At the time of writing this we do not yet know where we have placed this year, however, it matters not – it is a fantastic achievement for a small, rapidly growing company formed in the main by ex military personnel embarking on a second career, with the assistance of some truly brilliant ‘normal’ (i.e. non military!) people.
How have we done it, again? When you get to know the people of Inzpire it is not hard to see how. However, how did this come about, what do we do to our people that makes them happy, engaged and so positive about the working environment? Some may think a huge bribe or bonus is at play. Well if they do they are sadly mistaken. Many studies have now concluded that the way to your staff’s hearts, and to increased productivity, is not through bonuses and large salaries. In fact it is now widely acknowledged that this can have the opposite effect! So what do we, Inzpire, do that is different?
Some have called it ‘the Special Sauce’! Coca Cola keeps its secret recipe for its special sauce locked in a bank vault and at any time only two staff members will know only half of the recipe each. So who is the guardian of Inzpire’s Special Sauce recipe? No one and everyone is the answer. We have no Special Sauce recipe, but what we do have is a lot of common sense and a set of shared values that form the DNA of the Company and pervade all of our employees.
Nearly every organisation now has a Mission Statement’ and a set of ‘Values’, often dreamt up by PR, HR and senior management on an away day at some swanky hotel. They all sound great but how many of you can recall more than one or two of your company’s values? In my opinion what we do differently at Inzpire is that we actually recruit the values. Qualifications and experience are of course essential when recruiting good staff but at the top of your selection criteria should be ‘gut feeling’! By going with our ‘gut’ when we recruit there is no need to inculcate people with the ‘company values’ as they are already embedded in that persons behaviours and personality. We don’t have special sauce but we do have ‘special people’. We call them “Inzpire people”.
The result is amazing. At DSEI our stand was full almost all day, every day (and even more so during Happy Hour). We engaged with hundreds of visitors - some curious, some customers, some potential customers, and without fail they all left us with similar comments – Inzpire really is different! We don’t quote our Values just because it’s the done thing, we live and breathe them, they are our DNA – we don’t need to fake it! The benefits are endless: a challenging and fun environment; great products and services; happy customers; and most importantly - engaged employees!
Are you an ‘Inzpire Person’ – if so then get in touch!
