It’s about the solution…
When I was younger a year seemed such a long time, now as I get older, they seem to get quicker each time. There was an element of disbelief when I started getting LinkedIn notifications from connections celebrating my recent work anniversary. A year with 50 Degrees already? That cannot be right.
I’d been with my previous employer a good number of years and had received offers in the past to leave, but it never felt right. That was until a smooth-talking Australian (that’d be Matt Wells) slid into my DM’s. To be fair it was an email but it’s my story, so I’m permitted an element of creative expression.
So here we are just over 12 months in, and I’ve been asked to reflect on these past months. ‘Variety’s the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavour’, so the saying goes. And this was the very reason that drew me to 50D. To be involved in various tender types where each one is fundamentally different was a huge attraction.
From the previous paragraphs it will not come as a shock that I’m not a bid writer. I’m all about the solution and that means logic, sequences, and numbers. To attempt a tortured analogy, I’m the mechanic in the pit lane making sure the engine works properly… I’ll leave the champagne spraying and glory seeking to the bid writers.
The first tender I was involved in for 50D was for education, where I had to create a capacity model to determine how many markers were required to mark a set number of scripts in a particular time frame, accounting for various factors, such as sickness, quality checks etc. I found it thoroughly enjoyable (no really!). I’ve recently been involved in creating the mobilisation plan on a few tenders, ranging from 3 to 12 months implementation periods. Interestingly the 3 month one felt the more difficult. Some tenders have also allowed me to really get into the guts of the solution and go much further than just calculating the number of staff required. That’s meant looking at salary expectations, non-effective calculations, premises costs etc, providing an indicative solution cost and margin to enable a commercial manager to pick it up at the cash flow, profit and loss statement point.
The last year has been enjoyable, but has still been a learning curve especially getting accustomed to a new employer’s way of working. I’ve gone from an environment where sometimes the pre-call would have a predecessor and was genuinely called a pre pre-call call. Whereas now, if you find yourself added to a new Slack channel then consider yourself notified that you’re on that tender. I exaggerate a little, but not much.
When I started at 50D, I’d get messages from Andy Bowie (self-titled 50D co Head Honcho) that just left me scratching my head as I didn’t know what they meant. Plucking up the courage and asking one of my new colleagues I was quickly informed that sometimes for Andy context is a privilege and not a right, so not to worry I wasn’t alone. Again I exaggerate a little…
What does the next 12 months look like? Hopefully there will be more of the same. I have also been given the opportunity to develop my skills in Commercial Modelling and I’m learning this from 50D’s Commercial whizz Zach Law, which I’m excited about.
Some of you are probably thinking it can’t all be a bed of roses. Yes, you are correct I do have one niggling thought. Everybody at 50D has been amazing, nothing has been too much, and I was made to feel part of the team right from the start. However, I have always believed every workplace has that one person who is a bit weird. I can’t think who that is here, so it begs the question ‘does that mean it’s me?’
Mark Hamilton
Principal Consultant