Tech recruiter shortlisted for award for putting employees’ wellbeing first
Hamilton Barnes, the specialist network engineering recruitment firm, has offered its staff interest-free loans, debt-management plans and mortgage letters.
The London and US-based tech recruitment company Hamilton Barnes has been shortlisted in the Best Growth Initiative category for the industry-recognised Management Today Business Leadership Awards 2023.
The company’s award submission caught the judging panel’s eye with its focus on the culture of support that co-founders Nick Barker and George Barnes built for colleagues since it was founded in 2014. This includes an initiative to help ease ongoing financial pressures for a team of nearly 70 consultants.
Hamilton Barnes only recruits trainee consultants and promotes from within. As such, co-founder Nick Barker quickly noticed “the lack of education for young people in crucial areas like credit scores, buying properties or saving”, and identified “these elements as part of our responsibility to support our staff”.
Barker estimates up to 60 per cent of the company’s workforce has so far benefitted from the fiscal support scheme, which sees each employee given access to an independent financial advisor. Areas covered include help with opening up ISAs, pension scheme navigation, credit score improvement and debt management. Young employees will also be assisted in transferring a mobile phone contract out of their parent’s name or offered interest-free loans if money is tight.
Explaining the thinking behind the initiative, Barker says: “We want to help our employees plan ahead and be successful in the long term, not just in the short term. Many who come to us may never have lived away from home if they’re school leavers or living on their own in a new city if they’re graduates. It may be their first time coping with paying bills independently or understanding how best to manage their income.”
Barker adds: “If employees are stressed about finances, they’ll become flustered and distracted and they won’t be performing properly. This is then exacerbated if they fear they could lose their job because of their failings; it causes them to stress even more about their finances, which will then further impact their performance. So, we make sure all our colleagues are supported with the knowledge that if they’re working hard, their jobs will never be in danger, and give out financial aid to help ease pressures and avoid this negative cycle.”
One success story is Lewis West, who joined Hamilton Barnes in 2018. Facing a mortgage shortfall of £50,000 to secure a property, he turned to Barker for advice, who connected him with a different mortgage advisor and offered solicitor recommendations. A letter written by Barker to the new lender, outlining West’s progression within the company and how his expected future earnings would cover the higher mortgage fee, clinched the full amount and Lewis moved into his new home last September.
Lewis says: “Nick’s help was instrumental in helping me secure my property. With his support and the additional projected income taken into account, I was able to secure the figure that had previously been unattainable. Nick also helped steer me on the right questions to ask of the lenders and of the solicitors and was a constant sounding board throughout the process.”
All winners for the Management Today Business Leadership Awards 2023 will be announced at a live event held on 27 April.