Why this CEO talks openly with staff about his impoverished childhood

Shannon Hyde, the chief executive of energy retailer Simply Energy, knows what it is like to have the power cut off because of unpaid bills.

Raised by a single mum – Hyde’s father died in a car crash before he was born – the family lived below the poverty line. His mother suffered from mental health and drug addiction issues, which kept her out of the workforce, and his stepfather was abusive.

The circumstances meant the family went through periods when the power was cut off, and they worried about what they were going to eat before the next government support payment arrived.

Hyde remembers listening to the Sydney Olympics on the radio because they did not own TV, and not being able to afford an $8 Italian textbook for high school, a fact that he tried to hide from his teachers and peers.
“I was personally very secretive about poverty,” he says.

It has only been in the last five years that Hyde has started talking about his childhood, in particular sharing his experiences with colleagues at Simply Energy, where he was appointed the company’s youngest-ever chief executive at 34 years of age in 2018.

“I share a lot with our business and the people that support customers of Simply Energy, primarily so they understand that there are people on the other end of this challenge… So, we need to be really conscious of the gravity of any decision that leads to disconnecting someone’s supply of an essential service,” Hyde says.
“If a family does not have access to energy, then the other disadvantages they face can quickly magnify.”

Growing up, Hyde and his siblings received support from a number of charity groups, including The Smith Family, which is The Australian Financial Review’s charity partner.

After finishing year 12 Hyde was unemployed for 18 months, spending his time playing in a heavy metal band before landing a job in a Telstra call centre in Canberra, which turned out to be a pivotal moment in his life.
“I was chuffed that I was good enough to get in,” he says.

Within three weeks he was promoted to deal with complex issues that arose in the call centre, and three months later he was promoted again to lead a team of people.

At 23 Hyde moved to Melbourne and took a job in the Simply Energy call centre. His expertise in managing and optimising call centre operations was quickly recognised, setting him on a path to 15 different jobs in the organisation and eventually to CEO.

Hyde attributes his success to having supportive leaders and a healthy dose of luck. But he says there are more people out there who could do his job if they have access to the right learning opportunities.
Engie, Simply Energy’s parent company, has four cadets who are part of The Smith Family’s Growing Careers Project working across the business.

“There’s a talent pool we are not tapping into,” he says.

“It is likely that these people who come from disadvantaged circumstances are going to be highly resilient and ready for change. If we can broaden the funnel by getting more people to access educational opportunities then it will grow the talent pool.”

Hyde recently offered the cadets a piece of career advice – be patient.

“If you’re very ambitious and very hungry to be successful – I think that can happen for people that come from challenging circumstances – do your best to be patient,” he says.

“Take satisfaction from the things you do today. Make a difference. But don’t get too impatient about that next step.

“If I knew where I was going, I might have stressed a little bit less.”

This article originally appeared on The Australian Financial Review.