered attention to answering questions such as the following:

(a)  What will I expect of you?

Back in January, I posted what amounted to a place-holder here.

As time has permitted, and our business has progressed, I have continued to think through the crucial issue of what your core responsibilities & accountabilities will be:

It’s not as easy as it might initially seem to some – for instance, even trying to answer the supposedly simple question “what is Marketing & Sales?” illustrates that  there are a number of differing understandings abounding across the M&S industry.

If you are the right kind of person, you probably already know this.

Hence, time invested now will certainly make your contribution a whole load more effective.

When I have these thoughts together, I’ll be posting more details.

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(b)  Where will I find you?

Again, this is not such a simple question.

It may be that the ideal candidate is not one who’s actively looking for another position.

Also, should it be someone with energy sector experience (and the contacts that come with that), or not?

You’ll almost certainly have gained some start-up experience previously (and will have enjoyed that buzz) but will probably also have gained experience with formalised processes in a more established firm.  But where will you be now – and how will you hear of this opportunity?

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(c)  How will I attract you?

I’m a firm believer that intrinsic motivation trumps extrinsic motivators any day – especially for the types of people we want to hire for any position we create as the company grows.

As I’ve discussed previously here, this will mean finding people who are aligned in terms of Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose.

That said, I’m also aware that the extrinsic motivators will need to be in place, and to be fair and equitable – because of the commitment I’ll be asking you to make in our journey.  Hence I need to work through these issues, as well.

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(d)  How will I select you?

Again, I will be devoting considerable time to this process – and expecting serious candidates to do the same for us.

By the same token, we need to ensure that the process is as streamlined as possible, in order to ensure that our good candidates  continue to be enthused through this process.

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Until I have clear answers to all of these questions (and a couple others), I won’t be ready to kick off the process in earnest.

Hence, if you have an interest in coming work with us to be our GM M&S, I would suggest that you stay tuned to this blog (or just give me a call if you have not seen anything further here after a while).

You can reach me on (07) 3368 4064

Tags: GM Marketing Sales, recruitment

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 21st, 2010 at 2:50 pm and is filed under Recruitment, Role of GM M&S. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.