Dom Monkhouse, iomart – Lessons From the Private Sector

In: BlogDate: Feb 22, 2016By: Claire Lickman

Dom Monkhouse is CEO of iomart, and talked about several books that he had learnt from and how he’d used their ideas.

His recommended reading included ‘Work Rules’ by Laszlo Bock, which stresses the importance of recruitment. He also discussed the way he recruits – rather than focusing on qualifications and experience, his common interview technique is to ask candidates to draw a picture of what motivates them, as it gives an interesting insight into who they are! He recruits for attitude, as you can train for skill – which is also one of the 10 core principles of Henry Stewart’s in the Happy Manifesto.

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The ideas from 'Work Rules' by Laszlo Bock

What is triangulation and how does it damage your workplace?

He also explained that he has now stopped triangulation in his office – if a member of staff has a complaint about another staff member, he tells them to discuss it with the person in question or they will speak to them on their behalf has been incredibly effective in getting rid of this behaviour and has improved the atmosphere in the office.

The other books on his reading list were:

  • Nudge, by Thaler and Sunstein
  • Team of Teams: New rules of engagement for a complex world, by General Stanley McChrystal
  • Good to Great, by Jim Collins
  • Hiring for Attitude: A revolutionary approach to recruiting star performers with both tremendous skills and superb attitude, by Mark Murphy
  • Mistakes Were Made (But not by me): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions and hurtful acts, by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
  • Happy Hour is 9 to 5: How to love your job, love your life, and kick butt at work, by Alexander Kjerulf
  • Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter, by Liz Wiseman

Click here to download Dom’s PowerPoint presentation (PDF)

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Claire Lickman

Claire is Head of Marketing at Happy. She has worked at Happy since 2016, and is responsible for Happy's marketing strategy, website, social media and more. Claire first heard about Happy in 2012 when she attended a mix of IT and personal development courses. These courses were life-changing and she has been a fan of Happy ever since. She has a personal blog at lecari.co.uk.

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