And a difficult one at that! Even though there are plenty of job opportunities available right now (depending on what industry you’re looking in), potential employees have a hard time connecting with “the one” whether it’s because their resume isn’t formatted correctly, they aren’t highlighting the right experience, or they just aren’t finding the right jobs. Career coaches are becoming increasingly popular and CoachHub is helping match workers with coaches who know how to get them results.
CoachHub just raised $30 million in their Series B round and has an interesting process they take job hunters through. Using AI, their data-driven matching system matches an employee with three of the best coaches for them. Once the employee picks a coach, they meet biweekly and receive personal development homework assignments on things like resiliency, time management and leadership skills.
HR teams can even use the app to look at statistics, aggregate topics and satisfaction ratings.
How does the matching system work? Data scientists built the algorithm that matches individuals (coach or coachee) based on details like experience, specialist topic, background, age, and so on.
Would you work with a company like this when looking for your next batch of employees? Hit reply and tell us your thoughts!
A16Z Knows Company Culture Like Nobody Else
Ben Horowitz is the cofounder of the esteemed venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, or as some like to call it “a16z”. You know, the one that manages over $10 billion in assets and has investment in Airbnb, Instacart, Lyft, and Facebook.
Horowitz knows a thing or two about building a sustainable company culture. He just wrote a book called “What You Do Is Who You Are” about it, which is perfect timing considering what we just saw happen with WeWork this year.
Horowitz thinks the biggest mistake companies make is judging the kind of company culture they want based on what they already have. Culture is a set of actions, not a set of beliefs (Way Of The Warrior, anyone?). Ben believes that culture is driven by “the people who aren’t there when you’re talking to somebody”, not the sh*t we all write in our company values and say in team meetings.
He also breaks our hearts by reminding us you can’t hire for culture. Culture has to be put into action and culture is constantly changing, so can your next hire “adapt”? You won’t know until you find out. Or if you ask, “What would you do if I punched you in the face” during your next hiring interview.
What? Yes, that question is one that can help you judge if someone can deal with confrontation and extremes… and answer in a way you deem worthy. Maybe you’re testing their courage, their intelligence or quick thinking. Think about the position someone is applying for and what skills are most important to the position and the company culture.
Also, don’t be like WeWork. Sure, their relentless optimism was a strength in their growth, but it turned out to be a problem. The company tended to let small problems turn into catastrophic events with their glass-half-full optimism.
What’s most important to you in your company culture? Hit reply and share!
Paper Sacks Means Paper Stacks
Sometimes being overstocked is a blessing in disguise. Gilchesters Organics flour mill has been stacking the paper (aka cash) all year long thanks to receiving a year’s worth of paper sacks in February right before the pandemic hit. As soon as the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson locked down the country, consumers were panic shopping left and right for essentials (like flour).
Since most supermarket stores were empty within hours, customers flocked to independent suppliers like Gilchesters. Gilchesters is a family owned business who’s mill sits on top of the site of a Roman fort. Most of their business came from selling to restaurants, bakeries and wholesalers, with a little left over for local shops. It was only on the rare occasion they sold via direct mail to customers.
But guess what happened the first month of lockdown? Gilchesters increased their mail orders by 700%. Billie and Andrew Wilkinson, the couple who runs Gilchesters, spent all of their time processing every single mail order and repacking the flour into smaller options for customers. They even had to shut down ordering access on their website so they could catch up with the surge.
They tried desperately to encourage customers not to hoard. No one listened apparently since sales of flour in March 2020 were up by 2.1 million people, and then in April it rose again by another 2 million. Delivery speed was hard to maintain for the company, along with isolating staff to reduce risk of catching the virus.
Now, new customers keep coming back for more and have fallen in love with Gilchesters flour.
