Lynne Makinson-Walsh, head of aspiration at Dreamr, explains why Mylo Kaye should win the Leader of the Year category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition:
In Dreamr’s first full year of trading, Mylo has led this app development and design business to almost double its workforce. His creative vision has seen the company award shortlisted for Best App at the Northern Digital Awards.
Mylo, 29, had the foresight in the early days, to realise that as part of Manchester’s digital hub, recruiting/retaining amazing Dreamrs was going to be key to continuing success. For Mylo, a passion for being in the heart of Manchester, and an integral part of the community is non-negotiable.
To accomplish these goals, although unheard of in such a small agency, he took the bold decision to recruit a head of aspiration with over 30 years management experience, to engage and develop the team, professionally and personally.
Mylo has since implemented a number of strategies including flexible working hours, and the opportunity to work from home; regular team development days where the team may arrive to find instructions for an “Apprentice-style” challenge, or as happened last year, a local litter-pick. Workout Wednesdays is time put aside from client projects for the team to work on management skills, or perhaps new software, designed to keep them at the forefront of the latest technologies. To date, five members of the team have been promoted into lead positions.
Mylo makes time to mentor clients where appropriate, as well as encouraging the team to work with students at Manchester’s creative/digital academies.
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.
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