CEO’s Blog – Why I would always rather promote from within

When you need to fill a role at your company, it may be tempting to bring in an outsider. You may think that newcomers bring skills you haven’t seen yet, insight from competitors, or new ways of tackling problems.

Over the years, I’ve learned that, while hiring from outside the company can be beneficial, it’s often a much better idea to look closer to home.

Here’s why:

At BigChange, our people know the business and our customers inside out. They know my priorities, as a leader. For me, customer experience is paramount. It takes time for new arrivals to understand our culture, and time is something fast-growth technology companies don’t have a lot of.

When you bring in big names from outside the business to fill senior roles, it demotivates the team. When you promote from within, everyone sees the potential to grow and pursue a long-term career at your organisation.

There are people here who started in Roadcrew and have then gone on to take senior roles. They are inspirational figures, helping junior members of the team to dream big!

Hiring through recruiters is expensive and I feel that money is better spent incentivising our people to keep growing and learning new skills in bigger, better roles.

The big promotion

We recently filled a senior position with an internal candidate, and it’s been a major coup for BigChange.

Last January, I bought a company called Labyrinth, creator of an award-winning cloud-based logistics compliance tool (now the BigChange Audit feature).

The company was co-founded by Jo Godsmark and Ruth Waring , a logistics and supply chain specialist. I’m delighted to announce that I have now appointed Jo the Chief Operations Officer of BigChange and Ruth will become Managing Director of BigChange Advisory Plus the former Labyrinth business.

I’ve known of Jo for a while. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) and the chair of the board of trustees for Transaid, a charity I am passionate about. She comes from a big business background – she’s held roles at Mars and Ford.

Seeing the impact she had within Labyrinth, I knew she would be the ideal COO of BigChange. She’s entrepreneurial, empathic, and is highly technical – she’s a chartered engineer.

She is already driving efficiencies here at BigChange, helping our hard-working teams to get the resources they need to keep improving service. She is also as passionate about corporate social responsibility as I am.

It’s been a real joy to bring Jo up through the ranks of BigChange this year. When we bought Labyrinth, we did it because of its brilliant product and people but also because of the cultural fit between our two companies. When looking for a new COO, we could have tried to poach someone from a rival but Jo ‘gets’ BigChange: she gets our mission, she gets the company dynamic, and she gets me.

The next time a senior position opens up in your company, don’t automatically call your recruiter. There may be someone in your organisation that would be perfect for the role.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO