Hey everyone 👋🏻

We've made it to the end of month 2 - and boy was this past month a big one for talentX 😅

I’m super excited to announce that we signed our second client at the beginning of the month and kickstarted the project with them straight away! 🎉

First, I just want to say that it’s been a pleasure working with everyone. Our clients are great, we’re all learning lots and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

But let’s get down to business! This past month has been busy in the best way possible. As mentioned, we signed a new client, which means that we are almost at full capacity and can start thinking about expanding our team!

It seems like FinTech is where it’s at—and not just in Dubai but globally. We’re now also acting as a HR & Talent Advisor for a global crypto company that recently moved its HQ to Dubai. We're really excited about this partnership because it means we get to work with one of the biggest crypto companies out there—but it also means that we have an opportunity to expand our horizons and learn about new technologies!

Over the past month we've been hard at work on a number of initiatives to ensure that our clients are ready for hyper-growth. These include:

• People & talent audits
• Management strategy sessions
• Gap analysis and talent assessments
• Talent acquisition training
• Building recruitment engines
• People framework and process design
• Recruitment

So far, my favourite part of this journey has been getting to know our clients and clients-to-be. I love hearing about their goals, dreams, and aspirations for their business. It's so inspiring to see what people are working towards—and knowing that we can help them get there! Plus, it helps me remember why we do what we do: helping people build their dream companies from the ground up and creating environments where people are inspired to be the best versions of themselves.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing though 🛳 🌊 I have always thought time-management was one of my strongest skills, but it has been tested to the max with all of these projects going on simultaneously.… plus to add in for good measure, I traveled back to the UK for two weeks for the first time in 2.5 years! My calendar has been packed but it's all been so worthwhile!

It's been a crazy month. I've had so much to get through that it feels like I haven't had any time to breathe—but I'm so happy! I've just returned from my whistle-stop tour of the UK 🇬🇧; it was beautiful ❤️ first for a wedding, then to see all my loved family and friends - and we had so much catching up to do! But this was definitely not a holiday and I was also working remotely for the whole time.

So, who says remote working is glamorous? It can be pretty boring and stressful at times! Especially when you are traveling from A-B, trying to juggle multiple projects at once and need some extra time to finish them off before your deadline hits…..👩🏼‍💻

My favourite remote work locations (sarcasm intended): 

1. M6 Northbound RoadChef
2. A 2 year old’s bedroom in Mill Hill, London, sat on their bed, surrounded by stickers of cars and buses plus let’s also add in a mini-heatwave for extra measure

So what surprised me the most about my trip back to the UK then?

I realised how much I love the countryside and I set myself some new goals. I'd never really thought about it before, but I do see myself building a life in the countryside and with some hard work and dedication, I will make it happen! 💚 🏡

And why am I bringing this up? Because setting goals is fundamental to a successful life. One of the things I’ve learned over time is that life is often about the journey, not the end result. And if we fail to set goals in both our personal and professional lives, then we may lose sight of what truly matters to us. After a turbulent few years, I’m not afraid to say that I had lost sight of what truly mattered to me. 

So how do we use goal setting at talentX and for our clients? 🚀 🌟

We've learned so much about our clients' needs, what they value in their company culture, and how they want to grow. 

We’ve broken down our longer term client goals into short-term goals for month 3, which will then be broken down into OKR’s. These include the following:

1) Build the best people & talent acquisition teams to allow them to scale - we need our clients to have a strong team that can help them grow and scale their business. This will involve hiring new people, training current employees, and creating a culture where people want to stay at the company long term.

2) Start the implementation of the HRIMS to improve employee engagement and lifecycle - the HRIMS will help us drive employee productivity, engagement, and retention plus allows us to automate a lot of our processes.

3) Create career progression plans with clear OKRs - we want our clients' employees to feel valued and appreciated, which means having clearly defined career paths for each employee based on their strengths and interests.

4) Values workshop and creation of culture playbooks - our goal is for our clients' employees to live by their values every day, which means we need to codify the company cultures and create playbooks to help guide this.

5) Roll out performance management tools and training - we super excited about this as it allows us to track employee progress in real time, identify areas for improvement, and provide them with the support they need to reach their goals and OKRs.

Personally, I didn’t do very well with my triathlon training last month or doing some other things for myself so I’m also setting myself some additional goals for month 3:

1. 10 x netball matches 🏐
2. Swim 1km in under 24 minutes 🏊🏻‍♀️
3. Run a total of 30km 🏃🏼‍♀️
4. Do 2 x 20km cycle rides 🚲
5. 1 x open water swimming trip 🤿
6. Make 1x batch of candles 🕯

The final goal - to keep our clients, and ourselves, moving forward.

So those are our goals - both short term and long term - for our clients and me personally. I’ll keep you posted on how we get on!!

In the meantime, we are continuing to work with our existing clients and develop new relationships. We want to make sure we're giving them what they need so that they can continue to grow their businesses - and so we can continue growing ours!

Even though we’re almost at full capacity—we've still got room for a few more projects and are looking to expand our team of freelancers. If you want to be part of our journey now or in the future, please email me at danielle@talentx.global 💌

Other things that happened this month:

talentX Month 2 Playlist 🎶 🎸 🎹

This was more like it!! Less of a mixed bag but on reflection it was very male heavy (I'll work on some diversity for month 3 😂 -  I didn't even fit a Céline in there). This playlist reminds me of driving down country lanes, the sun blasting, and singing my heart out! (Luckily no one could hear me!!) ☀️ You can take a listen on Spotify here!

Top 10 Playlist:

1. The Cranberries - Zombie
2. Sting - After The Rain Has Fallen
3. Blur - Country House
4. Ray LaMontagne - Hold You in My Arms
5. Damien Rice - The Blower’s Daughter
6. Marcus Mumford - Cannibal 
7. Jack Savoretti - Breaking the Rules - Live
8. Santana & Rob Thomas - Smooth
9. Ben Howard - The Fear
10. Pearl Jam - Alive

Monthly Book Reads 📚: I had a bit of a thriller month 😱 - I’ll definitely be reading more business and leadership books next month!

1. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie (5/5)
2. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell (4/5)
3. The Heights by Louise Candlish (4/5)
4. Dangerous Personalities by Joe Navarro (4/5)

1km Swim Time - ZERO 😶

Netball Matches Played - 5 🏐

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this month's blog and if you have time, I'd also love to know what goals and challenges you are looking to overcome in the next month? 

Please leave a comment or reach out to me directly!

   Love,

                Danielle x