Principal People - Beyond the Desk Q1

Learning The Ropes With Our New CRM 🧠 

Having moved to Bullhorn at the end of March, a large part of April involved finding our feet with the new CRM and adapting to new ways of working across the business.

The team have worked fanatically to share best practices, shortcuts, and useful features with each other, which has helped make the migration as smooth as possible. It’s been great to see everyone fully embracing the system and supporting each other through the transition.

While we are all still learning, it’s exciting to see the progress already being made and the improvements the platform is bringing to the way we work day to day. We’re also looking forward to rolling out more features over the coming months and seeing the wider impact these will have across the business.

Attending Industry Events - SHiFT Conference 🎤

A great day at the SHiFT conference hearing more about the latest safety and health innovations across the fibre telecoms industry, with this year’s theme focused on “Maintaining Focus in a Changing Industry”.

It was a really strong event overall, bringing together professionals from across the utilities and telecoms sector to share ideas, challenges, and lessons learned from across the industry.

One of the standout talks came from Justin Manley, whose honest account of a life-changing incident on site was a powerful reminder of the real impact behind the decisions made every day in operational environments.

A valuable day all round and great to see so many people continuing to push the conversation around safety forward.

Celebrating The Success Of The Quarter 🍝

At the end of each quarter, we make a point of getting the team out of the office to properly celebrate the hard work, success, and effort that’s gone into the previous few months. It’s a chance to switch off for an afternoon, spend time together away from the desk, and do something a bit different as a team.

This quarter, we stepped into the kitchen to learn the art of pasta making from a real Italian Nonna. Safe to say there were a few hidden talents in the group!

We then rounded off the evening with live music and drinks at a local bar, a great chance to relax, have some fun, and celebrate what’s been another successful quarter for the business.

Most importantly, it was about saying thank you to the team for their hard work, energy, and commitment throughout the quarter. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

Quarterly Award Ceremony 🎖️

Our End of Quarter Awards are a chance to recognise the people who have gone above and beyond across the business throughout the quarter.

Congratulations to Dominic Barnard, our Big Biller Q1 winner, alongside Lauren Alsop-Elsmore who took home the Director’s Choice award after an outstanding quarter achieving 116% of target, an 88% fill rate, and the highest candidate meeting numbers in the business.

Waldo Grobler was voted our Peer Award winner following a record quarter of over £36k billed, while also supporting the wider team through the Bullhorn migration. Kim O’Brien was also recognised as our Q1 Values Champion for the positivity, resilience, and support she consistently brings to the team day to day.

A HUGE congrats to our winners!

Acknowledging Our Highest Performers 🥂 

Principal People and Education World Get Together 

To celebrate Principal People’s 40th anniversary and our sister company Education World’s 20th anniversary, we brought everyone together for a few days away that balanced proper development with a chance to mark the milestone.

Meeting halfway in the Peak District gave us the space to step out of the usual routine, spend time with colleagues we don’t often see, and focus on some high-quality training and team sessions across both businesses. It felt less like an event and more like a reset, with everyone aligned and contributing.

We wrapped it up with a black-tie evening that did the occasion justice. Great food, drinks flowing, a packed dance floor, and a magician making the rounds that had everyone second guessing themselves.

It was a proper celebration of where both companies have come from, but also a reminder of the people behind it and the direction we’re heading next.