Contingent Workers: Clare
Clare Searle wears many hats, in a business sense and talks about her company Accord Limited which is a hands on management consultancy which specialises in helping your business solve the problems you face. Clare has helped business on a global scale from the UK to Canada.
At a Glance:
On the web: accordlimited.co.uk / simplicityfirst.uk / greenerandcleaner.co.uk
Reading: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
I can’t work without: my phone
Contingent Works: How has working at Contingent Works helped you and your business?
Clare Searle: It’s made me more productive, because I've been feeling a little bit trapped at home and a little bit unproductive and procrastinating like mad, and just coming into the space, the energy of the space, the other people around kind of connects and centres you on what you're doing. On a practical level as well, it's made my life less painful, in terms of having to run from one place to another because I run multiple businesses. Many of the meetings are in London and many meetings in Bromley and having somewhere that I can come in between things and take some action rather than perched on my lap in train stations, is just fantastic. Also, one of the organisations which I run which is one of the local charities and we've had some good candidates put forward through Contingent Worksby some of the roles that we were recruiting for.
CW: What made you choose Contingent Works?
CS: It was recommendation initially, a lady who was one of the first members, who said, what a nice vibe the space had and at that point in time, I hadn’t even considered a coworking space because I had always worked from home. I really enjoyed that freedom of working from home but I thought it can't hurt to go down and do a trial day, see if there's any benefits to it. Plus I know other people that have worked successfully in coworking spaces so I came down and just instantly felt comfortable.
CW: How would you describe your business and what you offer to people?
CS: Yeah, so this is where I get a challenge because I wear so many hats. So, the core business that pays for my membership for Contingent Works is a management consultants business that in the main focuses on strategy, performance and environmental, social and governance work for purpose driven organisations in the small to medium category in the main. I do work for large international companies in Canada weirdly as well. But basically, I am the alternative management consultant. So instead of going in throwing stuff at you, or blinding you with science, I go in and I try and help you to learn how to solve the problem that you're facing. And to get to an outcome that you're happy with and my ideal outcome, weirdly, is that you never want to bring me back because I've done my job and up-skilled you along the way. I do all sorts of projects like that, but I also run a coaching and mentoring business which helps mainly small business owners who are really struggling to turn off their business mind, and I run a local charity Greener and Cleaner who are a local environmental charity trying to make a difference in the borough.
CW: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
CS: I think it comes down to the outcomes. It's not the performance outcome necessarily, or the documented outcome. It's the people outcomes. So, it's when you finish the project and the people you've been working with are engaged and excited, educated, passionate, and full of positivity when you walk out the door.
CW: What advice would you give to someone looking to get into a similar role?
CS: I think part of the role is experience, but aptitude is far more important. If you want to get into small scale management consulting, this is very different. If you want to go into the big firms, if you want to get into sports, it's find the stuff you're passionate about, learn even more about it. Then just let your passion come through when you're talking to businesses about it. The work that I get is almost entirely word of mouth, and that is because I am so passionate about what I do and I really want the right outcome for an organisation when I leave it so if someone else wanted to be in a similar position, I think it's, know your stuff, but more importantly know how to work with people and how to get the best out of them.
