We were delighted to welcome Seamus Tardif, the Head of Growth at Jiva, to the EMEA Recruitment podcast recently.

“One thing that I think is quite universal is the resilience and adaptation of people.”

Seamus spoke to Paul Toms after almost two years of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. While he never thought that he’d be able to work from home, Seamus is now experiencing an opposite truth; he’s more distracted when he’s working in the office!

Nevertheless, balancing people’s productivity and wellbeing has been a major concern for Seamus and the leadership team at Jiva over this period. He offers advice on how he manages to separate work and home life, although warns that there’s “no silver bullet” to success.

Seamus was previously the Lead Strategic Designer at BCG Digital Ventures, but is now embracing the opportunity to help millions of people in developing communities in improving their livelihoods. As the Head of Growth, Seamus has the chance to not only create success for the business, but also for all the people that the company supports. It’s something he finds really rewarding.

Working for a company that only goes after profit is not something Seamus will tolerate, and it’s not surprising why. With both of his parents working in the aid sector, Seamus grew up with the belief that he needed to do his part in making the world a little better. Although he didn’t go down the not-for-profit route that his parents did, Seamus has seen the power of corporates working on purpose-driven missions, whereby they can drive fantastic financial returns, while also giving back and solving problems for the disadvantaged.

With his passion for people, Paul asks Seamus whether there’s a common denominator amongst us all. Seamus’ response? Resilience and adaptation. He believes that we are all driving towards a common goal of improving our own situation and that of our families.  

The topic of resilience and struggling to reach professional goals leads us onto the subject of recruitment. Paul asks Seamus how he ensures he hires good quality people. Seamus explains that, so long as you focus on the personality and traits of the ideal person, you’ll rarely hire the wrong person; they may just need a different role within the company.

So, how do you help someone feel the company culture if their colleagues are working remotely? Seamus describes the small things that Jiva is doing to ensure people have a good time at work. It ranges from daily trivia, to Airbnb experiences, to a virtual safari! Again, he doesn’t believe that there’s a silver bullet, but he does feel that businesses should steer away from forced conversations.

We finish the episode by asking Seamus how he would change the world if he could. He has an incredibly thoughtful and inspiring answer – make sure to listen to the end for his ideas.

Listen to the full episode here: 

Alternatively, you can find us on your podcatcher of choice or via this link: https://emearecruitment.libsyn.com/emea-recruitment-podcast-106-the-resilience-of-people-seamus-tardif

To find a particular part of the episode, use the timestamps below:

01:05: The learning curve of the last year
03:14: How to balance your team’s sanity
05:54: How Seamus separates work from home life
09:17: Being the Head of Growth at Jiva
13:07: Working for a company with a purpose-driven mission
17:26: The resilience and adaptation of people
20:57: What prevents people from putting their goals into action?
23:39: Recruiting really good quality people
32:18: Why you haven’t hired the wrong person
35:45: Creating remote culture
40:05: How Seamus would change the world
43:47: The best way to reach out to Seamus

If you’d like to connect with Seamus, visit his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seamustardif/

Thank you to the official partner of the EMEA Recruitment podcast, Operation Smile. We’re hoping to raise vital awareness and funds for the work Operation Smile does around the world to deliver life-changing surgery to children and adults with cleft lip and palate. If you’d like to find out more or support this cause, please visit Operation smile

The EMEA Recruitment podcast is hosted by Paul Toms, our Founder, and Rose Jinks, Senior Marketing Executive.

Read about our full range of recruitment services through our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/

You can also keep up to date with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/

If you’d like to connect with Paul, click here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/

Or follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/paul_toms

To share your suggestions for the EMEA Recruitment podcast, please contact Rose: [email protected]