Charity's Got Talent
My first interview is with Sara Fernandez.
Full disclosure: Sara was my former boss. We worked together at a charity called Student Hubs. At the time, she was the Executive Director, and my line manager. And working alongside her turned out to be one of the most formative times of my professional career.
Sara is different. (Good) different.
She’s highly intelligent. After two years at an experiential boarding school, UWC, she was accepted into Oxford University to study the illustrious ‘PPE’ - Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Over the last decade, she has been instrumental in scaling a youth activist movement in the UK. She helped build a national student-led charity, then a restaurant to part-fund it, then numerous other community initiatives. MBA scholarship, trusteeships, and a research fellowship mark her as a truly distinguished individual.
Today, we’re talking about ‘ talent’.
I first heard about Student Hubs at a rooftop barbecue in New York.
I was living there at the time, but contemplating a move to the UK. A guy at the party mentioned a charity that was looking for a Development Director, and encouraged me to apply. I laughed, believing I was far too young and inexperienced. But he reassured me that the Executive Director, Sara, hired staff based on their potential.
And I got the job.
Fast-forward four years, and I have returned to the charity’s HQ in Oxford. I’m once again eating barbecue food, only this time, I’m interviewing Sara.
She reveals to me her hiring secrets.
Her recruitment of staff is highly structured. Competency Interview - Case Study Interview - E-tray Exercise - Psychometric Test - Informal Chat with Team - Final Interview. Look through many lenses when assessing a candidate, then cross-reference them for coherence. This will dramatically increase your success.
Secondly, neither stellar competencies nor CV (including a degree from Oxford) are guarantees of suitability for a job. Above all, she values ‘potential’ - fierce determination, resilience, grit, passion, thirst for knowledge. Her advice is to nurture talent, rather than hire the finished product.
From the start, take a person-centred approach.
Onboarding begins before you arrive. You receive your welcome package in the post, including chocolates, handwritten card, impact report, contract, and other relevant info. It’s inexpensive, but highly effective. I still have the hand-written card that I received upon joining, so shocked was I to receive it.
Your first week is properly scheduled out for you. It’s not an information download on the company, but about getting to know you. You’ll discuss ways of working and learning, your aspirations, how feedback works, the terms of your probation, and what’s expected of you. It’s highly inclusive - a two-way conversation - and sets the tone of what's to follow.
As you develop, your activities are prescribed less and less. The goal is that you have the freedom to make decisions and deliver results as you see fit, guided only by a clear outcomes framework (autonomous working is not conditional on where you fall in the pecking order).
You learn, together.
There is a caveat to hiring based on potential. It is essential to have solid infrastructure in place for people to learn. At Student Hubs, this manifested itself in multiple ways.
Monthly Team Days: An entire organisation get-together, once a month, at HQ. Frivolous as this may seem, it worked. The day was dedicated to training, team challenges, peer support, updates and celebrating successes. Culture was strengthened, people were energised, and activities were aligned.
Talent Champions: A senior colleague with whom you’d explore opportunities outside of your day-to-day job. It was great for identifying under-the-radar talent, and complemented line management. Mandatory meetings with your T.C. were once a quarter, and on-demand after that.
Springboard: An internal leadership development programme, for staff with aspirations to become senior management. Sara designed the programme around MBA material, and delivered it herself. It was rigorous and provided a steep learning curve. For the organisation, it spotlighted strong potential.
Your manager is your coach.
The organisation used a simple ‘OKR framework’ to plan and prioritise (adopted from the tech sector). This had benefits for managing and motivating staff. Staff were primarily accountable for outcomes, so activities weren’t overly dissected. Therefore, meeting time was spent on staff development. Sara reaffirms that streamlining reporting makes for the most effective management.
Performance reviews continue in this vein. They must align with what really matters for the organisation - OKRs, cultural participation, collaboration and wider contributions. Importantly, they’re an opportunity to map an individual's future development, such as exploring new areas of the business. Mobility is actively encouraged.
If your dream job lies elsewhere, Sara also believes there’s merit in helping you to pursue it. Make introductions, be a sounding board, offer guidance. It promotes full transparency among staff, helps shape opportunities internally, and is testament to the fact that the organisation values the individual.
Money is (somewhat) inconsequential.
As Development Director, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to balance the books. We had reasonable means and big ambitions. However, because learning and development was systemic, it didn’t hinge on the budget.
When it came to pay and benefits, some creative thinking was required. The company offered modest salaries, but this was accompanied by unlimited holidays, flexible working, and upward mobility. The culture of experimentation and feedback meant that new initiatives were constantly piloted.
We haven’t forgotten what we learned.
Sara and I have both since moved on. I came back to Ireland and set up my consultancy business. She doubled-down on her efforts within the Oxford community.
For a national charity founded through student activism, it’s no surprise that it challenged conventional wisdom.
Today, as we sit and reminisce on the success of Student Hubs, we’re reminded of how much is to be gained by putting people first.
*If you want to highlight some of your own innovative business practices, or if you want help in taking a more innovative approach, contact Soli Projects.*
