Attracting and retaining talent - a growing issue as businesses transform

The black swan events of 2020 have accelerated the need for agile behaviour change within workforces. Someone who knows a great deal about fast paced and changing business environments is Gustav Berghog, Group CEO at company Junglemap, an SaaS business within the EdTech sector. We recently spoke to Gustav to better understand how he’s come to thrive in an environment which many others find challenging and learn more about his approach of finding and surrounding himself with the support needed in his leadership.

Getting started

Gustav confesses that he ‘likes to do business and grab opportunities’ and consequently found himself attracted to the bright lights of Stockholm where he describes a climate of entrepreneurial spirit, flat organisational hierarchies and hands-on, can-do attitudes. Starting out as a management trainee in the telecoms industry provided an excellent foundation for someone thirsty for knowledge and experience. The role firmly positioned him for his future management roles and gave him exposure to the nuanced relationships between leadership teams and their boards.

Up for a challenge

With more than twelve years in commercial roles within the telecoms industry, Gustav continued to hone his skills and came to work as a Director at company Halebop (a part of Telia Company), attracted by the nature of the business as a challenger brand.

“There is a part of me that enjoys being the underdog in a commercial landscape. It brings out the fire in me – I enjoy a challenge.”

Eight years on and ready for another challenge, Gustav moved into a new industry joining Zmarta group as CEO with the aim of strengthening and developing the organisation to create the leading Nordic provider of digital comparison services for personal finance. He was drawn by the relatively new industry space, the fast-paced changes the business was experiencing and of course, the challenge of building a brand, creating new customer offerings, integrating new verticals and managing digital transformation as online and offline products converge. Today, he has just taken on a Group CEO role as Junglemap. A company with ambitions to disrupt traditional e-learning with their proven nano-learning platform. According to Gustav, the pandemic accelerated the need for agile behaviour change within workforces and for this Junglemap is in the sweet spot.

Talent within and without

“It helps to have a culture of openness and transparency combined with a lack of hierarchy. I like to encourage a winner’s culture coupled with a big pinch of humility.”

Attracting and retaining talent is a growing issue particularly as businesses transform. Gustav’s approach to finding the talented leadership that he needs to support him in his role is looking more closely at finding stars within the employee base and having them mentored all the way to the top.

Sometimes though it is easier to think that an outside hero is needed to fix a problem. The reality is that it takes both approaches, recognising the aptitude and abilities of your colleagues, and accepting the change of perspective that a new hire can bring. Expertise can be different for the short-term goals and the long-term visions of the company and may come in permanent or interim form, it’s about being flexible and open – getting just the right person for the role. Using an interim solution to bridge the gap has helped Gustav in the past. He recalls a case of having to bring in much needed CFO expertise at the start of the pandemic.

“We selected someone with the experience, skills and gravitas to hit the ground running. We were at the start of the pandemic upheaval, and we had no time for lengthy onboarding particularly with remote working. This not only kept a steady hand on the financial rudder, but also allowed us the time for the diligence required to get the right person for the permanent position.”

Supporting talent

“During the pandemic at Zmarta we shifted up a gear and we trebled employee satisfaction during this time, finding new ways to build rapport and connect with our colleagues.”

In Gustav’s experience times of turmoil and turbulence call for long-term perspective and an ability to keep the foot on the gas.

Supporting your talent through tough times is crucial to building loyalty and retaining key talent in your organisation. The focus should be to offer encouragement, praise and support in any way you can to keep morale high and results on target.

Gustav concludes that people have proved that they can still deliver even when not tethered to a corporate desk. Hybrid working is here to stay, and it is important to retain and support the talent at all levels who drive our business success.

Agile behaviour changes in our workforce are just as black swan events becoming more common. At Alumni we offer a fully rounded perspective to your talent management needs offering bespoke solutions and looking at the unique situation of every organisation. In partnering with us we can help you analyse your current skills needs, provide insight into the candidate market to identify news competence or work with your existing team to help support and strengthen skills that will help ensure future business success. Do reach out for a dialogue about your current situation and how we at Alumni can help add value.