Impact’s co-founder, Jules Dosne had the pleasure of collaborating with Amy Mercer, co-founder of UpliftHER, to lead a roundtable discussion on Empowering Women in Leadership. They were joined by an inspiring group of People and Business leaders, collectively steering conversations towards positive change.
At Impact, we pride ourselves on our deep-rooted commitment to inclusivity. Over a decade ago, we launched our Future Proofing Talent through Diversity programme, and have been hosting regular events ever since. Our mission is to foster collaboration and open dialogues that can drive positive change within our industry.
In the ever-evolving professional landscape, women persist in facing distinctive challenges within male-dominated environments. Our recent roundtable revealed not just the hurdles but also began to explore creative approaches to navigate and overcome them.
Here are some key takeaways from our dynamic discussion:
1️⃣ Customised Career Development Programmes: Acknowledge that women have unique needs at different life stages. Tailor career development programmes to align with these stages, ensuring support is provided where it’s needed most—whether it’s early career exploration, mid-career advancement, or executive leadership.
2️⃣ Demystify Networking as a Skill: Networking is pivotal for career progression, with 80% of opportunities arising through connections. Make networking accessible by teaching it as a skill. Provide resources, mentorship, and opportunities for women to expand their networks, fostering a culture where connections are valued and cultivated.
3️⃣ Tackle the Hidden Job Description: Address the burden of hidden tasks that women often carry, from organising to educating others about bias. Be conscious about who is doing what and ensure lower-value tasks explicit across all job roles rather than waiting for them to be ‘picked up’.
For tasks/activities identified as having a cultural impact on the company make sure they aren’t just seen as ‘additional extras’ by rewarding them appropriately for their value.
4️⃣ Address the Feedback Drought and Disparity: Women typically receive more subjective feedback, if they receive feedback at all. At the same time, often left in a conundrum as they navigate gendered labels such as bossy, aggressive, or emotional. Combat the feedback disparity women often face by teaching everyone how to give and receive feedback. Dispel gender stereotypes and equip individuals with the right questions to ask for clarity, supporting development while navigating gendered labels.
5️⃣ Championing Others as a Leadership Criteria: Actively supporting and advocating for others should be a measurable deliverable for leaders. Making this part of your organisation’s performance criteria will help ensure women (and others) aren’t overlooked and recognition becomes ingrained in the organisational culture.
6️⃣ Use Process and Policies to Level the Playing Field: From recruitment and promotion processes to paternity leave, leverage these to increase accessibility, objectify decision-making, and consider the messages sent to women within the organisation.
7️⃣ Objectify Performance and Value Flexibility: Measure output and impact over proximity and availability will help people get over the WFH and part-time working stigma and foster more inclusive workplaces where different working patterns and styles can thrive.
A big thank you to Amy Mercer, Gemma Wise, Charly Fisher, Kiran Bance, Tanya Whitehead, Tania Allen, Sarah Joyce, Amanda Tully, Janet Marwick, Dani Loudon, Georgina Small, Rhona Glazebrook and Carly David for your insightful input. Our thanks to Marc Vickery and TBWA for enabling us to host at your fabulous offices and supporting this important topic.
In 2001, Impact was launched by Nick and Jules with one mission: to shake up the industry. Back in the day, the recruitment industry lacked the level of professionalism and expertise that is present in today’s market.
But we, two ambitious upstarts, burst onto the scene with boundless ideas. Our game plan? Creative branding, unwavering integrity, and a determination to embed ourselves as the key recruitment partner to the creative industry.
What a journey it has been! We’ve experienced unparalleled success and faced huge challenges. However, with one recession and a pandemic later, we’ve emerged stronger than ever.
Today, Impact proudly partners with an incredible breadth of brilliant clients, and we’ve built an expansive network of loyal candidates. Our success spans five specialities, reaching across the UK and beyond.
Yet, our most important asset remains our phenomenal team. Throughout our 22 years, they’ve been the driving force behind our success and we are extremely proud of them.
Cheers to us on this special occasion—Happy Birthday Impact!
We are happy to announce that the eagerly anticipated 2023 Market Guide is now available to download!
What is 2023 going to look like after a fairly unprecedented 2022? The media and creative industry saw a bounce back in business and revenues coming out of the post covid period. Whilst this was, in the main, hugely positive for an industry so severely affected by the pandemic, it also came with its own challenges. In the race to service the new demand, companies needed to find talent. Quickly.
As with other industries, the race for talent caused increases in salaries as companies fought for the best talent.
We’ve delved into the industry to determine how this has affected 2023. We’ve also looked under the bonnet to see what’s happening in business and the job market. We’ve also surveyed the latest salary bandings across our key sectors; Marketing, Creative, HR, Talent and Business Support. All of these have been compiled through extensive client research from the past 6 months.
The guide provides insights into the creative and media industry from senior Impact team members along with contributing features from industry professionals providing their insights for 2023.
If you are a company or client, please email enquiries@impact-london.
Don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn for current roles, industry news and upcoming events.