• Position: Founder
• Sum yourself up in three words: Honest, direct and considerate
Fun fact: Spent a lot of time travelling Australia and Fiji before founding Maxwell Bond. Decided to set up the company whilst raising two children. ‘Where People Matter’ is Maxwell Bond’s mantra. It’s a motto designed to capture the spirit of the team – our personal crest emblazoned with a passion for helping people, whether that be our employees, clients or even candidates, attain their perfect future. Steven launched Maxwell Bond in 2016. Since then, he has worked in almost every role while the company has grown around him, and we managed to grab a few minutes to learn more about him
Tell me about your role at Maxwell Bond
When you’re in start-up mode, you’re literally responsible for everything from bringing on new staff to putting training procedures in place, cleaning desks and finding new business. My role as the sole Director and Founder of Maxwell Bond means I oversee the entire business operation.
It’s important for me to focus on developing employees’ skills and growth – in a way that is both appropriately scalable and sustainable. That’s what ‘Where People Matter’ means. I pride myself in saying not one person who has worked for us has come away without growing, both personally and professionally.
"I pride myself in saying not one person who has worked for us has come away without growing, both personally and professionally"
Where does Maxwell Bond fit in the recruitment process?
Our area of specialism is mid-senior technology and business-change people. We have several ways of recruiting, from being an exclusive recruitment business partner to coming in towards the end of a recruitment campaign where you need qualified, high-quality people to come into your business fast. The common theme is that we deliver.
Often our clients need to source candidates as soon as possible. As such, they need a professional service that asks the right questions. With our expertise, they usually uncover a need or a candidate profile they don’t know exists.
Ultimately, we deliver on simplicity. That’s what makes us different. We say what it is we are going to do and proceed to do it without complicating the process or asking our clients for more time. We always say an iPhone is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to replicate.
"We always say an iPhone is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to replicate"
What do you like about working for Maxwell Bond?
The vision that we all hold is my favourite feature of Maxwell Bond. Evolving from a bootstrapped start-up to a small- to medium-sized business is what truly makes this worthwhile – and we’ve got our sights continuously and firmly set on bigger and better things.
Where there were once three of us, we are now ten and counting in just 2 years. It’s an exciting journey to be a part of. I also enjoy the challenges that every day brings, and the level of respect we all have for our clients.
In this recruitment market, it’s easy to identify talent, but the difficulty lies in attracting and engaging them.
How do you spot a company where people matter?
Companies that believe in their people are those places where team members are encouraged to develop through confidence-boosting, integrity-led techniques. And, obviously, they’re places where these employees are happy.
You can tell a lot about an organisation if their staff speak highly about their place of work, and confidently about the service or product.
If you see progression or evolution of staff members, they tend to stay, which is key. People don’t tend to stick around if they’re not improving or being inspired. I’m proud to say, so far, everyone that’s worked for us longer than six months has received some sort of promotion. That’s rare in recruitment.
"I’m proud to say, so far, everyone that’s worked for us longer than six months has received some sort of promotion. That’s rare in recruitment"
What matters to you in recruitment?
Integrity – first and foremost. It takes strong determination and professionalism to deal with people as your product. It’s the only service or sales-focused industry where the “product” can turn around and say no to the “service/sale.” That’s why it’s so important to be honest and tell people it’s ok to tell us the truth – we’d rather know where we stand.
It matters to us that we use a personal, professional approach to recruitment, one that creates genuine consultants or trusted advisors to communicate effectively with the people we deal with on a daily basis. We have to deliver bad news daily and we do that with an honest, direct approach in mind, whilst putting ourselves in someone’s shoes.
I’m proud to say we advise some of the UK’s leading FTSE 100 businesses, alongside some of the exciting starts-ups coming through. This wouldn’t be possible without focusing on people.
"I’m proud to say, so far, everyone that’s worked for us longer than six months has received some sort of promotion. That’s rare in recruitment"
