I joined Carterwood in February 2020, just a few short weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic knocked the world for six. Starting a new role at a new business is always challenging, as you frantically set about understanding a new market (in this case), learning internal processes, getting to know your new colleagues and customers, and ultimately figuring out how you can start adding value in the most efficient way possible.
In times of stability that’s not an easy task (and I wholeheartedly recommend the book The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins as an insightful guide to getting this right – which was in turn recommended to me by Tom Hartley here at Carterwood), but when the business you’ve joined is trying to adapt to the shock of something as seismic as a global pandemic, it becomes even more complicated.
However, as I approach the end of my first year – and I’m pleased to begin recruitment for two new roles in our sales and marketing team – the ups and downs of the last 12 months provide plenty of practical examples of what it’s like to work at a business that I think stands out a mile from traditional consultancy businesses.
Fast-moving
Like everyone else, I’m totally fed up with COVID-19. Ideally we would have closed the book on the pandemic and started afresh in 2021, but clearly the situation is still incredibly challenging throughout the world. The rollout of multiple vaccines brings hope of a return to normality, but the reality of the here and now is that we’re in a national lockdown, infection rates are still high, and businesses in every sector are being hit hard.
Despite some similarities with the situation in March/April of last year, we’re better equipped to handle the impact now than we were back then. That’s true of the nation as a whole, but also for Carterwood as a business.
Like every business at that time, we scrambled to first make sure everyone could work safely, which, for us, meant remotely. Remarkably, this happened in the space of 24 hours. Everyone in the business has a laptop and a phone, so we simply went home at the end of one day and started from our dining tables, lofts, or bedrooms the next. The admin support team handled any additional requirements promptly, and we were up and running.
This experience – just six weeks in – proved to be the rule when it comes to getting things done at Carterwood. We’re a small business of 20-30 people, but even so, things move fast. Decisions were made, action was taken, and everyone was kept informed throughout. No messing around, and very little disruption to our team or our clients.
I’ve learned that this tends to be the case whenever there is an issue that needs solving, and this, for me, speaks volumes about the lack of bureaucracy in the business. Do it fast is one of our two company values (along with Do it right), and it’s safe to say that things rattle along at a fair old speed here. In truth, that can sometimes be challenging as there are always multiple plates being spun at the same time, but if you like to be kept on your toes, you’ll thrive at Carterwood.
Straight-talking
Despite the business’ success in transitioning to working from home in a heartbeat, the pandemic took its toll on our revenue as our clients rightly prioritised their own immediate firefighting above the type of work we do, which tends to be more strategic in nature.
At that point, the number one priority of the leadership team was safeguarding the future of the business, which meant cutting costs where possible. As a result, a number of the team – including me -– were furloughed. This was a distressing time, both for those that were working and those that weren’t. It’s difficult for a company to make a situation like that better, but it’s definitely possible to make it worse, particularly by dragging your heels over difficult decisions and communicating badly.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Carterwood’s approach was full transparency. The uncertainty in the market was made clear, the course of action to be taken was communicated, and no one was left in the dark. Over the course of the summer and autumn there were regular virtual socials to bring everyone together, and eventually many of those furloughed were able to be brought back into the business.
We’ve been fortunate (and worked hard) to end 2020 in a far better position than we envisaged back in April, but throughout all the ups and downs of a challenging year, none of us could say we didn’t know what was going on.
I really value transparent communication, and it’s a core part of the culture here. Sometimes that means we also have difficult conversations, whether it’s constructive feedback, or tricky debates over the right course of action in a particular situation, but that doesn’t come at the cost of professionalism or respect for each other, and ultimately it gets us where we need to go as quickly as possible. It’s a key part of the Do it right philosophy.
Innovative
When I joined Carterwood, I did so primarily because of Carterwood Analytics. I’ve led marketing at two Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses in the past, and my background generally is in marketing technology businesses. Carterwood is interesting because it’s a hybrid business. It provides – and is highly-regarded for – what you would call traditional consultancy/advisory services, while also offering a really cutting-edge technology platform that has big growth potential.
There aren’t many ‘professional services’ businesses that leap into the world of software, and for those that do, I’ve seen a really mixed bag of products as a result. The R&D team here has created an extremely intuitive, well-designed product that has a consistently exceptional Net-Promoter Score (NPS), and delivers real value for subscribers. The platform has been developed using the Agile product management methodology, which means regular ‘sprints’ of development and constant iteration and improvement to the product. There are pure tech companies who aren’t doing things to the same standard that they’re done here, which speaks volumes for the mindset of the business.
Critically, innovation at Carterwood isn’t siloed in Analytics, it’s woven throughout the fabric of the business. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the sector we serve (elderly care home and older people’s housing markets), necessitating a major update to our core advisory reports to factor in the implications of the pandemic for clients. This sizeable task was completed by the end of June, just three months after the crisis hit.
Beyond our products and services, innovation is an individual thing here too. As Amanda Nurse (MD) shares in this article, during 2020 we set aside time for a regular, company-wide ‘Innovation and Development Hub’ to enable all of us to dedicate time to enhancing our skills or doing something new.
There’s an expectation here that everyone contributes to helping the business innovate and do things differently, so if you want to develop your skills and go outside your comfort zone, Carterwood can offer you a lot.
Process-driven
For me, process is one of the most important factors in being successful, whether as an individual, a team, or a business. It’s the difference between producing great work quickly and reliably, and chasing your tail endlessly.
Some people confuse process with bureaucracy, but they’re not the same thing. Bureaucracy means endless paperwork and multiple sign-offs, and can make it impossible to get things done quickly. Process is about taking uncertainty out of decision-making, which helps you to do things faster.
As I’ve mentioned, Carterwood doesn’t really do bureaucracy. We do like process though. The business has invested significant effort in adopting the Traction management system, which places huge emphasis on the importance of process. We’re not perfect by any stretch, but one example of a process I think we get right – and has worked well over the last 12 months – has been the commitment to maintaining our weekly schedule of internal meetings, regardless of external pressures.
In our remote-working environment, meeting virtually to share information and solve pressing issues as a team has been incredibly important. Crucially, these meetings – whether for individual teams or company-wide – don’t get moved or cancelled, and they follow a clear format. They can be relied upon as a guaranteed opportunity to bounce ideas of your team, solve problems, share successes and flag issues.
Carterwood’s meetings are a strength, but there’s still a long way to go on this front. Traction dictates that a business documents all of its core processes and then adheres to them religiously in its day to day operations. We’re well behind where we’d like to be with this, with lots of inconsistency in how we go about even simple tasks. For a small team, efficiency is everything, so in 2021 one of our company goals is to ensure that every process that’s critical to the running of the business is documented and part of our everyday workflows. Anyone who joins Carterwood will have a role to play in moving this forward. So…I hope you like process :-)!
Sound good? Let’s talk…
Hopefully, I’ve managed to give an insight into what working at Carterwood is like. My first year here has been unlike any other in my career, but because of that I think it’s been incredibly enlightening. You find out what people and businesses are really made of when you put them under pressure, and while there have been ups and downs over the last 12 months, it’s probably obvious that my perception of Carterwood is of a business that’s doing a lot of things right.
With that in mind, if you like doing great work quickly and efficiently, working on interesting, innovative projects, and doing so alongside a team that values the ideas you can bring to the table, rather than the number of years on your CV, then why not get in touch? We’re recruiting for a Senior Marketing Executive and a Client Relationship Executive and would love to hear from you.
