Scaling a Business in a Hybrid Working World, Growing Globally, Working Locally

Scaling a Business in a Hybrid Working World, Growing Globally, Working Locally

What does growing globally or working locally mean, and how can someone know which option is best for their business? How does the new hybrid working world affect managers? Susan HayesCulleton MC'd a conference that addressed these issues and provided insights given by industry experts.

This conference touched on HR and what you really need to scale your business, such as IT, mentality, financing and much more. Dr Chris O’Malley talked about new opportunities hybrid working brings but warned that we have to be mindful of the change that has occurred and the change that is yet to come. It is important to give managers the opportunity to upskill in order to effectively manage a hybrid workforce. 

Caroline Reidy from HR suite reviews HR issues across Ireland and noticed that people today don't want micro-management, they want to develop. A piece of advice she gave was: “Hire slowly and thoroughly, fire fast and legally”, which was coupled with: “Hire on attitude, train on skill”. She then spoke about mistakes and how it was important to create a space where mistakes can be made, in order to promote innovation. An issue only arises when mistakes are repeated. Caroline has a book, “The Art of Asking Questions”, which talks about the power of the exit interview and the benefits that managers can get out of them. 

After this there was a panel interview in which Louise Foody explained that most of the technology you need to digitally transform you probably already have access to. We were reminded that there is a human at the centre of every transaction and the goal of technology is simply to help make these transactions easier. 

Elaine Murphy reiterated the importance of putting a lot of time into hiring, and followed up with ensuring that you set expectations from the output and be transparent about the journey. She also highlighted the importance of networking and explained how it is a secret weapon in Ireland. 

Next we heard from David Gildea who started his own business and took us through the journey of scaling it up from a one-man show. He went through all the mechanisms that he used to finance his company, including grants such as the competitive start fund and the high potential start up grant that he applied for through Enterprise Ireland. These not only provided initial capital, they also gave him credibility for future US investors. David stated that: “you dont sell a business, you are bought”, and in order to be attractive to acquirers you need to illustrate that you are a scalable business. 

Paul McBride spoke about ensuring you can scale your business model as distinct from scaling your business. Scaling a business can often get mistaken for expanding geographically and it is important that you can make the distinction between them. Paul explained that when scaling a business, “you can test, learn and pivot” but you have to go all in. He also commented on the danger of not exploring whether your business would benefit more from going global or staying local. Not looking into it or choosing the wrong option can have a negative impact on your business, no matter whether you choose to go global or stay local. There is no universal right answer, you need to evaluate your business and pick the best option for it.