In this regular item we catch up with one of our members...
Joe Sheppard, Managing Director
of POD Staffing in Paddington tells us what they’ve been up to over
the past few months, their thoughts on freelance staff motivation and what he’d
say to a senior new business target if he had 30 seconds with them in a
lift.
IPM: Hi Joe, thanks for talking to us. How are things going
at POD Staffing at the moment?
JS: Very good thank you! We’ve had a busy period which has meant plenty of
change in the business, including relocating POD HQ to Paddington. I won’t lie
– I was nervous about how growing at pace & traipsing our team across the
capital would affect the makeup of the business. However, we’ve been fortunate
in that our hires have really added to the POD family & the move has been
just perfect for us. It’s an energising place to be right now!
IPM: How
is your business developing and evolving – any interesting plans for 2019 you
can share with us?!
JS: With
our product being people, there’s so much emphasis on the development of relationships
both client side, but importantly, with our field teams. We pride ourselves on
this point.
In terms of plans, we are working hard to advance our offering beyond
traditional event staffing. We have recently reviewed and galvanised our
recruitment approach and with that, we will continue to build our database into
2019 with a focus on sales and retail personnel, working alongside our event
talent.
IPM: How do you sustain relations and keep motivated Brand Ambassadors
engaged, given that they’re effectively not contracted to your business?
JS: In my experience, many clients have this very fear when
considering experiential activity delivered by local event staff.
Our ethos is built around leading
with our quality of staff. This is, in its essence all about our ability to
only engage with appropriate personnel and to avoid technology-led booking
styles. We must pick up the phone and talk to our staff. It’s so
important that there’s consistent dialogue between HQ and our field teams.
At POD we avoid mass
communication at all costs – texting in multitudes or using ‘jobs boards’ are
not appropriate in our world, simply because it creates a pattern where the
team selects itself. This cannot ever be better than a hand-selected, squad who
have relevant experience and interests in the brand they are representing. It
shouldn’t just be about availability and geography. It should be those things
and more, such as - how’s that Brand Ambassador feeling? What’s their current
mood, motivation? Do they have the hunger for this role?!
IPM: You find yourself in a lift with a new business target,
you've got 30 seconds to make an impression on behalf of POD Staffing - what
would you say and do?
JS: For me, I’d adopt the same
approach as how we talk to our staff – gain respect by creating dialogue on a
personal level, show genuine interest first and foremost…then, if there was a
natural opportunity to ‘talk shop’, I’d do so with confidence and conviction when
it came to POD.
….I’d also sneak one of my Brand Ambassadors into the lift with me and
leave them to do the rest! Their passion would shine through, hopefully leaving
the prospective client watering at the mouth… I’m certain that they’d want that
hunger, charm & loyalty on their brand activations!
IPM: Thanks so much for your time Joe – have a great
day!
JS: You too!
If you’d like to get in touch
with POD Staffing, drop them a note at joe@podstaffing.co.uk.