Pye: at home in the city sky

Highams’ chief executive is changing the company in innovative ways, reports Sarah Coles

Highams’ chief executive is changing the company in innovative ways, reports Sarah Coles

The Gherkin isn't a subtle addition to the London skyline. It's big, it's bold and it's confident. And when Dave Pye stepped into the role of chief executive of Highams, IT recruiters for the insurance industry, he knew that this was where he would be opening the company's London office. "We needed an office in the capital," says Pye, "because that's where so many of our clients are, and coming to the Gherkin made a statement."

This wasn't the natural home for a company like Highams: a quiet, genteel business that had kept its head down for more than two decades. In fact it was so quiet that when a headhunter first suggested he consider moving to Highams, Pye says: "I knew of Highams, but I hadn't heard anything from it in years. I thought 'I wonder what became of them'."

Since Pye joined, however, there has been plenty heard from the company: from innovations in social networking and new business brands, to introducing a homeworking policy that defies the recruitment firm stereotypes of presenteeism and big brother performance management systems. Partly as a result of all this, the company has been selected as a finalist in this year's Recruiter Awards for Excellence in the category of Best Recruitment Firm To Work For. And much of this is to do with the bold changes Pye has introduced.

His move to the company seems equally unlikely as the subsequent office move. His background was with the major players, with 11 years at Spring and Parity. He said: "I liked being in big businesses with lots of people and lots of resources." He was working his way up the corporate ladder and was already managing director of Spring Technology in his 30s.

But then, at the end of 2005, his infant son Billy died, and Pye reassessed his priorities. Firstly he decided to take some time out with his family, and for four months he went travelling. The family of five travelled the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. For almost three months of that time they were packed into a camper van. Pye says: "Before that trip I wouldn't go away unless the word 'ensuite' was mentioned as part of the deal." So in many ways it proved an eye opener. He says: "It gave me the chance to sit back and consider what I enjoyed most about what I was doing."

Back to work

On his return he worked as a consultant for a venture capital firm, which was looking at investing in recruitment firms, and became an IT spokesman for the Recruitment & Employment Confederation. He says: "Both brought me into contact with a lot of the smaller organisations in our space. I was fascinated by the dynamism of smaller companies and the way they could change things so quickly. If they wanted to open a new office, for example, they could get it up and running in three weeks, while a big company was still waiting to discuss it at the next board meeting."

At that point Highams was looking for a chief executive; one that could inject pace and urgency to the business, and turn it around. The business was looking for the big and the bold, and Pye was their man. He says: "Because it was such a cautious company, it was quite a change to have a whirling dervish come in and say 'what about this?' 'what about that?'"

The company certainly needed to change. It hasn't made money in years, and strayed into low profit areas that detracted from the core of the business. Pye says: "We had gone all over the place and grabbed at whatever business was available and we lost our focus, so a lot of the early work was to focus back on the core." This is high-end permanent technology employees, and meant moving away from broader contract work.

Changes

The work of 2007 was to get the company back on track, spending the money, and cutting the contracts, to get it there. This, Pye expects to be reflected in another unprofitable full year. However, he is forecasting profit in the financial year of 2008-2009.

Pye didn't waste time in making changes. He started by establishing an internal Ideas Factory to work with employees to decide how the company was going to grow. The bold steps he has taken since are attributable in part to ideas created at the factory.

The move to the Gherkin was one such bold move — which actually is rather sensible. Since the office was taken on a short let, Highams could cut and run if the risk turns out to have been ill conceived. The company's Gherkin office is the smallest in the building, but employees have access to the same amenities as everyone else, including the café bar in the sky. Clients don't need to see the modesty of the offices; they can be whisked up to the top floor for a dramatic view of London that's bound to make an impression. Pye says: "Clients and candidates are always keen to come and see us."

His other moves have been equally bold but sensible, too. One suggestion to come out of the Ideas Factory was for homeworking. Pye explains: "A lot of employees had been in the company a long time. They are still there because they are good and because they are treated well. So, for example, mums returning to work were allowed to choose their hours, and they are without a shadow of a doubt the best workers we have. We have six or seven people working three or four days a week with the ability to work from home. It got me thinking about what do we stand for, what makes us different, and we decided this would be one of our points of policy."

He is aware this goes against the grain for many recruitment companies, who believe employees need to be in the office in order to be monitored and managed. But he points out that a lot of work is naturally done on a contract basis, and that as long as it is done well, within a given timeframe, it doesn't matter where the work is done. And he adds that by taking this approach, the company wins talent from more rigid organisations when they come to look for more flexibility.

This has been a success for the business, so much so that it has expanded overseas. A lot of Highams' clients operate internationally and while the work didn't justify establishing offices overseas, it made sense to have workers based in locations such as the Benelux countries.

He says: "One of our people went to Belgium to work, so we asked her, 'who do you know, at the school gates, who would like to work on a commission-only basis?' We now have six articulate, intelligent, educated mature women workers in Brussels." And the pattern can be replicated. Highams already has its first homeworker in Germany, and on an international basis Pye hopes eventually to have as many as 200 homeworkers.

Bluefuse community

The other major development to come out of the Ideas Factory is bluefuse, an online community for insurance technologists. Pye explains: "We've created a community where they can talk to each other, and get advice, upload information, and find out news about the community." The site will officially be launched in April, but it already has 300 members.

It is purposely branded differently to Highams, and although it has top jobs posted there, it's very different from a jobs board and individuals feel the community has control of the forum. Pye expects that over time it will take on a life of its own, in much the same way as other social networks, such as Facebook.

In 2007 the company also launched Highams Interim, providing high level interim staff such as change consultants. Pye says: "That came from the suggestions of a couple of clients. The brand extension was simple because we already had access to the people, we just hadn't thought to do it."

They were bold moves, but not expensive ones. Pye points out: "It's about taking a 25-year-old brand that's conservative and traditional and making it exciting and innovative. It's also about making your mark without spending loads of money."

Whether he turns the company around remains in the balance. Pye admits: "We're one year into the turnaround. The shareholders will want to see concrete results in the end of year two." It's vital for the business to deliver this result for shareholders, but Pye is just as keen to make a difference for the employees.

"I'm excited for the people working here. They deserve a great next few years because they have been with us for some time and stayed with us through the difficult years," he says.


Snapshot: Dave Pye

1986 Joined Intertech
1994 Promoted to sales director, Intertech
1997 Appointed operations director, Spring, when Spring acquired Intertech
2000 Appointed as managing director, Parity's European resourcing business
2003 Joined Spring Technology as managing director
October 2005 Left Spring Technology.
January 2007 Joined Highams as CEO



PROFILE: Highams

• Established 25 years ago, by Ted Andrews and John Higham, to provide technology staff to the insurance industry.
• Based in Caterham, with London office in the Gherkin and homeworkers based in Brussels and Germany.
• 40 employees, of which over 30% have been with the company for 10 years; 20% have been with the business for five years.
• January 2007: Andrews moved to the role of chief operating officer to allow new blood into the company.
• Operating profit forecast for the full year 2008-2009.

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