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We used our company’s “why” to steady ourselves during rapid growth

Help staff understand their responsibilities
Nick Sherratt focused on helping staff understand their responsibilities and tied that into the overall business strategy

The problem

Macclesfield-based Mojo Mortgages realised that its rate of scale was making it difficult for employees to “buy in” to management decisions. An early mover in a vast market, the company added 60 new staff in 18 months. Despite holding meetings with new starters, the management team regularly needed to make quick decisions without communicating it to the rest of the business.

The solution

Managing director Nick Sherratt arranged regular meetings with team leaders to ensure staff members were kept up to date with business progress and challenges. In these meetings, he reinforced the vision of the business, as well as what they were doing, and how and why they were doing it.

The team leaders could then relay this back to staff, ensuring goals were up-to-date and clearly defined. Most of all, it helped staff members to understand their responsibilities and how their contribution was helping the company in real-time, rather than waiting for a quarterly meeting.

To ensure company priorities remained tangible, Sherratt implemented a goals framework – objectives and key results (OKRs). The system has enabled Mojo Mortgages to define and measure key results and provide staff with context for management decisions.

The results

Sherratt believes the OKR system has been “really effective” at keeping teams aligned during a period of rapid change. For Mojo Mortgages, regular communication has been crucial to keeping staff members united around a common purpose and helped them feel that their contribution matters.

“As a leader, you have to be open and transparent about what’s going well and what’s not,” said Sherratt. “If goals and objectives aren’t being met, we have to be specific about what failed in the process and make sure we learn from it. It can be difficult to deal with, but it often gives the team more confidence too.”

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