Case Study: HR180 mentors MD of start-up digital platform Seenit to help massive business growth

Claire founded HR180 just over 11 years ago and has had the privilege of helping start-up business founder Emily Forbes through the Plusnet Pioneers mentoring programme. Emily’s company, Seenit, the London-based digital platform designed to seamlessly co-create video content for brands, is set to double its workforce by 2018. Here is a snippet from the case study reported by Startups UK.

Founded by Emily Forbes  in 2014, the brand is on track to expand its team from 25 to 50 employees over the next year, following rapid growth and several rounds of funding by investors. Seenit currently works with some of the largest brands in the world, including BBC, BT Sport and Morrisons.

Emily says, “While it’s fantastic to experience buoyant growth, there continues to be challenges as our team expands. With no formal HR processes in place and ambitious expansion plans, I felt it was time to refine our internal procedures before our team could become 50-strong.

“Talent is what shapes our business, and ensuring the team remains motivated and engaged started to worry me. It’s essential for me to keep my colleagues inspired and reassure them of future opportunities and their career progression – but it’s often easier said than done.”

How business coaching will take Seenit to the next level

As part of the Plusnet Pioneers campaign provided by Plusnet– a programme aimed at helping start-ups and small business owners realise their ambitions – HR180’s founder and MD, Claire Morley-Jones, shared her expertise in a series of mentoring sessions with Emily. 

Claire discovered that as a new business owner, Emily has been extremely focused on seeking finance and building the business. With no immediate staffing concerns, Emily was balancing most of her time towards her business priorities instead of her people – an easy habit to fall into for start-ups. Claire says, “It’s the small things like review processes, internal team incentives and recognition programmes that are often overlooked, and these go a long way to ensuring staff deliver the very best performance. It’s important to get these right early so that culture and performance don’t suffer as a business experiences typical growth pains.”

As part of the mentoring sessions, Claire was able to was provide Emily with invaluable tips, advice and encouragement to support her team and ultimately, fulfil her business objectives.

In addition, she was advised to implement additional practices to streamline Seenit’s HR strategy with Claire adding that it’s vital to consider the finer details, commenting, “Without developing business values and a distinctive culture, it’s difficult for staff to feel a part of something special and unique. As a business owner struggling with a particular area like HR, it’s important to go back to basics and identify ways to make your team feel passionate and devoted to your company”

Putting in place HR processes for growth

Through the mentoring sessions, Emily was provided with the tools to improve everyday tasks, from performance review templates and apprenticeship frameworks to reward systems and resource mapping. Claire really helped Emily to recognise the importance of fundamental HR processes.

Having a mentor hasn’t just enabled Emily to implement a more considered HR strategy – the sessions helped to shift her outlook on the entire business and gave her the confidence to achieve her ambition of doubling the team next year. Emily says, “Having a personal coach has been an invaluable experience. It’s not only hugely benefited the company and team, but on a personal level it’s helped me to be more self-assured in my decisions.”

The mentoring and coaching which Claire was able to provide for Emily via PlusNet Pioneers is available as a service offered by HR180 delivered by our Mission Control boffins. Free initial consultation to find out more – call us on 0113 287 8150 for more info.

With grateful thanks to Plusnet and Startups UK.