Focused on being people first, our team cares about what we do and how we do it. We put our people first, and to us that means our 4 C’s: Colleagues, Candidates, Clients, and Communities!
“People-first” is a term that has been seen increasingly often in organizations and work spaces in recent years. In fact, it has become a buzzword that many business have begun using regularly in their job descriptions and mission statements.
But what exactly is a people-first culture?
At Career Contacts, we believe that centering our people at the core of everything we do has been the catalyst to our growth and success. We’ve built our business and work philosophy around what we call our 4 C’s: Colleagues, Candidates, Clients, and Communities.
“Putting people first is a philosophy backed up by a set of actions which prioritizes the people of an organization above all else including shareholder value and profits, even if it means that leaders must make personal sacrifices.“
-Jacob Morgan, Author of The Future of Work
Colleagues:
It’s important to consider that in order for us to do our best work for our candidates, clients, and communities, we have to start at the core of our company: our colleagues.
It’s been said that who you surround yourself can play a big part in shaping your frame of mind. Afterall, in a full-time position you can spend upwards of 8 hours a day with one another! With this in mind, we believe it’s vitally important to form strong connections with your team. Whether that is by creating a team chat where everyone can share what is going on in their lives (professionally and personally), or holding group events where everyone can interact (in person or virtually). It’s essential to the foundation of the company that there is a people-first environment within a team (big or small).
Additionally, by creating a unique compensation model that steers clear from commissions, we ensure that our teams work collaboratively, not competitively, and that our clients and candidates come first. By being people-centric, we ensure that the work we do aligns with how we want to do it. Our consulting division focuses on the work our teams are passionate about, and takes their entire lives into account – they choose the work they do, and the hours they put into it.
You’ve seen the quotes but essentially what the leadership team at Career Contacts believes is this: hire great people and get out of their way!
We also are committed to ensuring DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) stays at the forefront of our core values at Career Contacts. Through various diversity and inclusion initiatives, we can better partner with our candidates and clients and increase our alignment and service offerings. We believe DEI begins in-house, and we leverage, live, and breathe this in our workplace.
From ensuring our hiring practices are constantly evolving and improving, hire DEI specialists on our team, and partnering with external community partners to continuously learn, grow and do better,
We believe this is critical to our success and the reason our people feel included. When you feel comfortable to show up as hour whole self to work, it becomes a much happier place to be.
“Create the kind of workplace and company culture that will attract great talent. If you hire brilliant people, they will make work feel more like play.“
-Richard Branson
Candidates:
In the case of our candidates, being people-first means providing them with the smoothest possible recruitment process from start to finish. As noted in our last blog (“The ‘No Update’ Update”), we always want to make sure that we are respecting candidates’ time and offering them the best communication on our end and on behalf of our clients. Without our candidates, we wouldn’t be able to do what we love: bringing clients and candidates together.
With such a large client base that spans throughout North America, we take a consultative approach with our clients; letting them know what the job markets are doing, what candidates are asking for and what they need to do to ensure they secure the best talent for their teams.
By supporting with our clients on both an HR and Recruitment standpoint, we move into a holistic partnership that serves all and creates repeat win-win scenarios (our favorite kind!)
Our people-first process invites candidates in, and finds ways to screen them IN, not out of the hiring process. We work with our candidates to set them up for long term success, not just for our current roles, but for future opportunities. We love watching our candidates succeed in landing their dream job(s) over and over again!
In addition to our recruitment process, the safety of our candidates is vitally important to us. For every employee we place on-site, Career Contacts strives to put the safety of our internal and external teams before all else. We partner with our clients to ensure that they have the tools to operate in the same fashion, and ensure our employees are welcomed into safe environments every time.
Whether it’s physical or emotional safety, we do not compromise and neither do our clients.
“Corporate culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything for better or for worse.“
-Simon Sinek
Clients:
Our clients are unique, and their recruitment process and needs are too. We understand that recruitment is not always (if ever!) a one-size-fits-all operation. We have our process but are able to easily adapt and customize that process to ensure our clients feel supported in the way they need!
Agile working is about bringing people, processes, connectivity and technology, time and place together to find the most appropriate and effective way of working to carry out a particular task. It is working within guidelines (of the task) but without boundaries (of how you achieve it).
Habitaction
Our goal when working with our clients is to focus on not just what the role requires on paper, but starting and maintaining a healthy dialogue with our clients to really figure out what it is that their team needs in a recruit on a core level. We understand that getting to know our clients on a people-first level is essential to understanding their company culture, and ultimately vital to finding their perfect fit. This also means forming a connection and staying in touch with them even outside of any new openings or hires.
“Many companies espouse in their mission and vision statements that their people come first. We see it written into company values and emblazoned across websites in an effort to recruit, retain and engage employees, yet how many organizations and leaders put into practice what they preach? How many can speak to what it truly means to put their people first?”
-Sinive Seely, for Forbes
Communities:
Being people-first in this sense is an integral part of our purpose as a company, which is why serving and interacting in our community is imperative to our mission. At Career Contacts, we believe in placing the utmost value on our communities, and the environment. While supporting local candidates and local clients, we are also committed to supporting these communities at large, which allows us to give back in a meaningful way.
We work closely and partner (both formally, and informally) with numerous BC organizations and schools such as Dress for Success Vancouver, AGA Khan Foundation Canada, Union Gospel Mission, Black Women Connect Vancouver, and Greystone College (just to name a few), to make sure that we are doing our part in sharing our knowledge and resources with our neighbors. Whether it’s guest-speaking at a resume workshop for a local College or University, or making a donation to a charity that we support such as BC Children’s hospital, we are passionate about where we live and we are avid about uplifting our community.
What stands us apart is the way we give back. Our teams are all invited to take the stage and build their personal brands as they support Career Contacts in building our professional one.
Each year, our entire team decides where our dollars are going to be spent on giving back and which organizations we can support. Even as a smaller organization, there is always time and resources to share – no matter the size.
With our teams based all over Canada and the US, our definition of ‘local’ support expands with us; though Vancouver, BC will always be where it all began!
“Make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, has a meaningful impact and is contributing to the good of society.”
-Larry Page
People are the very center of the every industry; especially the HR and Recruitment industries. In our day-to-day operations we speak with and work closely with thousands individuals from different lines of work, with different skillsets and backgrounds. The passion that our team has for what we do is rooted in our love of working with those individuals within a true people-first mindset!
If you are looking for the next step in your career, or if you’re looking for a new addition (or additions!) to your team, we are ready to help. Our team is comprised of dedicated recruitment and HR experts who are passionate about assisting in all aspects of the recruitment process and human resources materials. Click the links attached to learn more about our Recruitment and HR services, and to view our currently available positions, take a look at our Job Board. For other HR and Recruitment tips and resources, connect with us on LinkedIn and stay tuned to our Blog!
