Senior Appointments at Today Team Set to Fuel Record Growth

Today Team – the North West’s trusted same day couriers – have made three new key appointments following a year of record growth and turnover.

A dedicated Business and Finance Manager, a Business Development Manager and a Logistics Controller are poised to join the team as part of the company’s ambitious transformation strategy – and all in co-development with Human Resources (HR) specialists People Puzzles Ltd.

“Last July, we were in the throes of another record month for the business when it suddenly struck me… I was working in the business rather than on it,” recalls Managing Director Jamie Boyd, who founded Today Team in 2005.

“If we wanted to maintain our exceptional standards – as well as to continue to expand – I realised something needed to change, so I reached out to People Puzzles Ltd to give us the organisational development experience and framework we desperately needed. Jayne Chadwick – our part-time on-site HR Director – has proven to be an extremely professional and positive person to work with, and I am delighted with our progress.”

One of Jayne’s first tasks was to go on a fact-finding mission – having one-to-one confidential chats with existing Today Team employees to better understand the strengths and challenges in the business. The areas for improvement were presented back to Jamie, who had separately devised five key business objectives; then, together, they created an action plan.

“Jayne quickly identified that I needed to appoint a dedicated Senior Management Team to lead on day-to-day operational matters – freeing me up to focus on strategy, growth and sales,” says Jamie.

“She has since fully supported us throughout the recruitment and interviewing process – using Today Team’s newly-created company values – and I’m really excited to start working with the successful candidates!”

Another key task was revisiting job descriptions for every employee – aligning roles with responsibilities and accountabilities.

“The job descriptions needed to be more reflective of what people actually do on a day-to-day basis,” says Jayne, who works at Today Team’s Risley headquarters one day a week.

“I discovered that, as Managing Director, Jamie did not have a job description at all, which is not uncommon among entrepreneurs, but now he is very clear on what is expected of him at a strategic level – and I provide healthy challenge whenever he is tempted to go back into the office to provide cover.”

Company Values

The company values were devised with the full input of the workforce. Having let the wording ‘bake’ (which Jayne says is Jamie’s preference), the values have now been committed to a prominent wall, where they are available for all staff to see.

“They represent how we do things around here,” says Jamie, who rewarded every staff member for their contribution to this important exercise.

“We’re still comparing them with how we operate to make sure they are exactly right; the idea of having values is twofold: to raise our high standards even higher, and to make sure that Today Team is a great place to work.”

Looking to the future, Today Team intend to recruit to these values – ensuring candidates not only have the experience and technical expertise for the role, but also that they demonstrate the required attitudes and behaviours; therefore, it is critical that as the Managing Director, Jamie leads by example – something Jayne says she is pleased to have witnessed herself as a fully integrated member of Today Team.

“I recently attended the stand-up meeting in operations; the energy was fantastic, as they’d smashed their target before month-end, and were on track to make it yet another record month when compared with the last financial year.

‘Jamie founded the business having come from the world of rugby and, while he does invest in continuing professional development, he is pretty much self-taught; yet I’ve found his processes are second to none. He ‘gets’ how fundamental beliefs, values and behaviours are key to the success of the organisation, so working with him as a people professional… well, it doesn’t get better than that!

‘Jamie is highly driven, which means he is full of energy and passion for the business; I love being able to influence how organisations can improve, as well as a to-do list. It’s a really exciting combination, as it means our plans always come to fruition!”

Future Plans

The next phase of work is to embed the values into every aspect of Today Team’s People Plan – as well as to continually review the action plan – so that it is delivered sequentially and lands properly. With three new exciting appointments now confirmed, and the financials already stacking up for yet another record year of both turnover and profit, all signs suggest that (as is always the case) Today Team are on course to deliver on time!

“Jamie and I know that in a year’s time, we will look back on all our pain points and learning curves, but that ultimately, we’ll feel very proud and pleased with what has been achieved by a business which has successfully grown – and that is thriving and going places!” concludes Jayne.

To find out more about People Puzzles Ltd’s UK-wide team of highly experienced HR Directors – who specialise in providing part-time on-site HR support – visit http://peoplepuzzles.co.uk/ or telephone 0203 239 3307.

Today Team’s recruitment search continues, with the role of Senior Operations Manager currently being advertised. To express interest, please email the Careers Team at careers@todayteam.co.uk