Aree’s Mission

Let me share with you the story which led us to build our product, Aree. And why it’s worth caring about.

When I was 2 years old, my parents started a recruitment company, now franchised and known as Frontline Recruitment Group. I’ve spent a fair amount of my career at Frontline and have absorbed much from some star teams of recruiters.

At Frontline I saw first hand the performance that highly cohesive teams could attain. It was often the difference between the top performing agencies and the rest. Interestingly, no one individual within these teams could have done it themselves. These teams had a mixture of working styles and performance levels — and they worked together to emphasise each individual’s strengths. Most of the time, it was the manager who created this highly productive environment.

I was able to apply some of what I observed when I was a manager for a period at Frontline. Later, I applied it again when I started Trioxis. Between observation of good managers and being a manager myself, I began to appreciate the immense power of having a strong, trustworthy and reliable team. Nothing at Trioxis could have happened without my colleagues at the time: Ray, Sputnik and Chetan.

Soon after I started Trioxis, my father was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer. This was a very difficult time for myself and my family, and my team at work became a solid foundation. I knew I could trust them to run Trioxis.

The above events (especially the personal one) reinforced a belief I had held my entire life: we only have one shot at life. It’s our duty to make the most of it.

But how can one person be expected to make a difference?

The answer, for me, was obvious. I’m not only one person, I am an extension of my team. To put it in cliche, together we could do anything. My goal was to create a great team.

We operated for another year before we started Aree. We worked with Frontline and other clients. I continued to observe the behaviours of other managers, and continued to learn from them — constantly re-evaluating to improve.Everyone here is busy working towards their goals, but ultimately success is not something everybody can achieve by themselves. Sooner or later, we need to grow.

My responsibility to my team was to ensure each individual was nurtured, and we grew in size when necessary. Each time we hired, it was important to find someone who made the team as a whole, stronger.

To find a new team member is no simple task. I knew this from both my work with Frontline, and my own recruitment. Only at an interview would I be able to tell if someone would be suitable, not for the role, but for my team. To introduce the wrong person could have a negative effect on everybody.

My solution was threefold…

• Lots of interviews
• To be consistently open to happening upon the right person
• Base hires off cultural fit, not just skill

This required lots of work — for limited reward.

I would often read articles which described a lack of “quality talent” in the workforce. I felt this was a bit pessimistic — everyone is good at something, right? Yet with all the noise, it often feels like a needle in a haystack.

Beyond all of the noise, there must be people who fit my team and my role… right?

The candidates who did apply to positions I listed weren’t quite the right fit — and regrettably I found myself getting frustrated. I say regrettably because it wasn’t their fault — how were they to know what kind of personality I was looking for? What sort of cultural / values alignment I needed?

We started a side project to address the above frustrations and problems. We didn’t know it at the time, but this project would eventually become Aree.

After joining Fishburners, we hired Sam. His job was to understand what made somebody a good long term employee. What indicators could we glean from their resumes? Meanwhile, Fishburners was providing both a great social and research environment for the team. Fishburners rocked!

Our investigation turned up unexpected results. We felt something was missed. So, Sam began to investigate culture and team cohesion from a social perspective.

Retrospectively, it was obvious. We had always found success through each other. Our observations of other teams proved likewise. Our job engagement is immensely affected by the people we work with.

In Fishburners, we were surrounded by so many brilliant people, ideas and teams. Everyone here is busy working towards their goals, but ultimately success is not something everybody can achieve by themselves. Sooner or later, we need to grow. When we grow, we need people we can trust. With them, our businesses are so much more likely to succeed.

All of this culminated into Aree, the platform which helps you build a great team.

We began focused on growing companies, as they feel the pain Aree addresses more acutely than anyone else. We built a way for growing companies to find candidates who fit your team culture and have suitable experience. Candidates are also encouraged to find employers who suit them in the same way. Less noise, more success.

At Aree, we believe everyone’s duty is to somehow make the world a better place — and that this is totally achievable when you work in a team, with people you trust.

Our goal is to create a world where everybody is engaged and fulfilled by their career

That all said, we’ve got a lot of work to do, with only 3.2 out of 10 Australians highly engaged in their jobs.

Whether you’re trying to colonise Mars, create a sustainable earth, create forces of change, or simply build a better mousetrap — we know you need great teams, not just great people.

And Aree helps do that. Join us on Aree — and our team will help your team:

• Improve discovery and consideration of candidates and job opportunities
• Involve recruitment agents for when extra care is required
• Help nurture your current team with OKRs and similar manager tools
• Help expand your career with career maps

See you soon!
Jack and the Team