Both Sides of the Desk - Episode 1: Mesma

Both Sides of the Desk

Both Sides of the Desk. One boss. One employee. Talk work culture.
In this episode, host Charlie Charlton is caught between CEO Louise (Lou) Doyle and Marketing Manager Sally Forsyth of Mesma. They deliver UK-wide quality assurance technology and consultancy to the education and employability sectors.
When it comes to recruitment and retention, they feel there's one looming issue that needs raising: 'parentcare'. With an ageing population comes the impact of recruiting and retaining men and women who juggle jobs with caring for elderly relatives. This opens up a challenging conversation about flexibility, security and the risk of burnout.
Lou is co-founder of Mesma with Carole Loader and have a female-dominated workforce. As an SME, Lou’s used her experience in the corporate world to implement a four-day week policy; hybrid and remote working; flexible work hours; maintaining an apprentice-first recruitment strategy.
Sally's energy and drive is obvious. She wants to dive into creatively satisfying projects at work but feels the frustration of not being able to 'have it all'. Sally balances her job with huge responsibilities at home, caring for family young and old.
The line between work and home is now so blurred, so what can a business do to support, keep and get the best out of talented people? Find out with Charlie, Lou and Sally.

CREDITS:

• In conversation: Louise (Lou) Doyle, Co-founder and CEO of Mesma, and Sally Forsyth, Marketing Manager of Mesma
• Producer/Presenter/Editor: Charlie Charlton
• Camera/Director: Chris Taylor
• Camera/Editor: Jordan McDonald
• Sound Producer: Andy Bell, Blast Studios
• Social Producer: Natalie Eminae, OCOCO Media
• Exec Producers: Newcastle Helix Partnership + John Seager

In collaboration with Di Gates, Connection Heroes
Filmed on location in The Lumen Building, Newcastle Helix
Big thanks to the whole community of the Helix Innovation District in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
See Charlie Charlton and her guests in action: https://www.youtube.com/@newcastlehelix2403
FURTHER READING:

• https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/women-bear-brunt-unpaid-labour-and-it-may-be-affecting-their-mental-health
• https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/reports/four-day-week/
• https://www.software.com/reports/future-of-work
• https://www.gov.uk/employing-an-apprentice

Connect with Newcastle Helix:

• Website: https://www.newcastlehelix.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newcastle-helix/
• X: https://x.com/newcastlehelix
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newcastlehelix/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newcastlehelix/
• Email: [e-mail]

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Capitoli

1. Intro: Charlie Charlton is caught between Both Sides of the Desk. (00:00:00)

2. The Ageing Elephant in the Room: As the UK population ages, so do the workforce and their families. Mesma’s Marketing Manager Sally is responsible for both parental care and childcare. (00:00:44)

3. Female-dominated SMEs: Mesma’s co-founder Lou Doyle has a small team, mostly made up of women. They’ve worked together to deal with breast cancer, divorce, parental care, and childcare issues. (00:03:10)

4. Flexibility is key to success: Lou and Sally discuss this as an advantage of working for an SME over a larger business, but you need to seriously consider how to avoid burnout. (00:04:21)

5. Recruiting Women - The New Age: The narrative has moved from maternity to menopause to parental care. Lou says you have to consider how to recruit without bias and support this talent pool. (00:06:08)

6. The Juggle is real: Things get emotional for Sally, Lou and Charlie as they discuss ‘having it all.’ (00:08:06)

7. “This conversation irritates me”: Sally says the topic of work and life balance isn’t just for women, but for everyone. However, she feels it’s not for the business to fix. (00:09:31)

8. "Control the Controllables": Lou notes they can ‘control’ some factors through flexibility, hybrid working and workload expectations. (00:10:36)

9. “Where can we let the gold standard go?”: Lou wonders about the impact of dropping standards on preserving mental health and retention, even as a quality control business. (00:11:28)

10. When Life Feels Unfair: Sally expresses frustration with the sad truth of “you can’t have it all” when it comes to a workforce in middle age. (00:11:45)

11. What role can and should an employer play?: Sally feels there’s only so much an employer can do, and much of what faces her and other people in her position do is systematic. (00:12:35)

12. “You’re nuts if you don’t build flexibility in”: Lou discusses ways to help employees in caring roles- flexibility for school runs, doctor appointments and phone calls; allowing hybrid working; temporarily reducing hours; sabbaticals. (00:14:26)

13. The one we haven’t fixed yet: Lou ponders on workload expectations for Mesma’s people. (00:16:17)

14. That Special Relationship with SMEs: Client relationships are integral to SMEs, particularly for Mesma. In one way, this is positive, but in another, it’s their “Achilles heel.” (00:17:48)

15. How can SMEs scale up and keep it personal?: Lou and Sally discuss how to maintain core values as you grow. (00:19:13)

16. Community - In or out?: There’s an organic nature to this client relationship - it can’t be forced, and it’s not for everyone. Even without being a part of a community. (00:21:09)

17. AI - Help or hindrance?: As a software provider, Lou thinks you need to remember that clients can feel that human touch in every communication they receive. (00:21:48)

18. "Values Can Be Dangerous": Lou says half of Mesma’s team were recruited as apprentices, as this is integral to their CSR values - but it brings with it risks a “tsunami of workload” for the rest of the team. (00:22:40)

19. The benefit of walking the talk of CSR: Sally discusses the pros and cons of taking on apprentices (young and old), kick-starters, T-level placements, and internships. (00:25:26)

20. The ROI of training: Lou insists apprenticeships are worth every penny. (00:26:16)

21. Committed to the 4-Day Week: SMEs like Mesma compete for top talent with large organisations. They struggle to meet the salaries of software developers, for example, but they can offer benefits like a four-day week and hybrid working. (00:27:59)

22. Putting the Realities into Real Estate: Mesma is based in The Core building on the Newcastle Helix site. Lou and Sally discuss the need for face-to-face working and collaboration for certain job roles and work placements. (00:30:42)

23. Reversing an Office Mandate: Lou admits she and her business partner, Carol Loader tried this and then changed their policy. Sally discusses this from her previous role in HR. (00:33:44)

24. Green Lights and Red Flags of Good Work Culture: Lou and Sally discuss what to look out for in terms of policy, values and experience. (00:36:05)

25. Wrap-up from Charlie Charlton. (00:38:20)