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When Liz and I set out to create an executive search and talent business with a difference, part of that difference was about promoting diversity, in its broadest sense.
Over the last 3 years, we’ve established a track record we’re fiercely proud of; over half our placed candidates are female and over a third are from under-represented groups. Almost unheard of for appointments at the most senior level. How have we done this? By developing relationships with incredible people like Cephas Williams and organisations like MEFA. By deepening our own connections within our industry and adjacent industries. And then starting our lists with diverse candidates, not throwing a couple in for good measure.
We were determined to do this because we saw from our own personal experience as former leaders, the huge benefits that diversity brings to better thinking, better culture, better outcomes. But we were also committed to challenge the grossly unfair discrimination good people faced because of their skin colour, gender, sexuality and a host of other labels when applying for senior roles. We have an ambition to help change the face of the media and communications world, both metaphorically and literally.
Our privileged access to CEO’s of organisations allowed us to hold a mirror up and ask the difficult questions. Happily, most businesses are now responding in a way that we could only have dreamt of a couple of years ago because the climate is changing, quickly, for the better.
But for all the businesses that see the advantages, there are plenty of others that are making gestures to simply ‘improve appearances’. This doesn’t fix the fundamental problem because diversity isn’t about tokenism, quotas or ratios. When it comes to socio-economic or sexual orientation for example, diversity can’t even be seen, so do they become less important to those who are fixated by appearances? Diversity needs to live and breath in organisations across every department and every level. It’s about creating an environment where differences aren’t tolerated or accepted but embraced and celebrated. Where belonging and inclusivity are a given, not a target.
Now, don’t get me wrong, a single diverse hire is better than nothing but consider this; If you feel like you need to make a diverse hire into your organisation because your ‘ratios don’t look great’, ask yourself why you don’t have a brilliant pipeline of diverse talent ready to step up into more senior opportunities. Maybe it’s time to revisit your employer value proposition or the company’s authenticity around equality, showcase your internal belonging credentials and diverse career development examples in your business, promote client work that demonstrates your values and principles – these are the things that give you credibility when attracting diverse candidates.
The good news is, if you can get this right, you’ll effortlessly attract the best talent from all ages, races and sexes, and they will all celebrate being part of your business. And I’d like to bet you’ll have an operation that delivers better thinking, better culture and better outcomes.
Bristow (left) and Parkin
Rachel Bristow, former Sky Media partnerships director, has joined Conker, the recruitment business set up by Daren Rubins and Liz Jones in 2018.
Bristow, who left Sky in 2019 after six years, joins as an associate and will help with senior searches on a project basis.
Before joining Sky, Bristow was vice-president, global media data and analytics at Unilever, working at the company for eight years. She has also spent five years at Sainsbury’s in a direct marketing role.
Conker has also hired Charlie Parkin, former director of fundraising at Nabs, in the same role as Bristow. Her career spans roles at Good Relations, Lowe Howard-Spink, Legas Delaney and Campaign‘s owner, Haymarket Media Group.
The pair will help the business search for client-side, PR and creative agency roles.
Jones said: “The new hires reflect the way that agile businesses are adapting and growing, providing opportunities for brilliant, senior people to operate more flexibly but with purpose. We couldn’t be happier to welcome two amazing and well-respected talents into our business.”
This article was originally published on Campaign
Like most people in advertising I have changed roles in my career as opportunities presented themselves to me. There was never any plan. I trusted my instinct and moved to work for people I believed in and the businesses they were leading. The people element was always front and centre of my decision making, the brand was definitely secondary.
Fast forward twenty-something (ahem) years and you realise that along the way your priorities have changed, your motivations are different and you start looking for new stimulus and experiences. When the noise about purpose started a few years back I was ever so slightly cynical. It was only when I actually lost mine that I recognised the importance of it for my wellbeing, energy levels and general state of mind. I realised that this was my opportunity to take back control, make a new plan and in order to do that with meaning I invested in a coach who helped (bullied) me into focusing on the things that make me excited, and with that knowledge really think hard about the different paths I could take.
I have always loved people. I find it easy to talk to the person next to me on the bus, people in shops. I am one of those people who ask complete strangers where they got their bag/dress from. This trait could be positively labelled natural curiosity, but the truth is I am just nosy. However, because I genuinely like (most) people I remember things about them. Therefore “growing up” in sales roles, long before social media, this became my superpower, especially when combined with a passion for driving revenue and business outcomes.
I have always loved solving problems through people and connections – whether that is providing clients with compelling opportunities based on my knowledge of them or head-hunting (informally) for my own businesses and others. I started to realise that whatever I did had to have talent at its heart, but I am not, and will never be HR trained, so what could I do, what was the commercial proposition, what was the product?
A serendipitous cup of tea with Daren Rubins suggested by Jo Hagger and I knew immediately that I had landed on the career that I didn’t know I had been preparing for in every previous role I’ve had. When I told a former boss (Annie Rickard) what I was going to do she said “you have been building up to this moment your entire career”. She saw it, as did my coach and several others. Ironically, I hadn’t.
But having identified what I wanted to do, I still had to convince Daren that I was his ideal work partner and so wrote the most important pitch document of my life (and then sat watching my gmail like a lovesick teenager). As I now know to be his way, he was very considered in his response and one of the things he did was to set me a test to ensure that our judgement about people was aligned. We found a few people on LinkedIn that we both knew well, and I presented my evaluation of their capabilities and personalities to him as if he was a client. I quickly realised that, although my gut feel was strong, I needed to use proof points to create a really robust appraisal. Thankfully, I passed. And the rest, as they say, is history.
In a little over nine months, we’ve had a lot of fun building a business as we start to ‘conker’ the world of talent. Creating a business plan, developing a proposition, activating senior relationships and generating a pipeline of business are all things I’ve always been confident with. The big question of course is whether I could actually do search. So far we’ve placed over 17 super-impressive, transformational candidates which represent true diversity. And whilst our searching and mapping are incredibly rigorous, I actually managed to surface, assess and place my first brief in less that two weeks. Since then, I’ve worked really hard to develop my approach and it’s working. My last search was both complex and challenging but, having presented three outstanding candidates, the clients loved them so much, they took two!
So, if you face a career crossroads, look deep inside for your real qualities, passions, motivators and try to go beyond the obvious craft skills. Get help, build your game plan and start that by understanding your superpower.
Very recently, someone asked me to speak at an event about being an entrepreneur. I appreciate that Richard Branson and James Dyson have busy diaries but seriously?
Me?
My business partner Liz Jones and I are constantly reminded by ‘kind-hearted people’ that over 50% of new businesses fail in their first five years and here we are with a whole nine months under our belts. So what on earth makes us entrepreneurs? We don’t even work in Shoreditch.
I’ve been incredibly lucky over the years to work closely with, or near, founders from the likes of Dell, Dyson and Purple Bricks. I can also count a good handful of former colleagues and friends as real entrepreneurs – PHD, Goodstuff, Naked, Gravity Road, Decoded, even ASOS. All of them spotted a gap, whether a brand-new opportunity or the potential to reimagine something. But the thing that unites all of them is that every founder has a burning conviction to create, or do things differently.
So, what’s the gap for a leadership talent business? On the eve of unprecedented economic and political change, and a time when the marketing landscape has never felt more destabilised, it could be argued this isn’t a great backdrop for another search company! We believe there’s actually never been a more critical time to help businesses face into these exact challenges and succeed by exploring diverse talent solutions. Diverse in background, in experience and in life. Because no business can solve tomorrow’s challenges with yesterday’s approach.
But it’s clear that new businesses can’t just be successful by having conviction in WHAT they do. They also need conviction in WHY and HOW they do it. And that’s the key for Conker. We are a search and talent business that is high on values and on ethics. Not unsettling people perfectly happy in their current role. Promoting the idea of exhausting internal options. Working in unison with in-house recruitment specialists. Staying with a successful candidate throughout their tenure. These are all behaviours that are frequently claimed but so rarely practiced. And so obviously the foundations for building long-term trust with businesses and candidates.
Having spent 17 unforgettable years at PHD, I honestly didn’t think I could feel more personally invested in a business. There’s no question that the highs are higher, and the lows are lower but creating something from scratch is the most liberating, energising and terrifying thing you can do.
For what they’re worth, here are my top five tips when starting your own venture;
While we have a little way to go before we trouble James Dyson for speaking appointments, we have a strong view of what good looks like. And that is, if you have sound principles and hold enough conviction, any half-decent business can thrive and indeed Conker.
The facts are extraordinary. Inevitably, there are sceptics who argue that countries with women leaders are more likely to be in more established, trusted regimes but the statistics point to something much more profound.
The most likely explanation for the dramatic reduction in casualties in countries with a female leader appears to be very straightforward.
Effective leadership.
In every case, from Taiwan to Finland, Norway to Germany and New Zealand to Denmark, the similarities are clear. Tough on decisions, kind on people. The authentic, caring, personal delivery is what has resonated and created the trust needed to succeed in this new environment. More so than in any previous conflict, this current challenge requires decisiveness, togetherness and kindness.
Parallels can be drawn with the modern era in business. The characteristics of today’s successful leaders include openness, authenticity and collaboration – all traits that women excel in. That’s not to say that men don’t, by the way, or that all women do. Thankfully, most male leaders don’t resemble Trump but many of the qualities that create successful conditions are ‘feminine’ behaviours that not all men are comfortable with. How many male political leaders would be happy to address their nation’s children?
Five years ago, I wrote about this subject in Campaign, snappily titled ‘Business should focus on feminine values, not quotas’. It described the conditions needed to create a healthy business, where senior female (and male) talent could thrive. When I wrote this, there were only seven female FTSE 100 CEOs. Today there are just six.
Conker launched in January 2019 as an Executive Search company with a unique understanding of the importance of diversity and modern leadership skills. We have challenged businesses to value EQ as highly as IQ and it’s helped to transform their fortunes.
No-one knows when or how this situation will resolve and most people we speak to are struggling to comprehend what business might look like in the months and years ahead. Some things will undoubtedly snap straight back to the way they were but we believe the organisations who will emerge the fastest and strongest will be those led by strong individuals who are tough on decisions and kind on people.