London-born entrepreneur and headhunter, Lloyd Wahed hosts Searching For Mana - a progressive podcast celebrating leaders and founders in the tech and finance space. This sector is attracting investment, talent and innovation and is reshaping the financial services industry.
The podcast welcomes guests including the likes of David Brear - founder and CEO of award-winning Fintech Consultancy 11:FS, Isabel Woodford - Fintech Journalist at Sifted.eu, and Anna Brailsford - the CEO of Code First: Girls.
The next episode of Searching for Mana will go live on 7th July and will feature guest Joe Parkin who shares with Lloyd that he believes that our incentives are becoming more aligned with sustainability and investing in causes that matter. “The whole industry is on a journey and we believe ESG and sustainable metrics will become a significant part in investment considerations moving forward. It's the most topical conversation that comes up with our clients and we’re working on delivering sustainable visions of their existing investment propositions, or just integrating sustainability throughout their entire proposition.”
One question that echoes throughout the podcast and one that many businesses are addressing is how can companies create a positive work culture? A positive work culture improves productivity, boosts morale and enhances retention of the workforce - and this conversation feels particularly relevant now that businesses face having to refine and nurture their culture and community in a virtual world. On Searching for Mana podcast, Lloyd asks his guests the secret this - these are their responses:
A common passion says Julian Sawyer, co-founder of Starling Bank
"It’s about a common passion and it’s very engaging, smart, friendly people."
A sense of purpose says Joe Parkin, head of UK Banks and Digital Channels at BlackRock
"Goldman had a deep purpose about what they were doing so it was a fantastic place to grow up and sort of develop your career. The most important thing when you’re thinking about which firm you want to work for is ask what is the firm’s purpose? What is it trying to achieve? I think strong firms have a strong sense of purpose, it is the most important thing within an organisation."
Gender equality says Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First: Girls
"Flip the concept on its head and say, “we’re not a boy’s club”. We want to carve out spaces for women to feel that they can be empowered. They can feel vulnerable and ask questions and support each other in this network."
Hiring smart says Lloyd Wahed, founder of Mana Search and host of Searching for Mana podcast
"Smart hiring is at the heart of creating a positive work culture. The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted entrepreneurs to look at their team's resilience and creativity and whilst navigating such an unpredictable transition period in the post-crisis reality, this feels more important for businesses than ever before. One industry-based study in 2014 from Oxford Economics reveals that just one bad hire can cost a company £30,000. In addition to replacement fees, there are also hidden costs such as productivity loss (O’Connell & Kung, 2007), where the damage to productivity caused by the inexperience of new employees is the greatest contributor to the overall costs of turnover (Hinkin & Tracey, 2000)."
ABOUT LLOYD WAHED
With 15 years of expertise including founding and leading award winning, global and best in the market head hunting firms. Over the last several years Lloyd has founded two search firms and has successfully helped scale a number of unicorn technology scale-ups.
Searching for Mana is available on Apple,Spotify and all major podcast platforms