Futureproofing Talent Through Diversity

In a rapidly evolving business landscape, businesses are seeking ways to futureproof their operations and ensure sustainable growth. As one of London’s top ethical recruitment partners, we guide our clients on a journey toward building inclusive teams that thrive on creativity, collaboration, and collective brilliance.

We’re here to guide and explore the power of diversity in talent acquisition and share actionable insights to inspire and futureproof workforces while creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered.

 

Why Diversity Matters

Diversity encompasses a broad range of factors, including gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, and cultural background. By embracing diversity in the workplace, we can create a culture that is rich in ideas, perspectives, and experiences, leading to enhanced performance and success that benefits all.

 

Innovation and Creativity:

Diverse teams bring together individuals with unique perspectives, experiences, and problem-solving approaches, leading to the development of innovative ideas and solutions that drive competitive advantage.

Enhanced Employee Engagement and Retention:

A culture of inclusivity and belonging cultivates higher levels of employee engagement and satisfaction. Employees who feel valued and respected for their individuality are more likely to remain loyal to their employers, reducing turnover rates and the associated costs of recruitment and training.

Broader Talent Pool Access:

By prioritising diversity in recruitment practices, organisations can tap into a broader talent pool, attracting top-tier candidates from diverse backgrounds. This not only enhances the quality of hires but also ensures that companies remain competitive in the talent market.

 

Strategies for Futureproofing Talent Through Diversity

As a recruitment company committed to futureproofing talent, we advocate for the following strategies to help businesses harness the power of diversity:

Redefine Recruitment:

Ditch the one-size-fits-all approach to recruitment. Embrace inclusive practices like blind screening and diverse candidate sourcing to ensure every voice has a chance to be heard.

Nurture Inclusivity:

Cultivate a culture where diversity isn’t just celebrated—it’s woven into the fabric of everyday interactions. Create safe spaces for dialogue, promote empathy, and champion authenticity.

Lead by Example:

Diversity starts at the top. Ensure leadership teams reflect the diversity you wish to see in your business. When leaders embrace inclusivity, it sets the tone for the entire company.

Continuous Learning:

Invest in diversity training and education to raise awareness of unconscious bias and promote cultural competence. Provide employees with the tools they need to navigate diverse perspectives with grace and empathy.

 

By embracing diversity in all its forms, organisations can build teams that are not only resilient and innovative but also compassionate and inclusive. Contact our specialist ED&I team today to embark on a journey of growth, empowerment, and collective brilliance.

Pimlico Academy Careers Fair

As part of Impact’s successful social impact and ongoing partnership with London schools, we teamed up with Pimlico Academy and attended their annual career’s fair.

Transitioning from school to the workforce can be a daunting experience for young adults. Our knowledgeable recruitment team provided support to Year 9 – 11 students from Pimlico Academy school in South West London. Here’s what our team had to say about the day:

Ellen, Senior Talent Partner – Temporary Support

This was my 3rd visit to Pimlico Academy for the Careers Fair, and every year it’s just as rewarding as the last. The morning was filled of keen year 9s- year 11s with inquisitive minds into the world after school/UNI or whichever path they may choose, some with firm decisions made and more with open minds on what to consider as their future career. It’s a great opportunity to inspire young minds especially to do with the world of recruitment – not many knew it even existed as a career and were left interested and keen to learn more, which was such a positive response. Always such a pleasure to visit Pimlico and looking forward to next year!

Sarah, Associate Talent Partner

Speaking to the students of Pimlico is always so engaging and rewarding, for me and hopefully for them! I’m always so impressed by the conversations I have with the students, and their ability to see the bigger picture and ask such interesting questions. Their curiosity is so refreshing, and it was lovely to introduce them to the world of recruiting and show them that not all office jobs are suits and crunching numbers.

We’re excited to continue this journey with Pimlico Academy and other schools, fostering an environment where students can explore all the career paths that are available to them. By sharing our recruitment knowledge and experiences, we can empower these future professionals on their career paths!

To learn more about how we can make a positive impact on the students in your school or to explore our current roles, get in touch with our team today. Together, we can help shape a brighter future for the next generation of professionals.

Work Experience Internship with Inspire

This May we welcomed Preeya, our intern for the week from Clapton School for Girls and it was organised by our Charity partner, Inspire. Here’s what Preeya had to say about her work experience week with the Impact team.

Initially, I was expecting a corporate environment but instead, I found a place full of bright smiles and I was rendered speechless! Before my work experience began, I felt nervous about coming to Impact, but after speaking with the CEO, Nick, I felt calm and excited about the challenge.

The moment I stepped in the team was so friendly and welcoming I didn’t get the feeling of being out of place, instead, I felt relaxed and realised I was stressing out and being nervous for no reason. When coming in, I was given a detailed schedule of my roles that will help support the team. The tasks’ I was given varied from sitting in on meetings to creating a job advert. Not once did it feel like there was too little or too much of a workload.

I immediately noticed that there was a perfect balance between being casual and professional. It was the perfect environment anyone would want to be in. The staff I was working with were very sociable and well put together, not once did they make me feel as though I was an outsider.

During my time here there was an amazing balance between being friends and colleagues, and had a positive working atmosphere.. Coming to Impact, it didn’t feel like an average 9-5 role, instead, it felt like coming in to see people who wanted to work together to help others get their dream jobs!

There was a home-like sense here at Impact, they are a small family, and seeing a community like this is what essentially made me love my work experience here. Even though this work experience was only a week long, this was the best work experience I could gain.

My experience at Impact gave me a major confidence boost and gave me insight as to what my potential career paths could be. I am truly filled with gratitude about the fact that I was able to do my work experience at a firm like Impact.

 

If you’d like to find out more about our work with Inspire, read more on our social impact here.

 

Why Choose Impact as your Ethical Recruiter

This Earth Day, we look at our dedication to being a responsible business and why our clients choose Impact as their ethical recruitment partner. Working positively with our team, clients, candidates, and wider community is part of our DNA. We believe a more sustainable world starts with us taking action!

Diversity & Inclusion

As people who really want to make a difference, we’ve talked to lots of clients about how important it is to bring in candidates from different backgrounds, especially those that have faced difficulties and our ED&I manager Dan, works closely with our team and clients to inform and educate, we asked him why businesses need to diversify their hiring process.

‘Diversifying the hiring process is great for both businesses and professionals from marginalized and under-represented groups. Whether it’s anonymizing CVs or having a diverse interview panel, companies are at their best socially and commercially when they’re able to attract and retain talent from diverse backgrounds. Knowing that you’re playing a part in ensuring a fair and equitable process for all feels rewarding. It’s a win-win at the end of the day!’

AfroYanga is happening this summer!

As part of our Social Impact programme, Impact is excited to be collaborating with one of our community partners Living Free UK to organise AfroYanga (meaning ‘African Pride’) – an annual Pride event that celebrates LGBTQ+ Migrants, asylum seekers, and Refugees of African descent and allies in the U.K. This is a special evening to inspire and celebrate through insightful discussions and workshops, professional networking and an Afro-themed entertainment with food, music, and drinks.

For more information on how to get involved, please contact Daniel.

Employee Involvement & Wellbeing

We appreciate the pressures of juggling life and work and ensure all of our team are looked after within a supportive and fun environment!

Our ‘Community Programme’ benefits charities and community groups, as well as promoting a sense of achievement and positive team building like our most recent trip, where the team headed outside of the city to plant trees.

Our team’s wellbeing is our top priority, so we enhanced our benefit package to introduce critical illness cover – a benefit we hope our team will never need, but we know how important it is to have the reassurance and support!

Ethical Business Values

We’re committed to using our position as a force for good! In 2019 we were accredited as a London Living Wage employer which means that every member of staff and our temps will earn a real Living Wage, plus we insist that all our 3rd party contracted staff are paid above the Living Wage too.

If you want to know more about our commitments and what the future holds for the rest of 2023 – download our market guide!

 

Inspire & Impact: Financial Literacy Workshop

As part of our Social Impact Programme, we partnered with Inspire to co-facilitate a financial literacy workshop for Year 7 students at Clapton Girls’ Academy – a well-known East London-based secondary school.

Who Are Inspire?

Inspire! Is a local charity and education business partnership working in the London Boroughs of Hackney, Camden, Islington and beyond. Inspire! provide work experience, work-related learning and additional support programmes to young people aged 3 to 24. Impact is one of the 1000s of employees who work alongside Inspire, volunteering time each year to help young people in the local area to develop and understand the skills needed for their futures.

The workshop was designed to help 11-year-old students understand how to manage money responsibly, and develop budgeting and problem-solving skills. It was also designed to help them develop confidence in making responsible financial decisions.

Here’s what our ED&I Recruitment Specialist, Daniel Asaya had to say about this inspiring workshop:

“It felt absolutely rewarding to have volunteered for Inspire on behalf of Impact. The workshop kicked off with introductions (name and profession) in a manner the students would understand – this involved breaking down lots of information in a simple yet interesting manner.

The students were super responsive, engaged and positive throughout. Thanks to the teachers for their support in coordinating the room.”

“There were lots of interesting activities but one that stood out was the “In 10 years” task – where the students were asked to imagine their lives at 21 years old. What they might be doing – where they might be living or spending their money on. They were then asked to create and present a character which included a lifestyle and spending habits around ‘needs’ and ‘wants’.”

More so, it was very impressive to see the students come up with a widely diverse set of characters including a Trans, Bisexual character who lived in London, had an iPhone and owned a house. This was brilliantly presented to the class and received a positive reception by their peers. Experiencing this moment of consciousness and social awareness from 11-year-olds was fantastic to see, and gave us hope for a more inclusive and welcoming society.

Impact will be continuing into 2023 holding a placement partnership with Inspire as part of our Social Impact Schedule.

If you are interested in learning more about our social impact initiatives or future ED&I events/discussions, please email Daniel.asaya@impact-london.com

Diversity in the Workplace

With people spending much of their time at work, it’s vital that they feel safe, respected, and valued as an employee. Making sure that your workplace is inclusive and diverse has numerous benefits, such as having a wider talent pool, a positive culture and mutual respect.

 

Equality:

Equality in the workplace means equal job opportunities and fairness for employees and job applicants across a person’s sex, age, disability, or race.

In addition to nurturing happy, productive, and loyal employees through excellent diversity and inclusion practices, how you act in this area as a business will be relevant to your compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

 

Diversity:

Diversity is the wide range of people in your workforce and valuing each of their differences. For example, this might mean people of different ages, religions, ethnicities, people with disabilities, and people from the LGBTQ+ community.

 

Inclusion:

Inclusion is an overarching ethos covering diversity, equality, and many other aspects of our working lives. Inclusive cultures enable our colleagues to do things differently, working in ways that suit them, and hybrid/flex work patterns to ensure their life-work balance is healthy.

There is clearly a big change happening amongst organisations with a clear inclusive workplace model being put in place. But it doesn’t stop there, inclusivity is ongoing and is about consistent learning and improvement.

 

Input a Workplace Policy

First things first, your company should have a workplace Equal Opportunity Policy covering the following: equality, diversity, and inclusion. This policy should cover the following:

Once put in place, the promotion of diversity and inclusion will see the following benefits in the workplace:

 

Why You Need to Diversify Your Hiring Process

“Diversifying the hiring process is great for both businesses and professionals from marginalised and under-represented groups. Whether it’s anonymizing CVs or having a diverse interview panel, companies are at their best socially and commercially when they’re able to attract and retain talent from diverse backgrounds. Also, knowing that you’re playing a part in ensuring a fair and equitable process for all feels rewarding. It’s a win-win at the end of the day” Daniel Asaya, HR consultant

By embracing diversity and inclusion within your organisation, it will build your business’s knowledge on a variety of aspects including cultures, faiths, disabilities, sexual orientation, and gender to name a few. It will also enable employees to feel respected and part of a diverse, modern business.

Impact is an accredited Living Wage Employer

Impact recruitment agency is an accredited Living Wage Employer! This means that every member of staff and all of our temps will earn a real Living Wage.

The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay which is based on the actual cost of living. It’s calculated each year and is announced by the Living Wage Foundation as part of Living Wage Week.

The current London living wage for 2022-23 is £11.95/hour and UK wide rate of £10.90/hour, reflects the current higher costs of living.

Over 4,700 organisations, including Impact, voluntarily choose to pay the real Living Wage because we believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

This commitment applies to not only directly employed staff but also to our third-party contracted staff. We have ensured that we have a plan in place to ensure that all our third-party contracted staff, such as our cleaners, are paid the real Living Wage.

We are proud of this commitment as a Living Wage employer which is in line with our values and commitment to good business, and all temps supplied by us will be paid at a rate above the London Living Wage minimum.

If you are looking for temp work or a client looking to temporarily expand your team, why not contact us!

Allyship in the Workplace

What is allyship?

Allyship is when an individual from a privileged group works in conjunction with a marginalized group to help remove systems that challenge their basic rights, equal access, and ability to thrive in society. Whether this is in your personal life or workplace.

Building a company culture that celebrates all employees can start with simply reaching out. By connecting with people who are different from you, you can begin to learn about their struggles and help make your workplace environment fairer and more welcoming.

We look at modern allyship in the workplace, and how you and your company can become educated allies.

What is allyship in the workplace?

Being an ally is about solidarity and social justice for marginalized people. It’s also about disrupting and changing systems that have previously disempowered them.

Practising allyship in the workplace is vital in helping to build a diverse and fair work environment where everyone’s voice can be heard.

Tips for allyship in the workplace

 

Be an advocate for others 

A strong ally realises their influence and uses this to help others shine. This could be by recommending a colleague for an internal job position or recommending someone to take the lead in a project. Being a strong communicator within groups is essential actively listening to marginalised groups to understand what you can do to become a better ally.

Give credit when credit is due 

Employees who don’t feel recognized are twice as likely to quit in a year. Be sure you regularly acknowledge and thank your employees for their hard work. Talking about someone’s excellent performance to the wider team will make employees feel more valued in their work environment.

Be human 

Lead with empathy, make it personal and be open to change. We all make mistakes, but the important thing is being willing to accept we don’t always have the answer to every problem. Being an ally is about learning, accepting these mistakes and showing modesty, openness, and empathy in the workplace important because it can set you apart as a trustworthy ally. It’s time to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Educate 

Educate yourself to begin to recognize and name what needs to change. A strong ally will be aware that they need to push themselves out of their comfort zone to learn. There are some informative forms of education such as podcasts and books, that will help you understand how you, an ally, can help others in your workplace. A great podcast we recommend is Leading with Empathy & Allyship, a weekly podcast which tackles difficult conversations.

Allyship is key to building a supportive and inclusive workplace culture for everyone, regardless of their background — but many organisations still have a lot of work to do! Allyship is an action, and begins with understanding that we need to work on inclusion together.

 

We have long recognised that our own and our client’s businesses should better reflect the communities in which we operate – in terms of socio-economic disadvantage and BAME communities. We have made a huge commitment over the last 5 years and our project ‘Future Proofing Talent through Diversity’ is award-winning.

We passionately drive awareness of roles within the creative industries to a disadvantaged and diverse demographic through our partnerships with charities, schools and leading community organisations.

Inspiring Future Workers

Right from the beginning, Impact has been committed to our community and in particular students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds, because believe that it’s important that we give back to our future generations.

 

Soon after the pandemic was over, we quickly began to reemphasise our long-lasting commitment to our community partners and in particular the local schools which we have built up a good relationship with.

 

Over the past 5 years, we’ve developed a particularly strong relationship with Pimlico Academy and our team has utilised their skills and experience to assist students in many areas of their future development. Including hosting mock interviews and working with the school’s career development team to offer work experience to their sixth-form students.

 

Most recently we have been working with the students on their confidence and skills as they approach the time in their lives when they will be looking at joining the world of work.

 

Earlier in the summer, Impact hosted a collection of students at Impact HQ and conducted mock job interviews with each student. And more recently, 5 of our consultants attended the school to conduct a CV and career workshop session for several of their classes.

 

Our team showed the students how to write a brilliant CV, provided in-depth interview tips and conducted a general Q&A on starting out on a successful career journey.

 

Both were hugely successful and the feedback we received was unanimously positive. We hope we helped the students to gain knowledge on how to apply themselves to the world of work and give them the confidence they need to be a success!

 

You can read more on our social impact here.

Mock Interview: Partnership with Pimlico Academy

As part of Impact Recruitment Agency successful social impact and ongoing partnership with London schools, we recently teamed up with Pimlico Academy.

We all know leaving school and heading into the world of work can be daunting for young adults! Thanks to WeWork, we were able to host a series of mock interviews for 20 promising Year 11 students from Pimlico Academy school in South West London with our knowledgeable recruitment team.

Hosted in the incredible WeWork Old Street space, the Impact team set up a series of mock interviews with the students. Our goal? To help the young students understand the concept of an interview process, and to help them navigate the world of the workplace!

The group of fantastic well put together young professionals were ready to take on the working world. Armed with their polished CVs, and engaging conversations the students were ready to discover more about the interviewing process!

Not only did the group of students conduct themselves in a professional manner throughout. It was also a fantastic opportunity for Impact to provide support and guidance and to have the privilege to be a part of the early stages of their professional development. We see amazing things for these students on the horizon and thank them for their feedback on their learning experience with the Impact team.

We’d also like to thank WeWork for their support in providing us with 2 meeting rooms and for making the students feel welcome on their visit, we couldn’t do it without you!

If you would like to read more on Impact Agency social impact, click here.

International Women’s Day 2022

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.  At Impact, we strive for a world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

We are proud of our fabulous ladies and are taking the opportunity to share a Q&A with a few of them.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?  

Carly:   It’s a great recognition of women across the world and to celebrate women in general!

Ellen:    To me, it means celebrating the amazing women in my life who have helped shape the person I am today. My beautiful mum and sister are all the good things in the world – I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. I’m also lucky enough to be surrounded by some of the strongest, smartest and funniest women I know every day in the office.

Sarah:   IWD to me means celebrating the woman around you – supporting them and empowering them to continue to be the boss’ that we all are!

Erica:    It is an opportunity to acknowledge the strength and perseverance of our mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers in succeeding to get us to this point of equality in the workplace that we may take for granted. Although as a society we are very far from perfect, conversations with key women in my life have shown me the struggles they faced, which we may not even consider now.

As a career woman yourself, do you feel you have had to fight harder to get where you are today?

Carly:    Absolutely! Working with a lot of CEOs/Hiring Managers that are male, I have often felt like I have to work twice as hard to gain respect and impress.

Ellen:    As I am still early (ish) in my career, I luckily started my career at Impact – where I genuinely feel all opportunities are equal when it comes to gender equality. Not many people can say this, so I feel very lucky!

Sarah:   Not fight harder… but fight differently for sure. I come from an acting background, so my gender has always been a big part of my career, that’s just what happens when your own body is your business – I have met so many people who have struggled to see me as more than “just a woman”. Navigating that has been exhausting at times, but it’s made me stronger and I am confident and secure in my ability because of it.

Erica:    I have felt that I have had to fight harder. Previously, I have been treated differently & sexualised, I’ve not been listened to for ideas and not been included in projects for them being a bit of a ‘boys club’. I am fortunate that at Impact I feel confident to put forward my ideas and I am treated as an equal. Now, I am on a bit of a mission to make sure that all of our candidates are treated this way too.

How do you feel the media and creative industry treat women? 

Carly:    12 years ago, working in the Business Support sector within creative & media it felt very much like an old boy’s club, where support staff were hired for all the wrong reasons.  Now working with senior HR professionals and driving the discussion around diversity and inclusivity, I’m proud to be part of the huge shift in the world for the better, where the industry feels much more inclusive.

Ellen:    I think it can be particularly difficult for women in the creative industry. Take advertising for example, from a recent study only 29% of the creative directors were female. With such a male dominant industry, this can be particularly daunting for women entering the industry and not seeing female representation in leadership roles. Saying this;  the figure was 3% not long ago. Although we have a long way to go, we need to keep pushing!

Sarah:   We still have a long way to go to make it perfect, but people are starting to wake up and take notice, so I have faith in the society we are building for future generations.

Erica:    I feel that the Media & Entertainment industry has come a long way and we are progressively seeing diversity and inclusion at the height of everyone’s agenda. I think the most important step now is to make sure that our attention is towards intersectional representation and having female representation at every level, bring on more female CEOs!

What would you like to see companies do to give more gender parity?

Carly:    Be more transparent and inclusive in their approach and recognise women’s value at the leadership level, despite potential career gaps to raise families.

Ellen:    I think leadership needs to own it- it has to come from the top! Having leaders with the right intentions and a clear view of gender parity will flow down naturally.

Sarah:   I think introducing more gender neutrality in their everyday practices is one of the best ways forward. By that, I mean gender-neutral toilets, gender-neutral terminology in communication. Not only is it more inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community, but it encourages people to not make automatic assumptions of who a person is, and will help break down barriers both personally and professionally.

Erica:    I would like to see companies open up the conversation around gender and work to support all gender identities, and that we are not forgetting the difficulties that our trans & non-binary communities face in the workplace. Creating an office culture where everyone feels they can show their true self is crucial and that’s when the best ideas and work can come to play.

What advice would you give to women ambitious for a great career?

Carly:    Know your worth and work hard – it’s a strong combination!

Ellen:    Be yourself and use your voice. It’s just as important as anyone else’s in the room.

Sarah:   Don’t be afraid to challenge and don’t be afraid to be proud of who you are. Stop enabling old-fashioned ways of thinking and operating, have a fierce approach to life, and – most importantly – stay kind.

Erica:    Don’t underestimate yourself! If you play yourself down so will other people. Always upsell your skillset and believe in yourself. You’re not being blunt or bossy, you’re doing your job and you’re not there solely to make others comfortable. Be you, and if they don’t love it someone else will!

Inclusive Hiring Workshop at Impact

Inclusive Hiring Workshop at Impact

Impact are huge advocates of driving positive change around Diversity & Inclusion within the media and creative industry and we consistently welcome the opportunity to enhance our skills.

A huge thank you to Jennie Child who facilitated a fantastic and informative session with our team last week.  Jennie is DEI specialist for Recruitment Network, an ex Talent Acquisition Director within WPP agencies and she now runs her own diversity consultancy, Balance.

Collaborating in small groups, we firstly took the time to acknowledge the barriers and bias that feeds into the hiring process.  Guided by Jennie, our focus was then spent discussing positive solutions and how we can continue to positively influence our clients through the recruitment process.

We shaped our thoughts with:-

We wrapped up by creating a clear action plan that is both achievable to consistently deliver on and importantly, aligns with our values.  Thanks again to Jennie for helping us stop and reflect on this important topic.