Working and adapting in new cultures – Scott Broadley - FYLD

Hear from Scott Broadley, Director – New Growth, in our latest blog as he discusses how his career has grown at FYLD, his key role in expanding operations overseas, and his experiences of working with different cultures.

Tell us about your life journey up until joining FYLD and any specific challenges you’ve had to overcome along the way.

My journey began with following my parents’ and teachers’ advice to study finance. However, I soon realised that it wasn’t for me. I was a fan of tech – I always have been – so I changed the path I was on. I switched my degree to electronics engineering and I’ve never looked back. After graduating from my master’s degree, my first professional role was working with wireless fire alarms – a job that suited my skillset but not my ambition. I wanted something more technical and fast-paced, so I found a graduate scheme that involved bridging the gap between business and technology. This role was the perfect fit for me.

Fast forward a few years, I decided to move on. After working in a couple of small start-ups, I was looking for my next opportunity. I wanted to join something with massive potential, a clear progression for myself and the company, and something that I knew would be successful. That’s when I came across FYLD. After meeting the leadership team and seeing the vision of the company, it was an easy decision.

I’ve now been with FYLD for two and half years, starting in a product growth focussed role. I transitioned into a customer acquisition and solutions architecture role before starting to work with our first customer in the USA in March 2022 in what resulted in our first expansion into a country outside the UK. I was given the task of establishing the FYLD business in the USA, which has been a fantastic experience.

You were promoted to Director – New Growth last year – how do you feel you’ve grown both personally and professionally at FYLD, and how has the company supported your career development?

Professionally, I’ve grown substantially since joining FYLD. The company has supported me throughout and trusted my abilities, providing opportunities for me to step up. As a result, I have taken massive strides in my career, as well as personally, and feel empowered by my role and the leadership team.

At FYLD, I’ve learned that:

• Proactivity is key – when working in new environments and unfamiliar territories, it’s important to proactively develop solutions to problems that may arise along the way. 
• Relationships are pivotal – whether it be customer relationships or with colleagues, respect and consideration for each other creates positive environments. A mutual trust is required for both parties to work in the most efficient way. I’ve learned to be more considered when communicating, especially when working with people who speak in different languages, as it goes a long way in getting points across.
• It’s important to understand differences in people – I work in different cultures and environments where I come across a wide array of people. It is essential to remember that everyone is different, including how they work and communicate.
• Embracing cultures enhances experiences – I feel lucky with all the travelling I do to experience different parts of the world.

You’ve been travelling to and from the Americas for some time now – how have you found adapting to and working in a new culture?

There have been both positive and challenging experiences. I adapted to the Texas way of life easily. I’ve found the business community to be driven on trust and values, and this aligns with my belief in investing in relationships while doing business.

Language proved to be an obstacle while I was working in Chile. I was based in a small, rustic town and they spoke very little English. There were times I could spend a week not conversing in English with a single person, aside from phone calls of course, which was quite disconnecting. 

I’ve found that excessive travelling can often negate a sense of community, although I’ve learned to use meet up groups and sports as a way to meet people and socialise when based somewhere for a few weeks. However, travelling can make it hard to build friendships or form any real connections outside of work, creating an isolated environment. The FYLD team is great at staying connected and checking in with me regularly. It certainly makes it a lot easier to feel included and part of the global team we have operating across many geographies.

These challenges have all helped me grow and adapt, I absolutely love what I do. I am lucky to experience amazing opportunities that most people don’t have the chance to. I feel like I’m part of something important at FYLD and having played a key role in establishing the company in the USA gives me a great sense of pride.

How important is internationalisation in FYLD’s future plans?

Internationalisation is key in meeting our growth targets. Many countries share the same universal productivity and safety improvement opportunities, and our expansion will let us partner with more companies to deliver FYLD benefits. Our success in the USA has been key for further growth plans, confirming that the FYLD platform easily adapts to field workforces in different countries and with different cultures. 

Different countries have different markets at varied stages of digital transformation. It is essential for FYLD to adapt and suit new customers. This adaption of the FYLD platform created new features that could be used for existing customers too – so it’s a win-win situation. We’re exposed to five markets now and we’re working on the sixth, each at a different stage of digital transformation. 

Our recent development of the platform implemented Spanish language functionality. This was crucial for our work in south USA, Mexico and Chile. With field workforces often comprising migrant team members, we see the ability of the FYLD platform to be deployed in multiple languages – seamlessly for our customers – is crucial to our future growth and yet another differentiator in how we think at FYLD versus old world paper form companies.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are three key pillars of a fair and progressive workplace. How do you feel FYLD implements these three elements in its operations, across all geographies?

We have a robust hiring process at FYLD. By ensuring our recruitment provides a fair chance for all candidates, we create diverse, well-rounded teams. For instance, we remove gender-based information from applications to do our best to eradicate subconscious bias and have strict regulations when it comes to candidate ethnicity, experience, gender and ability. To hear more about our process, check out my colleague Anish’s blog here. 

We also include a request in all our job descriptions encouraging potential candidates to apply even if they don’t meet all the requirements. This way we catch those that feel they aren’t equipped for the role but their experience and attitude to work could be the deciding factor.  It is well established that diverse candidates often don’t apply for a role unless they are overqualified and we want to be a part of the solution to this challenge.

With this ever-evolving process, FYLD has created a balanced and unified team. I spend a lot of time separated from the team, and I still feel connected. Our team operates worldwide, this is possible because we have the right people on board. We’ve shown that teams of diverse and committed individuals produce some of the best results.

Interested in a career at FYLD? Check out our latest roles here.