And Benefits for All

Ambitions, backed by opportunity, lead to engaged workers

Keeping employees motivated is no small feat, especially in a competitive business such as recruitment. Charlton Morris relies on reinvesting back in the business to keep its staff engaged.

Charlton Morris, a recruitment firm founded in Leeds in 2013, recognizes that it takes more than just great perks to keep employees motivated, although the company does indeed offer some of the best incentives around. Co-Founder and Director of Development Tom Maskill says that an essential part of keeping staff happy is reinvesting everything that Charlton Morris makes back into its employees and programs.

“A real core value of ours is reinvestment,” Maskill says. “We put so much of the money we make as an organization back into the company.” Among the recent investments include a brandnew management development program, an office overhaul, as well as top-notch staff training and plentiful perks.

Ambitious & Open-Minded

But ultimately, Maskill says that Charlton Morris is a best staffing firm to work for because of its ambition.

Part of that ambition is desire to grow, Maskill says. The company started with eight employees in 2013. Now, the company counts more than 50 employees across offices in Leeds and Copenhagen, and is looking at other international locations.

Maskill looks for that same ambition from his staff and new employees.

“It’s people who are ultimately hugely ambitious that tend to kind of be more engaged in the company,” Maskill says, adding that open-mindedness also goes together with ambition. “We always try to innovate in terms of what we do as a company and how we approach things and so actually taking that on board and implementing that requires open-mindedness.”

Marketing Manager Kris Holland joined the team in 2014 straight out of university. The reward-based sales aspect of recruitment appealed to him. He began as a consultant, matching the company’s ambitions with his own fiery motivation. He was soon promoted to senior consultant, then manager, where he was building his own team while still in his early 20s.

If you ask Holland what makes Charlton Morris a great place to work, he points to the various perks, such as its wellness program. “We’ve invested a lot of time, effort and thought into our well-being programs.” It offers a health allowance every month, which pays for gym memberships, as well as extended lunches for employees who want to take advantage of the gym membership.

Other perks include unlimited holidays for consultants who’ve been with the company for more than two years, trips abroad to places such as New York, Miami and Barcelona, and if they meet their goals, then the team goes off for a fun activity, such as a lunch at one of the best restaurants in Leeds, on the company of course. Recently, a few employees went on an all-expense-paid helicopter journey to London for a night out. The office also offers in-house massages for its staff, and during its revamp and expansion Charlton Morris installed an employee relaxation area where they blow off some steam.

Hitting Those Targets

Joe Jani, a business manager, says Charlton Morris’ benefits are unlike anything his university colleagues have seen in the field.

For example, everyone works toward the company’s periodbased goals, with the year split into 13 four-week periods. If the company meets a period’s targets, employees are rewarded with an activity, such as a meal and drinks at one of the best restaurants in the city. “That’s a massive perk,” Jani notes, not to mention that such activities enable staff to interact with others with whom they do not work regularly. “It’s something that when I tell my friends they struggle to believe,” he says.

Charlton Morris was Jani’s first job out of college and despite being only in his 20s, he’s advanced quickly into a leadership role. What you can achieve at Charlton Morris is probably more than any other job available to recent graduates, he says. “The commission you can make here is unrivalled; another perk is just that you’re working with your friends every day.” Jani also loves the constant progression that comes with hitting targets. “Everyone is working toward their own personal goals and knows what they need to do to get to the next level, so it’s all very transparent.”

Holland also counts career progression as well as company growth as key to keeping employees engaged. “The fact that we literally watch the company change month to month, quarter by quarter and year by year, it’s exciting to be a part of that,” he says. “I am very different, we are very different compared to where we were a year ago and I’m sure in a year’s time will be very different again and that’s a massive motivator to me,” Holland says.

Maskill says the perks are another way to get employees engaged and the company strives to better its prizes once company targets are met. “We’ve been able to engage our employees with incentives and setting very genuine goals.” The company hasn’t missed a target in four years, Holland notes.

Charlton Morris’ engagement philosophy is something that is practiced at all levels, regardless of employee tenure. New staff are as engaged in the company as someone who’s been there from the beginning, Maskill says. “No matter what level somebody is at, they should each be engaged in a particular activity or objective.”

Team Spirit

Charlton Morris realizes that the recruitment sector is fiercely competitive and they see that as another key to keeping employees engaged.

The moment you walk into Charlton Morris’ offices you are greeted with massive electronic boards that show who the top billers are so far during the four-week period. The boards further break down employees’ stats and figures by week. And while the boards foster competition, those who aren’t doing so well are supported, Jani says.

There’s a sense of team spirit, Holland says, “which I think is integral to our success.”

Jani echoes the sentiment. “When you are part of something that’s moving in the right direction … if the team is doing well and winning, why would you want to leave?”

It’s that competitive nature that pushed many of the staff to ascend to managerial positions at relatively young ages.

Charlton Morris also offers training to employees who are ready to climb the ladder.

“What I liked about our training is that you’re not waiting a year or more before you actually do the job,” Jani says. “I very much learn on the job but at the same time you’re not drowning into the deep end because you’ve got constant support.”

Making an Impact

The goal of Charlton Morris transcends the company itself as it strives to make an impact on the industry as a whole.

There’s some negative connotations associated with the recruitment sector in general. Charlton Morris wants university graduates to see recruitment as viable option and not a ruthless, cut-throat industry, Holland says. “We want to show that we are a modern and progressive place to work where there’s a lot of rewards for people who are willing to stick through it.”