Welcome Steve Neary – Our new Head of Talent

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11.03.22
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Get to know our new Head of Talent Steve Neary, find out about his people vision for S&S, why he’s so passionate about what he does, and why he struggles to decide how to spend his free time…

Hi Steve, welcome. How have your first weeks been?

It’s been great, everyone has been really friendly and hugely welcoming. It is clear to me that the people in the business are excited and passionate about working in S&S and their individual roles in the business.

Why did you decide to join S&S?

I’ve known Jonathan Potter (one of S&S’s partners) for years and when he decided to introduce me to the company and I saw what S&S was about… it wasn’t a tough choice at all – it was an easy one. It was very clear to me from the start that S&S is a purpose driven business. And that’s something that’s important to me.

What will you bring to the team?

I’ll build on the great work that’s already been done which led to a Great Place to Work accreditation. 

I’ll bring my expertise around talent to attract, engage and develop brilliant people who buy into our vision and values.  This will be key as we scale the business.

What aspects of your work are you most passionate about?

I’m passionate about helping people learn and develop, become more self-aware and develop the skills and behaviours they need to achieve their goals sustainably.  We’re a purpose driven business, and finding great talent who want to thrive with us all energises me.  

It’s difficult to be scaling fast AND smart. How do you strike the balance to bring in the right people, and do it quickly?

It’s about striking the right balance between speed and control.. You have to think candidate first. Going too fast or too slow can be at the expense of candidate engagement.  The key is to really understand the candidate journey and continuously look for ways to make it as engaging and frictionless as possible.

What is your ‘people vision’ for S&S?   

To enable everyone in the business to feel fully engaged and able to deliver brilliant individual, team and business results. As we’re scaling extremely quickly at the moment, we can’t lose sight of our purpose, and we’ll need to continue to develop ourselves and celebrate our differences in order to be successful.

How do we maintain our culture and values as the team grows?

We will continue to act out our values, trust one another, and role model great leadership throughout the organisation. We’ll protect the great things about our culture, and develop new ways of working together so we continue to feel aligned, connected and outcome focused. I firmly believe when brilliant people trust each other to deliver amazing results and are both challenged and supported, amazing things will happen!

It is clear by now that you love what you do, but how do you best spend your free time?

I’m a big tennis fan and play a lot – both singles and doubles, and I’m in the league during the summer season. I am big on ‘learning as a habit’ and I love consuming new information. I read all the time – both books and audiobooks. One of my favourite books is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (check it out), and during lockdown I made my way through all 26 Jack Reacher books. Frankly, I sometimes struggle to decide how to spend my time as I like a lot of different things – cinema, art, music… all of that stuff.

Lastly, what’s your favourite super hero and why?

Batman obviously.  Great costume, Batcave, nice house, cool toys.  Doesn’t have to rely on superpowers.  

Again, warm welcome to the team Steve. We are very excited to have you as part of our Orange Team.

Written by
Sullivan & Stanley