Breaking the Status Quo

Where employees’ needs are valued and met

When former Royal Navy power generation engineer Terry Buckle established Astute in 2006, he not only aimed to offer top-notch technical expertise to customers — he set out to offer an unrivaled workplace for his staff.

Astute Technical Recruitment is a Hampshire, UK-based technical recruiter supporting the power generation and renewable energy sectors in the United Kingdom. Growing from a staff of three to 60 over 15 years, Astute has been named among the fastest-growing companies in the UK twice.

Despite its rapid growth, Astute has remained true to its values: to provide open communication, value people’s need for work-life balance and make work rewarding and fun. “To be recognized as a best employer is a massive nod that people feel valued,” says Sales Director Matt Dickens. “We wanted to break the status quo on how people are treated. We spend so much time at work, it’s crazy to treat it as a transactional relationship.”

Transparency

Astute is so committed to transparency, the office walls are literally transparent. “We have glass walls, and our CEO works among us. That visibility from the founder of the company is massive, not something you get everywhere. It’s very much ‘we’ and ‘team,’” says Recruitment Consultant Gemma Harfield, one of the company’s more recent hires.

To further promote transparency to all team members, the company has a meeting every month in which the leadership team shares news, changes, awards and “behind the scenes” updates. “They keep us in the loop, sharing news and asking advice on changes that can be made,” says Greg Storey, recruitment team leader.

Harfield said, “If I’ve got an idea, they listen — whether they’re a manager or the CEO. And my ideas have been implemented.”

Family Values

Astute understands its employees’ needs for personal time. If there’s a personal tragedy or a need for flexibility, leadership fully supports employees in taking care of themselves. “When someone has something going on in their life, there’s a human element of looking after people around you. Family values underpin this company and are what make it most special,” Dickens says.

All employees of Astute enjoy a nine-day fortnight schedule: On Fridays, their work schedule alternates between a paid day off and a short day. Along with holidays and paid time off, this adds up to 76 days off a year.

This schedule was devised during the pandemic, which was a turning point for the company. “Covid made us realize that the journey is as important as the destination,” Dickens says. “With lockdown, people dying, the world going crazy, if the journey isn’t fun, what the point of any of it?”

Coming out of Covid, Astute leadership wanted the staff to be happier, more engaged and able to enjoy their lives as well their work. “The work is important, but mental well-being and the memories you build in life are important too,” Dickens says. “The result is that we’ve recruited some of the best people we’ve ever had. We are much more attractive to candidates who work in this sector.”

Harfield is an example of how the firm values an employee’s needs. “I work a two-week rotation. It’s a completely flexible schedule,” she notes. “But the job is mine, and it’s up to me to get my work done. I put the work into it, and that’s the reward I get out of it. And the people I work with are fantastic.”

A Helping Hand

To support the Astute staff’s physical and mental health, the office provides a free, healthy breakfast, a lunchtime run club and a weight loss club. All staff members have received training on physical and mental health in the workplace, including desk posture, healthy eating and a free chiropractic assessment.

They also have regular, organized opportunities to get to know each other, blow off steam and celebrate their hard work together. “They really look after us,” Harfield says. “We’ve had barbecues in the summer on our big terrace, events that are all paid for, a black-tie awards ceremony in May. We feel really valued. It’s cliché to say part of the family, but that’s how I feel,” she explains.

Astute has a social committee that puts on events like bowling, a day at the water park, go-karting and karaoke. “We take it seriously having a good time,” Storey says. “Most lunch times, everyone is around our big lunch table, laughing, playing games. Then people get their heads down and work. It’s not dog-eat-dog, we help each other out.”

Harfield concurs. “Coming in as a brand-new person to recruitment, they noticed my strengths and they believed in me,” she says. “I was promoted after only three months. And there’s support with that — they don’t just pluck you up and put you in the deep end.”

Astute also spreads this good cheer to its local community with its corporate social responsibility program. CSR events include cleaning trash from a local beach, offering student work experiences and supporting charities that provide mental health resources.

Looking forward, Astute is focusing on developing its staff more than growing the size of its workforce. The company recently hired three recruitment trainers to help their teams strengthen gaps in their skillsets.

By investing so heavily in its own people, Astute has cultivated a team that is dedicated to providing the best possible service to its clients. To that end, the company is reviewing its product offerings to work more closely with customers for longer-term partner agreements. “This year is all about making sure we’re selling the right solutions to the right customers,” Dickens says. “We’re challenging the status quo and ourselves to try to not be typical in how we do things. We always trying to find new and exciting ways to meet customer requirements.”