Sharpsmart Spotlight: Dominique Bradley

A grade-five pianist isn’t afraid to get stuck in and when shuffleboard by itself isn’t enough of a sport, only shuffleboard in Chicago can tick the box…

We want to take a moment to shine the spotlight on Sharpsmart’s answer to Beethoven and our Talent Acquisition Manager, Dominique Bradley.

Who's Behind the Sharpsmart Recruitment Process?

Dominique Bradley is the unrivalled queen of hospitality, renowned for throwing unforgettable dinner parties and orchestrating epic evenings and nights out with friends. However, her well-organised approach to event planning is just one of her many talents…

Dominique isn’t just a socialite, she’s also a talent scout extraordinaire. With three daughters who are competitive dancers, Dominique embraces her inner “Dance Mum” on weekends, travelling the country to support her daughters in various events and competitions.

Joining Sharpsmart in January 2020, Dominique’s timing was impeccable – just a few months later, the pandemic hit. Suddenly finding herself working from home, she braced herself, hoping the new job magic wouldn’t fade away and tackling the new challenge of learning the ropes remotely.

Despite the pandemic’s hurdles, it turned out to be a busy year for recruitment and it wasn’t long before the talent she was acquiring became some much-needed help for finding more – cue Rebecca Stanley and Dominique's progression to the Talent Acquisition Manager role.

Dominique has seen the Sharpsmart team grow from around 110 employees to a current number of around 275, thanks in no small part to her knack for talent scouting and her recruitment prowess.

As the team expanded, so did the playbook, with Dominique introducing new systems to streamline the recruitment process.

But that’s enough from us – now that you have an idea of who Dominique Bradley is, let’s hear straight from the talent whisperer herself. We spent some time with Dominique to better understand her Sharpsmart experience.

What were your first impressions of Sharpsmart?

It immediately felt like something I wanted to be a part of – I’d researched the company, crawled through the website, and I just loved Sharpsmart’s vision and what it stood for.

It also looked like a fun team to be a part of. When I first joined I noticed just how different it felt, being a relatively small company. I’d never worked in an operational environment before either so it was new to me.

One of the biggest first impressions was just how nice everybody was, and this was apparent even though working remotely, I didn’t really meet many in person for quite a while due to the pandemic.

What do you enjoy most about working for Sharpsmart?

For me, it’s mostly the people!

I also LOVE the pace of it all and seeing the operations side of things, just how fast everything’s moving and just how rapidly we’re growing.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned over your career?

To build relationships and spend time with everybody in the business. If you like where you work, your job becomes a lot easier and if you can build solid relationships you’ll get a lot more out of it too.

Is there a meaningful moment that stands out as especially rewarding?

During our 2023 UK Summit, the question was put to the room asking whoever had been recruited by me to stand up and when they did, around 70% of the people stood up.

When you look back sometimes you don’t quite realise the impact you’ve had on the business and because it’s grown so much in a short period of time, there are several people with less than four years of service.

It was nice to see everybody and I love to see how people are doing long after they’ve joined, I like to follow their journey – I feel invested in those I’ve helped bring in.

What does growth look like for you and your team?

We’ve seen so much already, even from one year to the next in terms of how we’re developing everything we do and how we work, as well as the processes and systems we use.

We’re constantly looking to improve and trying better methods for working whilst keeping up to date with everything we’re doing.

As the business continues to grow, our team will also pursue growth and it’s hard to say exactly what that’ll look like because we don’t always know how big we’ll be next year, but I can definitely see our team expanding.

How would you describe the culture at Sharpsmart?

It’s fun, friendly, and it’s fast-paced. People are given autonomy in their roles and trusted as experts in what they do.

The Sharpsmart culture is that you can call anybody in the business and everyone is receptive, even if you haven’t spoken for a while. It’s a great, people-focused business to work for and our growth trajectory gives it an exciting edge too.

If you could dispel one myth about the healthcare waste industry, what would that be?

Something I like to point out to candidates is that the waste plants aren’t horrible, messy places with piles of waste all over the place. Waste is boxed up in containers and everything is organised and compliant with a strong view of health and safety.

The healthcare waste operation isn’t always how some might expect it to be.

What advice would you give someone looking for a career with Sharpsmart?

You can join the business and take your career where you want it to go. If you excel in your role, show interest in the business, and are passionate about what you do then the rewards will come to you.

In my time here, I’ve seen countless examples of this. Also, progression isn’t always just a new position or title, you can really progress within your role too by supporting projects, focusing on continuous improvement within your business area and taking additional responsibilities – this will support your progression with the business as opportunities come up.

If you were abandoned on a desert island, which three Sharpsmart colleagues would you want with you?

Rebecca Stanley, she’d have a plan to get us back off the island. Kate Chambers, because I know we’d have a good time while we were there. And Amber Marshall, she’s a good laugh and could provide us with entertainment.

Join Our Pride!

Are you currently considering an exciting new career with an innovative company that gives you a platform for growth and development?

If you are, and you’d also like to be a part of making healthcare safer and more sustainable, you’ll fit in nicely with the Sharpsmart pride.

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