Different by design

Scaling a business from nothing to 500+ employees in five years takes grit and determination. Sisson explains that this has equated to recruiting a new hire every 1.8 working days. This meant meeting, at times, dozens of people each day. “We handpicked talent from across the industry, much of it known to us.” He admits that the process was ‘exhausting’ and ‘overwhelming’ all rolled into one. Added to this, as a start up, there was ‘nothing’ there in terms of a people management foundation, Sisson with the full support of leadership, had to make decisions on ‘everything’ and swiftly.

“We quickly landed upon the realisation that we needed to be different by design,” Sisson was adamant that McGill and Partners wouldn’t be a carbon copy of others in the industry.

He says, “This was founded on a couple of principles which are still at the core of what we've done and have served us well in terms of the attraction of talent.”

Sisson’s own background spanning senior HR roles at both JLT Group, now part of Marsh & McLennan and Aon was not dissimilar to the senior leadership corporate experience that was sitting in senior leadership when the business began. He knew that a different lens needed to be applied if they were to stand out from the crowd.

“Many of the original six, including the founders, who were sitting around the table had come out of fairly large corporates, where everything was very ‘boilerplate’ in terms of their approach,” he knew then they needed to change things.

The Contract of Trust

He began with that bedrock of employment, the contract and realised that in his view, these had always been shaped on the basis that they stipulate the rules for the ‘worst’ employee. “If you actually step back and look at your contract of employment, that's what it's designed to do, to deal with the bad person.”

Sisson decided this was the wrong way to approach it, “Ninety-nine out of a hundred are good people and if you come at something from that perspective, it really does change your view.”

From that moment the ‘Contract of Trust’ was born at McGill and Partners. Explaining the concept, Sisson says that the ethereal being, the ‘employer’ - was going to operate in a new way, by having very few stipulations.

Sisson triggered a revolt in traditional people management for the new business from day one by giving free rein – in essence the deal is: “We provide the colleague with an incredible amount of freedom and trust to do the right thing at the right time for their colleagues and clients, and most importantly themselves. Prioritising family and their personal life outside of work when required. In turn, colleagues will provide the company that absolute commitment to provide excellence of service and dedication to their colleagues and the firm.” It’s a two-way street in which each side must perform its obligations while not being threatened with a stick while doing so.