Does your organisation have an open-minded culture?

Our operations support executive, Charlotte Hill, explains how, after a few false career starts, learning to have an open mind enabled her to arrive at her dream job - at a company with the progressive mindset to see beyond her previous experience… 

“After completing my A-levels in Sociology, Politics, and Geography, I went on to University to study Social Work - something I’d always wanted to do. But after eight months and much soul searching, I realised this actually wasn’t the path for me and walked away. I then dabbled in the hospitality, early years, and retail sectors as I considered my future, and it was whilst I was completing admin work at Sainsbury’s that I found I really enjoyed completing a variety of office-based tasks, which eventually led me to Iridium.”

Being responsive to learning new things 

“I started working at Iridium in January 2022 to take care of the onboarding process, but my overall job is very varied. I help with contracts, I am always working on an ad-hoc spreadsheet for our Director of Operations, I also dip my toe into the finance side of things, especially when we need all hands on deck at month's end, and I work with the recruiters on a daily basis. I try to get involved with as many different areas as I can. I love learning new things.”

My ‘calling’ 

“Looking back, I can see how difficult it is to make decisions about your future when you’re under pressure to make good choices. After moving away from university, and what I thought was going to be my golden, lifelong career in social work, I looked at everything from degree apprenticeships to pursuing my own bakery. Although it didn’t feel like it at the time, I now know having an openness to many different things was key to me discovering my ‘calling’. 

I definitely had a lot to learn, but Iridium was willing to look beyond my experience and give me a chance. In turn, I am willing to try anything and to help out with everything, enabling me to learn a lot from loads of different people.”

A lesson in misconceptions 

“I had no clue what to expect from this sort of role. I was expecting the leadership team to be strict, serious businessmen in suits. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I rocked up on my first day and my new boss, Matt, told me he had booked a welcome lunch, which was a lovely surprise.  

I was so nervous on my first day. I was worried about fitting in and making sure my skills were up to scratch. I knew this job was the first step on the ladder for me, so I wanted to remain as positive as possible. I am quite an open-minded person so I just tried to be myself and hoped that it would pay off (and it did).” 

How to be an open-minded team player 

“I think if you’re willing to listen to people, it will get you far. If someone notices that you listen to them, they’re more likely to listen to you. Simple. 

Working in an open-minded culture sometimes means you have to accept that not all of your ideas will be chosen - and that’s not a reflection on you. Supporting each other and working together is the best way to be collaborative and that leads to happier colleagues. The team will always work more efficiently if everyone is happy and at their best. It's all about building each other up.”

How to be an open-minded business 

“What’s great about working at Iridium is that I have been trusted to venture out into new areas. Trust is such an important thing for an open-minded culture. As such, I’m now assisting with lead generation for business development, and it feels really nice to be asked to do something that’s so important. 

I think an open-minded approach to hiring and developing people should be taken by all organisations. Obviously, some roles do require a certain qualification or some experience with specific systems, but for the roles where skills can be easily learned, I think employing someone because of the person they are - not what they have done - will always work out better in the long run.  

To maximise staff retention and develop talent internally, the ideal message for businesses to send out to staff would be that it’s OK for people to change their minds about where they want their skills to be developed, facilitating this with regular catch-ups and taking positive action when someone shows a hunger to try something different.” 

A final word on this... 

"Developing my own open mind in the last couple of years has impacted my overall life. I'm much more willing to listen and try new things, which makes life so much interesting and more enjoyable. Try it."