Building systems your next hire will thank you for

At LeftBrain, we work with a growing number of startups and scaleups preparing for rapid growth. As headcount increases, manual processes and inconsistent tools can quickly slow a business down. Without the right infrastructure in place, onboarding becomes chaotic and security risks start to creep in before a new hire has even opened their laptop.

In this interview, our Strategist Ben Carrick shares how we help companies build thoughtful systems that make onboarding seamless, secure and scalable from day one.

Can you introduce yourself and your role at LeftBrain?

Absolutely. I’m Ben Carrick, a strategist here at LeftBrain. Day to day I help look after our clients, making sure that we’re delivering what they need and building systems at scale with them. My job is all about making life easier for the client, for their teams, and ideally for their next hire too.

When a scaleup comes to us, what kind of systems do we help them to build?

Honestly, one of the biggest issues we see is time-wasting manual setups. You’ll see founders or operations leads physically sitting there setting up multiple MacBooks before handing them over. You've got someone trying to scale a product while also playing IT support. And that just doesn’t scale.

The best fit we’ve found is zero-touch deployment. It means you can ship a new Mac to a new hire anywhere in the world, and as soon as they turn it on and connect to Wi-Fi, everything starts installing. It’s fast, hands-off, and secure. It just works straight out of the box.

You mentioned "anywhere in the world" – where are you working from today?

Right now I’m on a small island off the coast of Croatia. It’s a pretty pleasant place to get some work done! I’m a fan of working from anywhere, and I think these kinds of tools enable exactly that. They give flexibility to distributed teams without compromising on structure or security.

From the perspective of a new hire, how do these systems help?

For them, everything just works. They open their laptop, log into Okta, and they’re instantly signed into all the tools they need. The apps are pre-provisioned, their access is pre-approved, and they’re not chasing people for passwords or links. It’s one sign-in and they’re in. Everything is automated and secure at the same time.

That first day experience is so much smoother. It makes a real difference as a team grows. It builds trust and gives the impression that the business is organised. That’s important from day one.

What makes this setup valuable for growing teams?

It removes friction for everyone. For the manager onboarding a new team member, there’s no chaos. They know exactly what needs to be done. You’re not juggling devices, chasing passwords, or missing key tools.

It’s secure by default and by design. There’s a real sense of consistency across the team every time. And if something goes wrong, support is already baked in. Our LeftBrain Helpdesk Messenger app is installed automatically. So if someone needs help, they just open the chat and get it sorted. No long waits, no uncertainty. They can get on with their work.

Any final words of wisdom for fast-growing companies?

Build your systems before you scale. It’s so much easier to grow when you’re not reinventing the wheel every time someone joins. Whether it’s device management, identity access, or support, getting the structure right early saves you time later. And your next hire will thank you for it.

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