Here at Gumtree, we have spent the last 21 years connecting businesses and communities together! But behind the scenes we have a dedicated army of teams on hand to assist you in making ‘Good Finds Happen’. We teamed up with our Learning & Development Manager, Daniel Thompson-Lillie who explains the importance of coaching and growing our teams to reach their full potential.

Daniel, What is Learning & Development?

Learning & Development is something that happens around us all the time, though we often don’t realise it. When I ask people ‘what was the last thing you learned?’ they will often respond with ‘big-ticket’ items, such as a diploma or a course they have completed — something ‘official’. However, from speaking to customers to interacting with colleagues, we are technically learning new things all the time — it’s whether or not we factor this into our development that can result in progression or not. The function of Learning & Development in this business is to allow development to take place; by making the connections that enable learning to be as clear and present as possible.

Why is It so important to have a well-structured and insightful induction when joining a business?

I subscribe to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and believe there is a series of steps that one needs to undertake to be ready to engage with a role to their best of their ability. Dr David Rock’s SCARF model also gives useful insights into how a lack of Clarity can create a threat response in us — which in turn increases our desire to disengage. A well-structured and insightful induction recognises the personal questions one asks themselves when getting to grips with a new role: Why does this business exist? (its purpose), Have I made the right choice in coming here? Who am I working with? How do I do my job? How do I deal with specific scenarios? Without this, you run the risk of someone falling into the ‘imposter syndrome’ trap; not knowing what they should know or how to know it and gradually becoming unsettled with their place in the organisation.

What do you love about your role?

Seeing someone discover a new way of looking at something, or developing a skillset, which can last their entire career, is infinitely rewarding to me. I have had people message me over LinkedIn having got their dream job as a National Account Manager at a big brand, thanking me for training they received from me many years prior. You can’t put a price on that!

How do you know when the training you have put in place is successful?

This is a challenge for all Learning & Development professionals. At Gumtree, I have engineered a system that takes the subjective elements of the sales approach — ‘the conversation’ — and translated them into an objective series of data points. Not to get into too much detail, but essentially you can see the area you are developing as a percentage, then build on these percentages through development work. This data gives us the clearest and most effective insight into the relationship between development and performance.

Let’s get to know you Daniel, tell us about yourself?

I started my professional working life as an actor. I graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in 2007 and have had the pleasure of working with some legends in TV, Film and Stage. This gave me an excellent grounding in understanding human behaviour, which naturally helped me in sales work! Now, I am a proud husband & father to two lovely children and live in Epping, Essex. I love movies, videogames and Arsenal (I recently was informed that it was my turn in the queue to buy a season ticket — I joined the waiting list 12 years ago!)

Any hints and tips for our readers on personal growth and development?

Humility is key. Understand that every output has input — you shape the world around you by your behaviour, so by appreciating that any reaction/response you encounter is a result of your input is key to developing your behaviour to better engage others around you. “That’s just who I am” is a statement that heralds the doom of personal growth! I mentioned Dr David Rock’s SCARF model earlier; you can find a brief YouTube video on this from the man himself. It changed my life when I encountered it and fully recommend it to anyone looking to understand human behaviour and their place in the world.