How an unwavering dedication to people, clarity, and communication spearheaded by a passionate leader has seen Linnk Group work with Best Companies to make tangible improvements in just one year.
“An organisation can only be as successful as how the people within it feel. If you’re not invested in making sure the individuals feel part of it, it will come through in everything you do – from productivity to the way you interact with your customers.”
Jamie Sobrany, CEO, Linnk Group
By focusing on the areas highlighted for improvement in its survey data, Linnk Group has improved to a 3-Star Accreditation in just one year.
Accreditation as a Best Company to Work For has improved recruitment and retention at Linnk Group and contributed to a more engaged and productive workforce.
Linnk achieved the overall biggest improvement in engagement score of all small-sized companies working with Best Companies in 2024.
Linnk’s CEO saw the highest overall score for ‘leadership’ of all small sized companies in 2024, achieving a 15% increase year-on-year.
Looking out from its UK headquarters opposite the iconic Shard building in central London, you would be forgiven for thinking that specialist recruiter, Linnk Group, enjoys a position as one of the industry’s longest-established firms.
It not only sits at the epicentre of the global STEM talent market, but has offices in five locations across the Middle East and Asia, and a highly engaged global workforce all bought into the organisation’s vision and mission.
A pretty impressive achievement. But even more so when you consider Linnk Group isn’t a firm decades in the making. It was only established in 2019 as a start-up; the vision of a small group of ambitious entrepreneurs.
So what has been the key to Linnk’s remarkable success? Ask its people and they’ll tell you much of it is down to their leader, Jamie Sobrany. The company’s eclectic CEO and co-founder, who brings passion, personality, and performance to the workplace every day.
Jamie had people at the heart of Linnk’s strategy from its initial conception. Along with the rest of the senior leadership team, Jamie put a plan in place that laid the foundations for a culture that had the interests of its employees at its core.
“When we set the organisation up, we had a people-first strategy. We wanted to make sure that Linnk was an amazing company where people enjoyed their time and enjoyed working with us,” Jamie explained.
“So we did a lot of internal development on that strategy, and then we wanted to test it. We wanted to see how it really came through in terms of analysing our own internal survey findings against a body like Best Companies to see how we compared to others and what they were doing.”
Linnk Group approached Best Companies in 2023, when it entered its first year of trading, with the purpose of measuring how its employees were feeling, how its people plan was performing, and the chance to benchmarking themselves against the industry standard. The results of its initial survey saw it gain a 2-Star accreditation rating, representing ‘Outstanding’ levels of employee engagement.
“That initial survey gave us some great insights,” explained Jamie. We could see areas of the business that we were doing well in, but also areas that we needed to focus on as a management team and as a company.”
Jamie, along with the leadership and HR team, formulated a plan based on its initial survey data. It focused on the areas in which it could support and develop its people the most, and so Linnk set out to create its own Employee Value Proposition (EVP).
“We rolled out our EVP, which helped us refine what we were doing and how we were operating the business,” Jamie continued.
“We worked on future-proofing the evolution of people, how they operate, and what they do within the organisation. That covered performance and learning and development for everybody in the organisation. We set up matrices across the business so we could define what the organisation would look like today and what it would look like in the future. So our growth plans, what we were doing in terms of people's progression, and where they could move within the organisation.”
For Linnk’s Head of People, Rachel Rush, who worked closely with Jamie in using Best Companies data to help plan the EVP rollout, having leadership and HR fully aligned on the importance of using the data to help inform their people strategy was crucial.
“We we’re thrilled with those initial results,” explained Rachel. “It was proof that we didn’t just think we were doing the right things, but we were. Best Companies’ data helped pinpoint the areas we needed to work on, but as a young company it was about prioritising the things that were most important to the staff. That’s when we decided to introduce our EVP.
“The buy-in from Jamie was really important, he could fully see the value of working with Best Companies,” she explained.
“He saw the benefit of seeing how we compared to others, the benefit of showcasing Linnk, and the benefits of learning from the data. For us to be aligned on that was really important.”
For Jamie, a fundamental part of Linnk’s people strategy is about clear communication, and all members of the team being aligned with the company’s objectives and goals, regardless of their position or location.
“The key challenge has always been the ability to manage a fast-moving company,” he explained.
“We're still a startup with five years of trading, so we often make decisions quickly, implementing them within days. Then you have the challenge of making sure everyone understands why. I’ve always said, if you’re working for a manager or leader who can’t explain why they’re doing something, then you have to question it. You might not agree, but understanding the rationale is crucial.”
In order to ensure that its employees have an opportunity to ask questions or ask for more information about the company’s decisions, Linnk has set up several initiatives that provide a forum for open discussion, including town hall meetings, Q&As with the CEO and open forums. This, says Jamie, has been a successful way to engage with people.
“We work really hard on our communication,” he continued. “We have a very flat management structure, so if you want to talk to or raise a question or speak to anybody within the organisation, you can. We're constantly working with each other, for each other, and having that open communication channel makes sure everybody feels empowered. Whatever role you're doing, you're part of the end result. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole for the organisation.”
After 12months of rolling out its strategy, helped with the insights from its Best Companies data, Linnk Group re-surveyed in 2024.
This time, the organisation improved its overall engagement score, known as Best Companies Index or BCI score, by 83.6 points, advancing it to a 3-Star accreditation rating, representing ‘World Class’ levels of employee engagement.
Not only did the score move Linnk up an accreditation banding, but it saw the Group named the ‘Best Improver’ of all the small-sized organisations that surveyed with Best Companies in 2024.
The improvement, says Jamie, reflects hard work paying off.
“It's an amazing achievement to have progressed so much,” he said. “It's hard work, and the team has put in a lot of effort to ensure this success, getting everyone to understand, keeping communication open, rolling out the EVP, and maintaining a people-first strategy that works for everyone within the organisation.”
If achieving the biggest overall improvement wasn’t enough, Jamie also received the highest ‘leadership’ score – seeing him awarded the ‘Best Leader’ accolade in November 2024.
Responses to the overall leadership score are based on a scale of 1-7, with 7 being strongly positive. Jamie received 6.13 – a 15% uplift on 2023’s score and 7% more than other 3* accredited organisations of all sizes.
His reaction to winning is one of humility. One that credits the people around him, but above all else? The importance, as a leader, of listening.
“It’s so important to listen,” he explained. “An organisation can only be as successful as how the people within it feel. If you’re not invested in making sure the individuals feel part of it, it will come through in everything you do – from productivity to the way you interact with your customers.
“Listening gives you insights into how the business feels and how people will perform in the future through sentiment and understanding of what people are going through at the time. When you engage with them through surveys, or just talking to people, you gain an understanding of how people see things.”
It is this culture of listening, along with putting feedback into actionable plans and strategies, that has been most impactful for Linnk Group, according to Rachel Rush.
The benefits of giving people clear pathways, and making them feel part of something bigger, has benefitted both recruitment and retention at the company. It has seen Linnk achieve an 11% increase year-on-year about how they feel about their personal development.
“Working with Best Companies helps with recruiting and retention. It shows people there’s a long-term career path for them and the way we structure the action planning makes people feel like they’re part of the journey. It’s not just me saying Linnk’s a great place to work, its external recognition of what it’s like to work for, and deal with, Linnk Group.”
So after such a stellar year, and as it looks to continually grow the business, what does 2025 have in store for Linnk Group?
“Everything we do will continue to be about the individuals and people within the organisation,” said Jamie.
“The most important thing for us is that we all have a shared goal, that people feel supported, can see the journey and feel part of it, and are contributing to it. We will continue to support each other, ensuring the organisation feels like a family. We’ll come together to make things happen.”
Ready to build your own success story? Linnk Group's journey demonstrates the power of a people-first strategy, strong leadership, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Just like Linnk, your organisation can leverage the insights and tools provided by Best Companies to cultivate a highly engaged workforce, drive exceptional results, and achieve world-class levels of employee satisfaction by getting in touch today.
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