The Biggest Challenge of the Future is the War for Talent

The Biggest Challenge of the Future is the War for Talent

David Hunt 18/08/2020 5
The Biggest Challenge of the Future is the War for Talent
The latest episode of the Leaders in Cleantech podcast featured Toon Bouten. CEO of Tado, an energy efficiency business changing the way we heat and cool and use energy at home and at work.

Repeated studies have shown that managing our use of energy is one of the most impactful ways in which we can avert the climate crisis yet energy efficiency is one of those topics that is stubbornly stuck in the ‘boring’ camp despite its crucial part in our clean energy future.

So it was great to hear of a truly innovative business driving forward a highly effective technological solution to reducing energy use and thriving in the process. Toon talks about the challenge of finding the right talent to help the business grow, why change is crucial for growth and why he continues to admire Steve Jobs, revealing an exclusive story about a company that nearly bought Apple before Steve Jobs returned to it in the 90s!

Here is our summary of the key insights:

1. The journey from start-up to scale-up can be a daunting and potentially dangerous one. Toon shared his insights on the Tado perspective - from the founders handling everything from legal to sales to technical development to a position where now specialists have been recruited to focus on their areas and the leaders are left to lead, a good example of how to handle this tricky transition.

2. The cleantech industry seems to be able to take on any challenge and emerge with an elegant solution. Toon explained how Tado has overcome the massive challenge to connect hundreds of thousands of devices from multiple manufacturers onto one coordinated platform, truly remarkable stuff and well worth a listen.

3. The theme of how large corporates can help and inform early-stage companies has come up a lot lately on the podcast and here too a great example. Tado are lucky enough to have Amazon as a shareholder which has brought them connectivity to Amazon devices, access to markets and the ability to quickly evolve their proposition. I am convinced that this type of partnership can play a key role in helping to develop our cleantech economy at sufficient scale to deliver a sustainable future economy.

Every leader I've had on the podcast has cited the importance and the difficultly of finding the best, hidden talents. That is why so many of them are clients of Hyperion Executive Search. The 'war for talent' isn't a soundbite, it's the reality, even in these COVID times. For a consultation on how we solve this problem, drop me a message.

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  • Claire Yates

    Massive respect for those that were able to scale their company

  • Kris Bell

    Insightful

  • Luke Moony

    I think this period is a blessing for the green sector

  • Nathan Rivers

    A couple of years ago, everyone thought Elon Musk was foolish by investing in electric cars. Now Tesla is the most valued auto manufacturer.

  • Graeme Twist

    Thanks for the lesson

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David Hunt

Energy Expert

David Hunt is a prominent figure and thought leader in the clean energy sector. Hailed as a leading green entrepreneur by the Financial Times, David also presents at industry events such as EcoSummit, Energy Storage Europe and Fully Charged Live. David is a frequent contributor to trade publications such as Energy Storage News, Solar Power Portal, PV Tech, Clean Energy News and Smart Cities World. His industry insights have been quoted in UK broadsheet newspapers such as The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph and the Sunday Times. Being well versed in business and economics, he has also lent his voice to the likes of BBC Radio Four and ITV’s 6 O’clock news. A cleantech expert and industry insider, David specialises in the clean energy and eMobility sectors. His drive to accelerate these growing markets led him to set up Hyperion Executive Search Ltd, a talent acquisition company specialising in the clean energy space that incisively places talent where it’s needed. Hyperion has been helping businesses grow and succeed since 2014 and recently expanded its operations in Europe with a new office in Munich. David’s headhunting team now operates across EMEA and the US. Before this, David co-founded an award-winning multi-technology renewable energy installation business, sat as a policy board member with the UK Renewable Energy Association, and was a member of PRASEG (Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group). The ‘This week in cleantech’ podcast is a platform for David and invited experts to share and review the biggest, and most interesting news stories in the cleantech sector each week, providing expert opinion, analysis and insight. It is anticipated that the podcast will be a catalyst for the further growth and development of the cleantech revolution.

   
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