Our latest discussion with Mike centres on the importance of trust in the workplace and why it is such an asset.
Mike reflects on its significance and explains why every interaction with clients and employees represents an opportunity to nurture trust.
Why our clients trust us…
At Isosceles, we never take for granted the trust that a client places in us every time they reveal the fundamentals of their business. For example, our clients will often want to know the answers to the following sensitive questions: Do we have enough cash? Do we make enough money? Can we make a sufficient margin on what we sell? Exposing these intimate business details requires the clients to trust our people, processes, and systems and our ability to render a free and fair recommendation by using the data in the right way. Without such trust, clients will refrain from making recommendations to other businesses and terminate the relationship.
Do not just take our word for it; find out what our clients think.
“It’s a sense of great pride,” Mike explains “that after two decades we still have our first client, and we still have a whole bunch of clients that have been with us for ten years, further still we also have a greater number of clients who have been with us for over five years.”
Of our current clients, over 40% have been with us for over five years, and 15% have been Isosceles clients for over ten years.
Since a large proportion of our work comes from recommendations from our rapidly growing network, Mike reflects on our work with a range of finance directors: “We continue to work with client finance directors who have used us in four or five previous companies, so there is a strong bond there.”
“Trust is a very precious commodity; if you lose it, you can’t regain it easily.”
Once trust is lost, you cannot easily build it up again; it does not always take a seismic event to lose trust because if clients cannot trust you with small things, then the likelihood is that they will not trust you on the bigger things.
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Trust at Isosceles…
Teamwork is built on trust, and the first element of building trust is ensuring each member of the team fulfils their duties diligently. Whilst we have controls and supervision at Isosceles, we still rely on the individual to do what they say they will do. What we do is very difficult; we must juggle multiple clients, our people need to be great accountants and HR professionals, and they must have great client service, rapport, attitude, and ethos. Trustworthiness is fundamental to success.
“We have created an environment at Isosceles which is conducive to transparency and honesty,” Mike explains. “Our colleagues need to feel comfortable to raise an issue and confident that it will be dealt with constructively, sympathetically, and empathetically.”
“Isosceles’ longevity is testament to the hard work and trust our team have demonstrated over two decades.”
Demonstrating trust in our recruitment process…
Trust is equally important in our regular recruitment cycle; during the process, we test for trust by ensuring rigorous selection, assessment, and interview stages.
Anyone who joins Isosceles must go through a series of interviews and assessments that bring candidates into close contact with various people across the business.
Acknowledging the challenging recruitment process, Mike says: “We like to recruit at graduate level and train our own accountants to ensure they are trained within the Isosceles Way.”
“Whether you are the most senior FD at Isosceles or the most junior graduate accountant, the views of each member of the team are listened to and respected.”
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So, how does a candidate demonstrate their trustworthiness?
As Mike explains, it is important to be “authentic” and “honest” and present achievements and skills with candour and sincerity and distil the lessons of previous experience without unnecessary spin.
“We recruit to our values, creating a better chance that the person we recruit will resonate with our core attitudes and behaviours.”
Mike goes further: “If we do all of this, then both parties can trust each other.”
“At the end of the day, a candidate is trusting us with their career, so that is an obligation that we do not take lightly either.”
Internally, we have greatly expanded the scope of our employee feedback process. By implementing the WeThrive mechanism, we can nurture trust by providing our team with a platform to express opinions anonymously. Following our recent survey, Mike explains it has been really “refreshing” to read the number of specific comments, positive recommendations, and constructive ideas from our team.
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However, we have not just implemented this for the positive optics it creates for Isosceles. Our team needs to see what we do with the information they have provided and how it has stimulated change or debate with senior management to really achieve trust.
“If the individual can trust the company enough to lay out how they feel and the company trusts the views coming in as considered and sincere, then we can enrich the relationship by acting on the feedback.”
What if an issue arises?
If an issue arises, we will gather all the available facts to understand the issue and immediately start developing a mitigation strategy and alert the client to outline our plan to resolve the situation.
Mike says: “By being transparent with the client during difficult times, it strengthens the relationship.”
From an investor’s perspective…
Investors trust entrepreneurs when they tell them the truth and present company information without spin.
Since Isosceles is a third party with a long track record, investors trust us.
From our two decades of experience, we have learnt that we would rather terminate a client relationship than run the risk of damaging our reputation.
Referring to reputational damage, Mike says: “Once your reputation is damaged with an investor, that relationship is over forever, and your reputation within the marketplace deteriorates very quickly.”
“If we feel we cannot trust the client, we will discuss this with the relevant parties and seek clarification. However, if distrust remains, then we will politely decline to work with the client.”
“A client relationship with a lack of trust will end badly; it is just a question of when it ends badly.”
Due to the nature of our business, both parties in the relationship require total trust. We have supported our clients through challenging situations, whether during legal and HR issues, cash flow difficulties or fundraising, but we will always do the utmost to support our clients.
“If we trust the client, we will go all the way and fight alongside them in the trenches.”
There are several investors in our network who we have worked with since our inception, and these investors trust us to support our clients, conduct the necessary due diligence and present the truth free from bias, spin, and omission.
As a result, Isosceles is very selective about the type of company we introduce to our extensive network of investors.
Due to our track record of supporting businesses through exits, fundraising, and turnarounds, we have been fortunate to have generated positive outcomes for investors.
We will be speaking to Mike again soon to find out more about what has been on his mind.
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