Effective People CEO Dean Hill. Photo: Region Media.
For Local Leader Dean Hill, good business is all about helping people.
Driven by a desire to help and to be a part of the community, Dean is changing the focus of recruitment.
With a business philosophy grounded in years of working in different industries, Dean is now the CEO of Effective People, an Australian-owned and operated recruitment company based in Canberra. Effective People recruits at all levels in both the public and private sectors.
Dean is a committed Canberran these days but he grew up near Mt Gambier in South Australia. At school, he says, “All I wanted to do was play sport really, basketball in particular.”
A promising player, Dean went through the junior pathways for basketball in South Australia but when school finished, he headed for the Air Force.
“I applied to be a photographer, but they offered me a job in IT. Back then, work in IT was not something you would jump at. It was still an emerging industry. My brother was in the Air Force and he persuade me to take it up,” Dean said.
After nearly five years in the Air Force, Dean moved into the private sector and to Canberra as an IT systems engineer.
“I arrived for a three-year contract in 2000 and I am still here 19 years later,” Dean said.
Through that time Dean married a local Canberra girl, set up his own defence transition company, a recruitment web portal, worked in recruitment as a defence account manager and managed an ICT consultancy firm.
In October 2018, Dean jumped at the chance to lead Effective People.
Dean says, “I came to Effective People as I knew the owners Ian and Maria Lindgren. I have great respect for them, and they offered me the opportunity to lead their company”.
Ian and Maria Lindgren purchased Effective People in 2015 with the aim of providing a trusted local alternative to other Canberra-based recruitment companies. Dean was given the task of building the business.
“From the start I wanted Effective People to be a community-based organisation. A business focused primarily on people,” Dean explained.
To do this, Dean took a step away from the conventional model of many recruitment agencies.
“We hired human resources people rather than recruitment people as I wanted people that want to help people.”
Dean’s desire to help people is evident in his approach to recruitment. “We have people come to us with all types of skill sets. To help them find a job, we take the time to find their strengths,” Dean said.
“While our primary aim is to help every single person to find a job. Realistically, sometimes we can’t do that but if we can give them some information to assist with their job search then we have done our job.”
Attention to community extends to Effective People’s support of the Canberra community, sponsoring CBR Brave, Canberra Cavalry and the Canberra Capitals.
As well as providing sponsorship to these teams, Effective People are an assisting recruitment partner, helping current players when they leave their sport. “We help players with advice on employment, education and skills to help them transition back into the real world,” Dean said.
Effective People also helps players find part-time work.
“Sometimes the players are in Canberra for just three-to-six months and they need to find work while they are here playing. We help the players for next to nothing really, it is our community service as a sponsor.”
Dean sees this community service as a positive for business.
“If you help one person find a job you find you get others knocking on your door asking for help, too. You get it back in return,” Dean says.
Dean’s community involvement extends beyond work; he’s also President of the Murrumbidgee Country Club in Kambah.
Combining work and personal time, Effective People and the Country Club are assisting the three sponsored sports teams raise funds for their nominated charities at a golf day coming up on 15 November.
“The teams don’t get much of an opportunity to fundraise, so we are helping them out with this golf day, too,” Dean said.
Combining sport, business and people, Dean is the very essence of a Local Leader.
Learn more by visiting Effective People.
Original Article published by Karyn Starmer on The RiotACT.
What's Your Opinion?