FM 2023 complete (1) - Flipbook - Page 26
also provide our staff a feedback forum
via quarterly in-person paid workshops
enabling staff to be heard and allowing
us to optimise how we support and
ultimately work with our staff. All of our
efforts are underpinned by a driving
force to ensure we engage with our
staff outside of a pure booking optic,
and never have any type
of commoditised
behaviour. Furthermore,
our ESG strategy –
#ElevatingPurpose – has
a major focus on
education of our field
staff. Yet, we’re not only
educating our global
workforce to behave in a
sustainable way but also
giving them visibility into
our business wide
purpose initiatives. And
with studies showing
that 50% of employees
won’t work for a
business that lacks
strong commitments to
social or environmental
causes, showcasing our
action in this space is
also critical.
with the #ElevatingPeople programme?
What are the main principles behind
#ElevatingPeople?
We’ve been working hard to ensure our
messaging is heard by all our
workforces. We have invested in a
dedicated marketing push across our
socials along with key messaging being
shared at every opportunity via our staff
facing HQ team members. We’re moving
towards making it a mandatory part of
our staff training for clients who
support sustainability and DE&I.
Our #ElevatingPeople programme was
originally born out of a response to the
pandemic; what started off as a survey
to understand how people were doing
during that time, turned into a
mindfulness webinar attended by over
800 staff from over 15 countries. We’ve
built on that foundation and knowing
that our people are our greatest asset,
we developed the programme to
encompass training and in-person
events in areas that they asked for,
providing opportunity for personal and
professional development.
What does that do for Elevate?
Delivering these training opportunities
for our staff means they remain
engaged and loyal to Elevate, helping
our company culture to grow positivity,
stay resilient and keep innovating.
If we spoke again in 6 months’ time
what would represent success for
#ElevatingPeople?
Attracting, retaining, supporting and
up-skilling our people is our ultimate
goal. As we continue to grow our field
workforces, we want to offer every
single applicant the same opportunities.
We’re well on that road and we are
continuing to explore what else we can
do to better support our people and
ensure we give back to the workforce,
over and above employment.
How will Elevate increase engagement
Meet Kru Live’s new CEO
News that Kru Live had made
Sarah-JaneBenhamCEOto
overseeinternationalexpansion
for the business has been swiftly
followed by further news of Kru’s
expansionintoHongKong.There’s
clearly no time like the present for
theCEOsoweaskedheraboutthe
past, present and future to get the
full set.
In the time you have been at Kru, what
have been the major landmarks?
I’ve been with Kru Live for over a decade
and have witnessed some incredible
milestones in our company’s growth.
Before becoming a staff booking agent in
2010, I worked as a Brand Ambassador in
the field. Since then, we’ve
frequently revamped and expanded our
services to better serve our clients and
staff. In 2012, we launched Kru Talent, our
Entertainment and Specialist Act division,
and in 2014, we created The Staffing and
Entertainment Collective (TSEC), a
network of like-minded agencies
worldwide. These innovations have
helped us establish a strong reputation in
the industry and continue to drive our
success today. Looking ahead, we’re
excited to launch Kru Live Hong Kong in
2023, which we believe will be another
landmark moment for our company.
reliability of our payment process to staff
that we promise to pay a goodwill gesture
should there be an administrative error
behind the scenes which causes a delay
to staff members pay. It’s a rare
occurrence, and in our 18 years of
At Kru, our mission to deliver a service of
business, we have had to do it only a few
excellence to both staff and clients alike
times. Our staff can count on us to
has always been our guiding principle,
provide hassle-free payment, meaning
shaping the way we behave and the
they can focus on
decisions we make. Post-COVID, our
delivering their
senior team advised new members to
best performance.
‘trust the process,’ confident that the
What are the biggest
strength of our relationships, quality
control management system, and the ‘Kru challenges in
staffing at the
Promise’ would continue to deliver
moment?
outstanding results on site.
hands on deck’ year which saw our senior
team leading from the front. We scaled
the agency team from 5 to 50 within 3
months and found that regular and clear
internal communication was critical.
What examples are there of Kru at its best The current staffing
landscape is facing
in the last year or two?
a challenge wherein
Kru’s commitment to excellence is
some agencies are
reflected in our long-standing
still paying their
relationships with clients who come back
staff on a selfto us time and time again, and who refer
employed basis,
us to others. One of our most successful
despite it no longer
partnerships has been with Amplify and
being allowed. This
Sky Glass. Our tech teams have been at
creates an uneven playing field as such
the forefront of promoting Sky Glass
agencies avoid paying employer National
during a nationwide roadshow since its
Insurance contributions, pension, and
launch in 2021. Sky Glass is a stunning
accruing and paying staff members
smart TV that not only boasts an exquisite
holiday pay. While this may allow them to
design but is also certified carboncharge clients less in the short term
neutral, making it an eco-friendly option
(undercutting those who are compliant),
for consumers. As part of our support for
long term, the client could end up paying
How have you and the team steered Kru to their Sky Zero mission, we created an
more. Choosing to work with a nonsuccess after COVID?
innovative carbon calculator for staff
compliant staffing agency could lead to
travel
that
we
later
introduced
to
all
of
Our success in the post-COVID era was
substantial fines relating to the lack of
rooted in upholding the core values that our clients. Moreover, for every staffing
due diligence. It’s crucial for clients to
day
we
book,
we
plant
a
tree;
define Kru. We treat our staff well, pay
choose compliant staffing agencies,
demonstrating our commitment to
them great rates of pay and faster than
ensuring the protection of both
sustainability and responsible business
anyone else. 2021 was our most
themselves and their staff members.
practices.
challenging year to date given that we
How much of an opportunity is ‘global’?
were in a world of limited resource but
Another example of Kru at its best is our
Why?
our resilience, people-first mindset and ‘Pay Guarantee’ to staff. We are so
positivity saw us through. It was an ‘all
The Staffing and Entertainment Collective
confident in the consistency and
24
Summer 2023
(TSEC), is our global network of agencies
spanning 34 territories. Between us our
global community has over 55,000 staff
and as a collective, we deliver more than
200,000 experiential staffing days each
year, making it a significant area of growth
for us.
If we spoke again in 12 months’ time,
what would be a good indicator of a
successful first year as CEO?
A good indicator of a successful first year
as CEO would be a combination of
factors. Firstly, achieving or exceeding
the company’s financial targets and
seeing a positive trend in revenue growth
would be a strong indicator of success.
Additionally, maintaining a high level of
client satisfaction and retention, as well
as attracting new clients to the business
across a range of categories and sectors,
would be important. Another key factor
would be team wellbeing and retention,
as well as creating opportunities that
enable us to promote our top talent from
within. And finally, a great first 12 months
for our new office in Hong Kong.