Vanessa Williams, head of business operations at dxw, explains why Harry Metcalfe should win the Leader of the Year category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition:
Harry Metcalfe founded dxw with a clear mission: to develop public sector digital services that make a difference to users. He’s used this vision to unite us in a commitment to put users first and constantly strive for improvement.
We work with Harry because we share his mission and are passionate about what we do. In turn, our clients enjoy working with us because they can see our enthusiasm. Harry’s an inspirational leader, who speaks out when he thinks things aren’t right – he was recently involved in the #gcloudforever campaign to improve government procurement.
Harry puts staff welfare at the core of the business. He’s created a relaxed but focused environment, which helps us create innovative services and have a great time doing so. He understands we’re human beings, not machines, and respects our points of view.
dxw is a flat, open organisation with no unnecessary hierarchy. Harry has instigated escalation points, but everyone’s voice has equal weight, and he takes time to explain things and ensure that we all understand. Feedback is actively encouraged and Harry happily admits when he’s wrong. He’s constantly trying to improve, with a 360-degree review open to all staff and acts on all of our discussions.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the top three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
