3i’s business is in private equity and Venture Capital. 3i as an organisation, how would I describe it? I think it’s clearly a big organisation, FTSE100 company, it’s got all the size and clout that goes with that but I think also it is a very intimate organisation, 750 people work here. There is great connectivity between what the organisation is trying to achieve and people understanding the role that they play in that.
3i tends not to recruit people straight from university so most peoples’ background, in one sense or other, will actually have a track record of achieving and delivering in a different organisation. The background we need of people who we bring in on the investment stream normally involves business school training or some exposure to working in an investment bank or chartered accountancy. Then on the professional services side it will be people who have gone from university into their chosen field and again will have developed a track record.
I think we put huge store on the network and relationships. There’s a great connectivity amongst our people. I mean what really makes 3i work is that we have got the size and the scope and the relationships and the network and our success is really about the way in which we leverage all of that so people have to be very open with information. They have to be constantly thinking about how they can help their colleagues and their peers so people in 3i are successful for themselves, successful for their immediate team but they also are constantly aware of contributing to the overall success of the organisation.
Let me tell you something really interesting about 3i. How many FTSE100 companies can actually say that their CEO has met every single one of their people?
I think the core values of the organisation are around openness. It’s around honesty, it’s around trust, it’s around collegiate behaviour and I think that sort of integrity piece is at the core but on top of that I think it’s about, there are values which are around aspiration and drive and ambition and ambition in a very positive sense. People, to be ambitious for themselves but also to care about helping their colleagues to achieve their ambitions and the organisation as a whole to achieve its goals.
I think you start off with the culture that you have within an organisation and I think you have to look at all the things that happen within the organisation to say, “Are they constantly reinforcing that?” So for example we have a 360 feedback process whereby we focus specifically on culture, values and behaviours and we encourage people to be very open and direct with each other around feedback within those particular areas. I then think when you’re recruiting you have to put a lot of time and effort into the recruitment process to make sure that not only are you finding people with a great CV and all the technical stuff that you can tick, but it’s also people who are going to bring some diversity in because you want to have a dynamic culture which is growing and evolving and developing but also people who really do share the intrinsic values that we want to nurture and maintain within 3i.
What working at 3i could do for you ultimately has to be CV enhancing. You’ve got human capital, you choose to invest it in 3i as opposed to a different organisation. After a period of time you want to know what sort of return you’re going to get and I think 3i provides the sort of opportunity where people will get really good returns on what they invest in the organisation.
Sort of directions that your career can take professionally in 3i I suppose depends on two things. One depends on your aspirations. Some people come with very fixed ideas as to how they want their careers to develop, others come in, embrace the opportunity and are very receptive about doing different things and I think that we’re pretty good in 3i in being able to respond to both of those opportunities. Some people have done things in 3i they would never have dreamt they could do when they actually joined. Other people have come in and said, “I had a game plan in terms of my career and that’s exactly how it’s worked out.”
What do I enjoy most about working at 3i? First and foremost I think it’s a great business. It’s a business that interests me and stimulates me. Secondly I’m provided with an opportunity to really contribute to the way in which the business is shaped moving forward. I think the style within 3i is very inclusive. I think that people are brought in and they’re provided with open doors and with connections and with opportunities to really know what’s going on and hence to be able to contribute. I also really enjoy the people. At the end of the day you spend a lot of time at work and to work with people who are great company, great at their job and have got great values, for me that’s’ the core of the working experience.
When we recruit people into local geographies, we recruit individuals who clearly want to come and specialise within their own geography but far transcending that, particularly amongst the more junior people, is this real hunger and desire to work on global deals. They didn’t join 3i to join a local office, they joined 3i to be part of something that would give them the opportunity to grow, develop and contribute across geographic boundaries, sector boundaries, business-line boundaries. In fact I think that’s one of the great characteristics of 3i. Of course we’ve got boundaries, we just try to make them invisible.
I really do feel that for many people who join 3i, not only do we meet their career aspirations we really do help them to exceed them. In that respect, we do help people to achieve more.