In the world of Software Engineering, Technical Delivery and Data based decision-making, it is fair to say that there is a very real war for talent, unearthing the ideal employees and creating teams that can exponentially increase the performance and output of your organization.
But… let’s take a step back and understand what we are trying to achieve as an organization and then also consider what a new employee is wanting to gain within their own personal and professional journey. For us at Kurtosys this understanding is fundamental and, in some ways, the most crucial code to crack in making the best match for both employer and employee. The management of expectations is at the base of the employment relationship and what to expect when joining an organization as well as employing a new hire.
This notion alone is a double-edged sword. Assuming we are lucky enough to find one of the most innovative and capable humans around, the likelihood of the employment relationship failing is very strong without a shared mission and vision. Neither the employee nor the employer wants to be sold a dream, only to be followed by a rude awakening.
So let’s start with who we are
Here at Kurtosys, what we believe in and where we believe we are going helps us define what we look for when hiring great people…
Our mission is to deliver the most efficient, scalable and client focused investor communications technology for investment managers – powered by product innovation, long term partnerships and passionate people.
Our objective as employees is to make investment data & insight delivery seamless and pain-free. Supported by our expertise and bravery for innovation, investment managers keep delivering the world’s most cost-effective and efficient investor communications.
We are proud of our brilliant and talented employees, our world class product, and our mission to digital transformation:
- We aim to provide the highest standards of quality and service in everything we do.
- We provide remuneration and benefits that are fair and competitive for the job.
- We reflect sensitively on the attitudes and views of our employees.
- We fully promote and utilize knowledge, skills, and experience to maximize the efficient and timely operation of our activities.
- We address future needs by offering development opportunities and advancement to employees with ability, ambition, and integrity.
- We provide employees with the tools they need to deliver world class solutions to the benefit of themselves and the organization.
Our core values relate wholeheartedly to the way we work through – Team, Transparency, Trust, Bravery, and Confidence.
Each of us has an important part to play, and we are reliant upon each other to generate a harmonious, efficient, and rewarding work environment, one in which we can perform the best work of our lives.
That’s great. But – what do we look for when we’re hiring talent?
There are several approaches we take when we consider candidates for hire. We have broken it down into two areas in which we can assess outside of the obligatory technical competence and attitude.
Because of the complex nature of our code base and the speed at which we need to build solutions for our existing and new clients, it takes some time for any new Engineer or Product Consultant to be fully integrated. This reality requires rigor and patience, and our approach has been developed around this. Our structured onboarding process, with some in-person and some self-paced modules run via our Talent LMS, allows new hires to train, and integrate in a manner and at a speed which is optimal and tailored to each individual.
Organizations and managers often talk about needing to hire an individual who can hit the ground running. In most cases, however, this is absurd, suggesting a very short-term consideration. We strongly believe in the principle of starting slowly and thoroughly, to allow empowered employees to speed up and scale once they are ready. We have seen – time and again – that this approach shows long-term benefit, not only for the employee but also for the organization and its clients. Of course, we want to move at speed, but we want to move at the right speed.
The candidates we have interviewed which have transformed into employees who are positively engaged and deliver excellent quality work have all demonstrated the following traits throughout their Attraction, Recruitment and Onboarding journey at Kurtosys:
Curiosity and Humility
Robust evidence of constant learning, being inquisitive by nature and not satisfied until all areas or solutions have been explored. The type of individual that wants to be better today than they were yesterday. Demonstrating the ability to fail with humility, they fail quickly and utilize the learning from that failure to exponentially improve. Humility in areas of success, no unnecessary egos, a mentality of always moving forward and never resting on their laurels.
The ability to collaborate across teams and across the company
Technology is not easy, and in many cases being self-managed and reliant on other teams’ delivery for your work to provide meaningful impact is an everyday battle. Employees who understand the management of expectations, and the ability to communicate in an effective way will always do well. We look for people who display an ability to be professional, but not stuffy… witty, but not silly. This helps candidates who are new hires go a long way very quickly in our organization.
Role Related knowledge and good ability to prioritize (can’t do everything all the time)
This speaks for itself, a requirement for successful tenure is to have the right level of technical competence to perform the function in which you have been employed to do. This is usually less of a concern once hired, as we do run several technical interviews as part of the hiring process. The ability to prioritize your work, with a quantitative rationale makes the most logical sense, and sometimes saying ‘No, not right now’ is to the benefit of both employees and organization.
Risk Takers
When we say risk takers, we do not mean reckless abandon. We talk about bravely challenging and removing limitations from existing processes, allowing us to create new business rules. That is innovation. We look for individuals who will drive progress.
Employees who see opportunities amidst chaos
Just as in life, business does not always go as planned. We ask candidates to demonstrate examples where they have had a part to play in a scenario which resulted in them making money, saving money, or improving the organization’s efficiency by actions they took or solutions they built or problems they solved.
We like people who challenge the status quo… but always with respect, tenacity, and aligned to our shared purpose…
Fresh thinking
Some delightfully unexpected surprises lie in interviewing candidates who demonstrate an element of naivety… not even realizing that they were not supposed to have achieved or solved the problem they did, because nobody told them they could not. Persistence and grit are wonderful traits to display and often this renders itself in agility, heart, and pure passion.
Do you think you have what it takes to join Kurtosys? Have a look at our available vacancies or email through your CV and we can continue our conversation from there.
