Issue 6 2021

18 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 6 2021 , Tech-Savviness and Diversity The team at Bower Talent is unrivalled, a strong team of people who are exceptional at their jobs. It is made up of ex-industry professionals who have deep and specific knowledge of support staff roles and who highly value the company’s way of working. Priding itself on being highly ethical, Bower Talent always puts people before profit, i.e. if a candidate is choosing between two roles and one is clearly better for them, they will be guided in the direction that most benefits them, even if it means the company will lose a fee. The company also holds a very high duty of care towards its candidates as well as a long-term approach to clients, which means it doesn’t just walk away once the deal is done. The company also boasts its use of tech and automation which keeps it efficient at the backend, whilst helping free up the frontend humans to ensure a warm, respectful experience for candidates and clients. It also focuses greatly on data and testing to ensure proper due diligence and consistent quality in its process, with bespoke tests which are highly functional in assessing people for roles and provide great insights into the talent markets and trends. Bower Talent is an ethical and data-driven recruiter specialising in support staff; any roles with a focus on operations, people, HR, marketing and comms, or admin, from reception all the way up to senior leadership positions. It is a company led on vision, a fiercely loyal and talented teamand emphasis on constant innovation. CEO, Georgie Bale has steered it to great success. Recognised by CEOMonthly as Most Influential CEO 2021 – London, United Kingdom, we take the time to profile Georgie and her company. Mar21569 Bower Talent’s testing assesses people for the softer, core skills, regardless of their background, and it allows less unconscious bias, creating a better, more inclusive recruitment flow. CEO, Georgie Bale’s background is as an EA/PA. She won a very competitive role as PA to the Home Secretary at a young age. This was when the Home Office was dealing with extremely serious issues on the back of 9/11 and terrorism was becoming a huge threat. Her experiences whilst working at the Home Office really tested her skills as well as her personal resilience and gave her exceptional grounding for the rest of her career. She was promoted to Head of HR for a short time before returning to support in another Government office. After this, Georgie moved to the private sector and focused on Hedge Funds and Sovereign Wealth Funds. She always worked for the CEO/owner and, with hindsight it’s clear that her more than 15 years as a senior EA/Chief of Staff was like a very long-term MBA; she saw how a business should be run and how it definitely shouldn’t! The most successful leaders she worked for really cared about people and put them before anything else. The ones that failed were all about profits and didn’t care who got hurt along the way. Georgie has faced and overcome several challenges throughout her career and COVID certainly has been one, but over a year later, it’s clear there have been some positive outcomes. She feels that the huge pressure on her to keep the business together forged an extremely strong core team which now means the business has deeper roots and stronger legs. The decline in day-to-day business also allowed her to flex her creative muscles and develop two more business projects, Tech Warriors (tech-stack learning platform) and Good Eggs (ethical job board), both of which have the potential to become high growth businesses on their own, and which she has big plans for. She feels that her ultimate strength as CEO is that she’s very good at new ideas and pivoting products and services to accommodate market change or uncertainty. The exit of the company co- founder at the beginning of 2020 was another challenge as until then, Georgie had someone to bounce ideas and problems around with. Becoming the sole CEO and founder has meant she no longer has that sounding board. Whilst that has been hard, it’s also been a growth opportunity for her; she now relies more on her team and has brought in external senior figures for the advisory board. She sees the importance of not assuming a CEO can or should know it all. Looking ahead to the rest of 2021, Georgie’s immediate plans are to continue the high recovery growth post-COVID and grow Bower’s client base further (they are about to confirm a Government contract). Technology will continue to be used as a centre point for keeping the business agile and fresh, and a lot of the company’s focus will remain on marketing and noise in the market to hammer home to people its unique values and offering. Longer-term, Georgie sees herself investing more in start- ups and using her experiences and expertise to help others navigate the tough but rewarding landscape of growing a business to success. Company: Bower Talent Contact: Georgie Bale Website: www.bower-talent.com