And excellent news awaited us … Meltwater has been awarded the Great Place to Work award in Finland for 2012! Meltwater Group was ranked number 8, out of the 30 companies in the 15-49 employees category.

Great Place to Work® Institute is a global research, consulting and training firm that helps organizations identify, create and sustain great workplaces through the development of high-trust workplace cultures. They serve businesses, non-profits and government agencies in 45 countries on all six continents.

The Great Place to Work awards are extremely prestigious, and they run the largest employee survey in the world. They evaluate the corporate culture, the trust employees have in their employers, the pride employees have in their work, and finally how much employees enjoy each other’s company.

Meltwater has been successful with employer awards to date: in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 we were recognized as a Best Employer in South Africa by the CRF Institute.

In 2011 we were awarded the Great Place to Work and the Germany’s Top Employer award in Germany, as well as the Britain’s Top Employer awards in the UK!

Why are these awards so important? Since our inception ten years ago, recruitment has always been a priority for Meltwater. Our ability to move into new markets successfully is directly related to our ability to train, retain and develop our employees. Therefore, our employer brand is important currency in making sure we attract the right talent to help us continue our growth and achieve our goals. Employer awards provide a barometer for organisations, recognising those who have outstanding opportunities, training and development, corporate culture and career development.

Social media has changed the way we communicate and the way we consume our news. So, naturally, it has changed the way we approach marketing… but how? Meltwater has rounded up the top five ways social media has revolutionized traditional marketing:

1. Understanding Your Audience: Social media has allowed brands to understand their audience in real-time. Whether it’s a poll among Facebook fans or live feedback on Twitter, there are countless ways social media has provided the opportunity to listen. So, as long as brands and companies don’t do all of the talk, they can use the conversation as a great tool that could ultimately navigate an entirely different direction.
2. Bypassing the Middle Man: Companies and brands connect directly with their customers. Agencies, reporters, and other “gatekeepers” take on different roles now that brands can reach out to fans and followers immediately. This allows for more organic conversation and content, but also provides opportunity to be more efficient and responsive. Finally, the dialogue is public, so the audience can witness a more honest and open conversation, and the company can track it, anticipating where it will go next, while continuing to foster and built meaningful relationships with stakeholders. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
3. Monitoring and Measuring: With real-time conversation constantly taking place, a company with a successful monitoring  and measurement campaign and easily maintain a level of control over the conversation. Knowing how to react and doing so immediately allows for better performance than one outlet for customer complains (i.e. a hotline or mailing address). The downside? This is a 24/7 process that could need all ‘hands on deck’ anytime, anywhere.
4. Engagement Trumps Advertising: People don’t want to be told what they think anymore. In a world consumed with social media, word-of-mouth and positive, organic brand growth trumps billboards, TV commercials, radio spots, promoted tweets and Facebook ads tenfold. The value of effective community engagement is priceless, and often times it can be significantly cheaper.
5. Experts and Influencers: Sure, you’re well-aware of the creation of the ‘digital strategist,’ ‘SEO expert,’ ‘community manager,’ or ‘social media guru’ by now – but jobs on the business side aren’t the only thing social media has created. In fact, influencers are on the rise and they’re people you know and love! From your favorite fashion or food blogger, to the avid Yelp reviewer, to Twitter user considered the go-to guy or girl on a certain topic (generally with a Klout score of 50+), these influencers are everywhere within your community. And, like a dream come true for most companies, many of them are already talking about their favorite brands. Engagement and education are all you need to promote a product. So, forget about full-page ads, because these guys and gals are right at your fingertips.

Area Director, Nordics, Meltwater Press

Birthplace: Drammen, Norway

Joined Meltwater: August 2006, Oslo

Who inspires you: Tony, Dennis, Anna and Christine – the management team for Nordics mPress. Also other people I have had the pleasure to work with closely before like Christian Finstad, Heidi Islann, Kaveh Rostampor and Kevin Lorenz. A lot of Meltwater people inspire me every day!

My three words to describe Meltwater: Ambition, “anything is possible” and challenging.

If you asked Anne if she was a risk taker, her answer would have to be yes, because it was deciding to take a risk on her first job that has seen her move from student to teacher and then on to being part of a team who built the mPress branch of the Meltwater Group from scratch.

“Thinking about my career, I knew I wanted to be a part of building something (a start up), I wanted to work with management and to be in an international environment,” Anne explains. “I had met Ingolf (then at the Bergen Meltwater office) and some other people at my university. I had never heard of the company before, but Meltwater seemed to be a young company, they seemed to employ a lot of fresh talent, and it also seems that the company had high ambitions to grow, not only in Norway, but internationally.”

Taking the first steps

Anne was understandably a little wary about taking such a risk in joining the then small team at Meltwater, but it was the ambitious spirit that existed within the business that really drew her to them.

“I hadn’t learned that much about Meltwater prior to my first interview because their homepage at the time had very limited information to offer.”

When asked if what she had learnt was an accurate reflection of the company, there were two words that really shone through for Anne.

“I remember Kaveh, who did the phone interview with me, spoke a lot about drive and ambition, and asked me several times about my own drive. When I met Jørn, CEO of  Meltwater Group, and the panel for the group stage of the interview process, I quickly realised that this was an ambitious bunch of people, and that drive and ambition were reflected by the people who worked there and the company itself.”

Anne continues to discuss her thoughts when the all important job offer finally came through.

“If I’m honest, I wasn´t sure I was going to take the job if I got it. Compared to what my friends were going to do, this was completely different. No one had heard of the company nor the products, it was a small company, and I had never done sales. It all felt very risky.” Anne says of the risk she decided to take on her first full time job, “In the end I decided to go for it after all – I was only 23 at the time and I really wanted to work for a smaller company with an entrepreneurial mindset and decided that I wanted to do my own thing – not follow what everyone else did.”

A new beginning

When asked what three words best describe Meltwater, Anne chooses belief, “anything is possible” and challenging. These are all words that describe Anne’s next steps within Meltwater.

“I have done a lot of cool things while I’ve been at Meltwater, but joining the mPress team, and being a part of a group of people challenged with building the mPress petal from scratch has been by far the coolest experience so far.” Anne explains, “We started in the US market to learn about both the product and our competitors. Then I moved back home to start building up the organization in the Nordic countries, with offices now in Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki.”

Looking back on that time, Anne reflects, “Having the opportunity to work with inspiring people from both Europe and the US, seeing how the product is improving and developing, and working with developing sales methodologies and strategies have been, and still are, really inspiring and challenging!”

When asked about the biggest challenge Anne has had to face during her time at Meltwater so far, she highlights one of the reasons she enjoys working at Meltwater so much.

“Throughout my entire career there have been challenges. As a Sales Consultant it was getting the sales right, as a Sales Manager it was being successful in teaching other people sales, as Managing Director it was running and growing a large office and making it successful, and as an Area Director it is all about getting good people on board and help developing new management talent.” Anne continues, “In general that´s one of the things that I love about Meltwater – it is a challenging job, and once you master one thing, you will be presented with new challenges. I have always gotten great support from my managers and they have been good at communicating that they believe in me, which has made it easier for me to step outside my comfort zone.”

Speaking about the environment within Meltwater, Anne says, “I think the Meltwater culture is competitive, in a good way. The “no-sharp-elbows” policy is clear, and people have a fundamental respect for eachother. However, the competitiveness is something that makes me push myself further, always trying to improve what I do and the way I do it.”  Anne continues, “I think working with sales is great fun, especially with the experience you gain from setting up a new part of the business, or petal as we would say in Meltwater. You are able understand how important sales can be, how essential it is to learn what the strengths and weaknesses of each product are, and how we should tailor each to fit different needs.”

Nurturing the future of Meltwater

Anne takes a moment to think about the future faces of Meltwater.

“I would say Meltwater is a great place to start working immediately after graduation.” Anne insists. “When learning sales you develop key skills that are valuable almost regardless of what you will do at a later stage in your career. You learn to communicate, drive processes from start to end, teamwork and to be solution oriented”

Anne continues, “To be a good Meltwater employee you need to be smart, humble, driven, social and flexible. The kind of person who probably wouldn’t cut it at Meltwater is someone who wants to do the same thing every day and who wants to work alone…”

Describing her favorite part of her job at Meltwater, Anne replies, “When you hire someone, and you watch that person grow to take on more responsibility and to become a manager.”

Anne is clearly very proud of working at Meltwater and is looking forward to her future within the business.

“I am proud that I work for a company that have managed to get international success with a young and inexperienced team, and that we can offer more young and inexperienced individuals the opportunity to build their own international careers within our business.”

Anne says, “I think in general ones strengths and weaknesses are a part of ones personality, and will stay there in one form or another. As you get more responsibility and grow as a manager and as a person you continue to develop your strengths and weaknesses, but I don´t think they will disappear.

Throughout my career in Meltwater I have gotten a lot of feedback, and through that learned to be aware of my strengths and how best to utilize them. Likewise with my weaknesses, I am aware of them and how they can affect me, and continuously work on them so that they don’t influence me and my work in a negative way.”

Anne continues, “One thing that I have learnt at Meltwater is to understand what young people are capable of, if you just believe in them. Anything is possible – if you dare to try!”

I had the honour of interviewing Mark Haze recently and it turned into a fascinating discussion about music, career choices, motivations, life at Meltwater Group and, of course, his incredibly successful time competing in Idols South Africa!  I had seven (yes, SEVEN!) pages of notes following this interview…I just hope this summary does Mark justice.

For someone who is now living his dream of being a rock musician and recording artist, Mark is still down to earth and humble.

Although he left Meltwater last year to pursue his lifelong passion of becoming a musician, he feels as though he’s never really left.  He highlights his time at Meltwater as being the best in his working life – his work mates are still his friends and he still sees “the gang all the time”.

As young as seven years of age, he knew his long-term goal was to be a full-time musician.  But the music industry is highly competitive and, re

cognising this, he decided to forge a career for himself to establish a secure foundation while he pursued his musical aspirations in his spare-time.

He was lead singer for 12^th Avenue, a rock band that had moderate success, including two Number 1 singles and a few Top 10 hits on SA Radio and also a nationwide tour in 2008-9, while he was juggling this with his career.  He was the band’s manager, producer and accountant – he is a qualified accountant, which helped, but Mark says it was his time at Meltwater that helped him really drive this band forward and then, ultimately, pursue his dream.

“I learned so much at Meltwater, even from Day One of starting!  Aside from learning the art of negotiating, I was taught discipline and problem-solving.  All three skills helped massively, but it was the entrepreneurial mind-set instilled in us that really helped the most and set me up perfectly for my currently venture,” Mark said.

However Idols SA came at a tricky time.  Having joined us in 2007, Mark was the first Sales Manager in Cape Town for Meltwater News, and became Meltwater Buzz Managing Director (opening the first Buzz office in Africa, no less) in January 2010.  Mark was clearly excelling and progressing quickly at Meltwater, revelling in the opportunities that we provide our employees with.

He successfully got through the Idols SA auditions over a period of fiercely contested weekends and was told he had qualified for the live “Theatre Rounds” in Sun City.  These would last a whole week…but it clashed with our Kick Off in Las Vegas.  What a dilemma!  Mark was torn as he didn’t know if it would be worth going through with the live auditions as rockers never really do well in the public votes with these singing contests.  He also had worked so hard on his rise through the Meltwater ranks that he didn’t want to throw that away on a whim.

In stepped his Area Director, Mike Anderson.  They discussed the situation and, in true Meltwater style, Mike said: “Look, this is your dream.  Your passion.  You have to give it a shot.”  He not only gave Mark his blessing, but also promised him that the “door would always be open”.

Mark hasn’t looked back!

A gruelling week passed and Mark had made it from 100 at the start of the Theatre Rounds, to the remaining Top 15!  The first of these rounds was performed on a level playing field – it was done a capella…perhaps not ideal for a rocker, but Mark breezed it.  After many weekends of auditions and an intense week of rounds in Sun City, Mark had made it through to the live televised Idols SA show.

And this is where he brought some more Meltwater learnings into play.  Mark made the astute decision to leverage social media to help his cause.  Through his work with Meltwater Buzz, he knew he had to raise his online profile and not just tell the public about himself, but build a fan base, let them get to know him better and understand his musical background more.  He also realised that no matter how the judges critiqued him – good or bad – he would only have 30 seconds to respond on the live show.

Therefore he started his own blog and ramped up his twitter activity.  He used social media to explain his motivations behind certain song choices, to provide more context to his responses to the judges’ remarks, and to give an insight in to the real Mark Haze.  His digital footprint is growing as result.  A smart move indeed.

During the live shows, he navigated different genres – from R’n’B to pop to local South African music to rock – on his journey from the opening round, but before the penultimate show he contracted pneumatic bronchitis.

Now tonsillitis can be enough to scupper a contestant’s chances, but this was something else – it is the stage before pneumonia!  Mark was in hospital on a drip on the day of the live show.  He was transported to the show 30 minutes before he was due to sing…he performed ‘If I Had You’ by Adam Lambert and was then rushed back to hospital to be put back on a drip.

It didn’t matter.  His determination, passion and excellent voice got him through the Final Round of just three contestants!  This on its own is an incredible achievement.  Yet Mark was pragmatic: “I realised that to get this far was beyond my hopes – beyond even that of typical contestants of my genre!  And I knew that the exposure I had received already would be enough to kick-start my music career and get bookings for gigs and so on.  But of course I wanted to win!”

The final was performed in front of a live studio audience of 3000+ and over 2 million TV viewers.  Mark belted out his new single ‘Out Of My Head’.  And then the voting began.  I’m not sure if there has ever been a closer final – it was between David van Vuuren (a more contemporary performer) and our very own Mark Haze – with David winning by just 0.09% of the votes!

Not winning didn’t put Mark on the enormous and ever-growing musical scrapheap though.  Quite the opposite, as he candidly told me: “I’m equally as recognised as David and have been busy every single day appearing on radio stations, doing interviews for all of the top African magazines…it’s been crazy!”  He is now a solo artist on a roll, and his band is not forgotten – they are his musicians in his solo career.

And just to top it off, world famous Rolling Stones magazine is soon launching its first ever edition in Africa…guess who will be profiled within it?  You guessed it…

LinkedIn is a social network built around professional networking. Adding colleagues, past and present, friends in related industries, old classmates, mentors and more could not only point you in the right direction, it could completely change your career. So, what are you waiting for? If you’re not already on LinkedIn, join! And if you are, Meltwater has come up with 5 easy tips to spruce up your profile. Check out the slideshare below:

Meltwater has always focused on hiring based on leadership potential.  This is a strategy that has helped develop a majority of our global managers through our International Management Trainee program. As the late Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” So Meltwater is once again challenging students across Asia to show just how innovative they can be in the second annual Meltwater Movers & Shapers Competition (MMSC).

This contest is designed to empower the potential of young people across Asia encouraging them to show drive and passion in presenting their ideas. The contest asks students to identify a common problem faced in everyday life and present a creative solution for a chance to win US$ 1,000 and a trip to the grand finale held early next year.

Submissions can either be in the form of a short 4-5 slide Powerpoint deck or 1-2 minute video or Prezi and may be done in groups or individually.

Last year, we saw some great entries with ideas ranging from creative ways for personal banking to innovative methods to block that pesky summertime glare on your TV set. You can read a post from last year’s winners Team G.T.I representing Hong Kong Polytechnic University HERE.

We want to emphasize that no idea is too small or too big for this competition. We are not asking for formal business plans, but rather just great ideas.

The contest officially launched October 10th and the deadline for entries is December 31st to give students facing tough exam schedules plenty of time to draft their ideas and come up with winning solutions.

You can find out more about MMSC @ www.meltwater.com/mmsc.

We look forward to receiving your entries!
GOOD LUCK ☺

Name: Johnny Vance

Title: Managing Director, Washington DC, USA, Meltwater News

Birthplace: Sydney, Australia

Joined Meltwater: 2008, Sales Consultant, Meltwater News, Sydney, Australia

Current Role: 2011, Managing Director, Meltwater News, Washington DC, USA

Who inspires you: Shaz Mohapatra, Managing Director, Meltwater News, Melbourne, Australia

My three words to describe Meltwater: Dynamic, Passionate, Ambitious

When a friend told Johnny about the big-name businesses they were working with and the global Meltwater events they had been attending, in locations such as Lillehammer and Monte Carlo, Johnny Vance had just one single thought. He wanted in.

“I don’t mind admitting I was envious, because the well-known clients, events and opportunities my friend at Meltwater was telling me about seemed truly worthy of envy,” Johnny explains. “At that time, in 2007, I’d just completed a Bachelor of Law and had landed a job in a legal firm that was, to be quite frank, a stuffy, top down organisation with no room for employee input or any sort of creativity. There was no culture … or, more to the point, what culture they had was very different to the type that I had hoped to work within. And here was my friend telling me about all the exciting work challenges with top clients she was experiencing; and team building exercises such as bob-sledding in Lillehammer, Norway, and making lots of new friends at the annual motivational get-together held in Monte Carlo; and just like that I suddenly knew I would never have those kind of opportunities where I was currently working,” Vance says. “Moreover, even if I had been offered such experiences, it was hard to imagine enjoying them at my work — a place where the people didn’t even like each other. It was just a stifling environment and Meltwater, by comparison, was inspiring. It became for me, quite simply, the benchmark of where I wanted to be. From what I could gather Meltwater was a fast-paced global company, which offered a gateway to real career advancement for young people as well as overseas opportunities,” Johnny says. “So, when a role came up at the Sydney office it’s not surprising that, even though it was a very different pathway to the career I had planned, I jumped at it.”

First, however, get to know your social media “don’t-do” list.

• Don’t just hit up Monster and Craigslist like other job seekers
• Don’t mass email your resume
• Don’t use the same template cover letter

Now, get to know what you should do. Check out the five tips to get you started:

1. Check out Mashable Jobs
2. Network on LinkedIn
3. Search Twitter
4. Visit the MediaBistro Job Board
5. Join a Facebook Group

Read the full post here and check out our LinkedIn for Meltwater job opportunities.

Name

It is hard to equate a man who single-handedly turned the Meltwater Melbourne office into the success it is today, with someone who describes himself as ‘not a natural leader’. Yet, that is exactly how Neil saw himself when he joined the Meltwater team as a foundation sales consultant in Sydney, in 2007.

“Back then I was very inexperienced and really shy, not a leader at all,” Neil says candidly. “I’d just completed a Bachelor (honors) in Business Economics at Nottingham Trent University and I suddenly realised that I’d got the ‘framed piece of paper’ everyone wants, but I hadn’t actually learnt how to communicate in the real business world. I needed to find a company where I could really ‘learn’ how to do that.”

And it seems Meltwater was exactly that place. Within 12 months, Brennan was achieving milestone sales results with the Sydney team, received a promotion to Sales Manager and very soon after that received an interesting offer from Meltwater management – a position in the Melbourne foundation team. A role that would ultimately lead him to a new challenge, rebuilding an office … from scratch.

From the ground up In Melbourne, Brennan continued building his reputation for success in sales, but it became apparent that the team as a whole was faltering. By mid-2008, Neil was given the opportunity of realigning the Melbourne office, which included re-organising the team infrastructure.

“Before I started with Meltwater I wanted three things from my career – fast development, recognition from my peers and, I have to admit, a remuneration that matched my hard work,” Brennan smiles. “I can say that this opportunity provided me with all three. It was the greatest challenge I had ever faced. However, it’s true what they say, with great challenges come great rewards.” Neil was able to turn the office around in under seven months. The team that Brennan built in Melbourne consistently achieved “Top office” records throughout 2009 and 2010 under his leadership.

Master plans
After successfully reinvigorating the Melbourne office Neil then turned his sights to the UK. “I wanted an opportunity to cut my teeth in the UK market,” Neil explains. “Back then senior members of the office had been strategically utilised to assist the launch of an exciting new venture, Meltwater Buzz. That gave me the opportunity I wanted. I had no hesitation in relocating to London.” Within months Neil began implementing the kind of culture that had brought success to the Melbourne office.

So how does one start the rebuilding process?
“Performance is less to do with numbers, but more to do with people,” Brennan speaks with conviction. “It’s all about the culture. Meltwater is more like an extended family rather than a company of strangers. With the right team in place an office starts kicking goals – naturally.” Neil says Meltwater has allowed him to understand management, how a team interacts and builds on each other’s success.

Strong foundations
“Don’t get me wrong,” Neil says knowingly. “Just like a normal family it’s not always trouble-free and that means as a leader you need to step up and make some tough decisions. Sometimes that’s just rejigging a team to work out their strengths, choosing when to give more responsibility to others, and when to take charge yourself” Brennan says. “Having the right people in place is the key to achievement.”

“The most important attributes I look for when hiring my teams are competitiveness, humility and honesty,” Neil says. “The culture at Meltwater thrives on success. This family is built from driven and competitive people. Yet we are proof that even with that keen competitive spirit we still look out for each other and celebrate each other’s achievements,” Neil smiles. “Having ‘drive’ doesn’t mean standing on each other to reach the top. There’s this saying at Meltwater – ‘No sharp elbows’ and I think it really explains how we operate. Many sales organisations pit their staff against each other; to see who sinks and who swims. ‘No sharp elbows’ to me means that if Meltwater decides to employ someone, we invest in them. People learn because their managers take the time to get to know them, and they feel valued, as part of a team, part of an extended family. It’s an important part of the Meltwater culture. Individual success is just as recognised as team success.” Brennan explains. And he should know. At the 2010 London Kick off, the yearly global team conference, Neil’s acheivements were recognised publicly when he was inducted into the first High Potential Programme (HiPo) instituted by the CEO, JØrn Lyseggen. The programme is a two year course which includes personal mentoring from the Meltwater executive management team and business modules run by Oxford University.

“HiPo is no ordinary incentive course,” Brennan says. “Our first meeting with the CEO and the executive directors happened on an isolated beach in Ghana, Africa. We swam in the menacing waves of the West African ocean and then had an afternoon of workshops right on the beach,” Neil smiles. “I’ve had some amazing moments with Meltwater, such as meeting the Director of Comms for Number 10. Walking up Downing Street and entering the famous No. 10 door felt a little surreal, but the opportunity to do business in with one of the most famous institutions in the UK was so satisfying. The tour that followed was also very cool – but that day in Ghana is a stand-out memory for me.”

“What I learnt with the executive team that day was exactly what I knew I was missing when I was a fresh out of University, an understanding of the reality of the business world and how to communicate within it, how to get places,” Neil says. “Make no mistake, the degree is important. Vital even. But afterwards you need a place to learn how to put all that ‘theory’ into practice. I never wanted to spend years feeling undervalued and not ‘learning’. At Meltwater you don’t sit around waiting in line for a promotion, here you work hard and are rewarded with amazing opportunities.”

And some of those opportunities include recognising the leader within.
“Yes,” Brennan agrees reflectively. “That’s true. One of my conceived weaknesses when I started, lack of confidence, is now one of my biggest strengths.” Neil continues, “But confidence and the ability to lead is not something that I suddenly just ‘acquired’. It may sound corny, but working at Meltwater made me realise it was always there, inside. I’ve been lucky to find work at a company that truly values each person’s personal potential … and gives them the invaluable chance, to build on it.”

When Richard Taylor is asked to name the ‘one coolest thing he has done at Meltwater’, he looks puzzled. But it’s not because he can’t think of anything … it’s because he has trouble choosing just one.

“If I’m only allowed to choose one thing,” Taylor pauses and smiles, “I think I’d say Japan. Opening the offices there has really been one of the highlights, so far.”

In late 2006 Richard joined Meltwater’s Sydney office as a sales consultant and by 2008 had been promoted and then given the exciting chance to relocate to Japan as part of the team launching Meltwater’s new territory there. Less than three years after starting in sales Richard found himself as the Managing Director of Meltwater Tokyo and in 2011 is now part of a group overseeing one of the most exciting regions as the Managing Director of Singapore. So, with all those promotions and accomplishments under his belt what makes opening the Japan offices a highlight?

Up
“Japan was an adrenalin-charged ride,” Taylor explains. “I had no knowledge of the language and very little understanding of the local market. The challenge was huge, but equally matched by the support I received. My Area Director encouraged me to be creative in my approach and set-up, and every step of the way our CEO, Jørn Lyseggen, let me know that he was fully invested in the success of this project.” For Richard, this kind of support was one of the most attractive aspects of joining Meltwater as a fresh university graduate.
“I’d worked in software sales part-time while I completed my Bachelors in Science and Commerce at The University of Sydney. It was a transitional job for me, not something I considered as a career, so it came as a surprise when Meltwater offered me a sales role as a career pathway,” Richard smiles reflectively. “The recruitment presenters talked about the career opportunities and support Meltwater offered. The presentation had that ‘almost too good to be true’ air about it, so I was a little sceptical at first. But I spoke to my family who all agreed – what did I have to lose? I decided to accept the job. I was heading up, or out.”

Scaffolding

But up it was to be. After a successful stint in sales Richard’s hard work paid off with a promotion and then the call to go to Japan.

“What I admire most about Meltwater is the ladder they build for you. Most companies place a pathway in front of you, a ladder to ‘climb’. Whereas Meltwater build the ladder underneath you. It supports you as you grow and learn in the business,” Taylor says. “It’s a distinctive way of operating and provides you with opportunities that few companies are willing to give new employees.” Richard talks about how Meltwater compared to his previous job and the biggest differences.

“At Meltwater there is a sense of building together,” Richard says. ”The biggest difference is the culture. Having worked in a sales environment previously I can say Meltwater is unique. Sales can be competitive so it is important to provide a culture that supports healthy competition and teamwork. We all know our goals; we want to hit number one in each new territory we enter, within 12 months. So it’s imperative we work together if we want to achieve this kind of success,” Richard is thoughtful. “What I’m proud of is how Meltwater encourages a feeling of team contribution. In some companies those kind of targets can create an environment not conducive to ‘team work’ – an environment where people step all over each other. But at Meltwater we all work together to achieve. No one here is content with being second best. We all want victory, but the difference is – we want it to be a team triumph.”

Support

So how do you make it to the number one spot?

“People,” Richard says without hesitation. “It’s all about people and building a healthy culture of winning.” Richard explains about the different internal competitions the company has created. There are official targets – locally and globally, as well as unofficial competitions at the team, office and area level.

“Some people shy away from competitions,” Taylor says. “But at Meltwater they provide a fun impetus to not only build your territory, but to also to get to know what other people are doing in the company, globally. Everyone is connected. It’s great to see hard working teams rewarded. But prizes and public accolades are not the only rewards,” Richard says thoughtfully. “Equally important is the encouragement you receive to grow personally.”
Taylor is reflective about how far he has come in such a short space of time, “Meltwater has allowed me to gain incredible experience in sales, relationship building, negotiation and management. In my mind the rewards of that ‘ladder built under me’ have been invaluable,” Richard smiles. “When I left university my career goals were fairly normal; I wanted money, a challenge and a role that I could be proud of. But Meltwater has taught me not to settle for normal. Trying things that I had never considered before, such as contemplating a sales consultant role, has led me on a fantastic ride upwards. Success is sweeter when it’s won outside of your comfort zone and along the way I’ve made friends all over the world, in Australia, Singapore and especially Japan. I have to say Japan now is like a second home.”
With Japan so close to his heart it must have been difficult to watch the unfolding disaster the tsunami wreaked on the northern pacific coast of Japan in March of this year. Richard’s expression turns to concern, “The Friday the tsunami hit I kept trying to contact the office, I was so worried about the people there and their families. I tried phone, email, Skype, mobile, sms, you name it, but no response. I’m sure you can imagine how that felt as the full impact of the situation kept unfolding,” Richard says, “but once they came back online I was relieved to find out they were all okay. I stayed in touch on the hour over the weekend and as expected the guys there stayed strong.” Richard continues to explain how Meltwater created a fund for Japanese Tsunami relief and how the Tokyo office has been able to focus on its strengths and continue to deliver consistently great results.

“Support is shown by the company in many ways,” Richard continues. “From the executive management level, all the way to the personal level; Meltwater has created a culture where each individual looks out for their co-workers. To work for a global company which encourages that level of support is humbling because as they have grown larger it would be easy to start treating staff as anonymous workers; but they haven’t.” Taylor smiles, “When I look at the people that I work with and what we have accomplished by supporting each other and continuing to set goals for ourselves I realise how far we have come … together. And that’s something anyone would be proud of.”