What Training and Support Do We Offer Our Talent Team?
Course Training
It is important that our Talent Execs and Managers feel not only motivated but supported and to have the opportunity to keep learning all things talent and talent development related. One of our brilliant Talent Execs, the lovely Lewis recently completed a course on unconscious bias. In his words, ‘I genuinely enjoyed taking this course and can safely say I’m very appreciative for the opportunity to gain such valuable (albeit eye-opening at times) insights’.
The Overview
Following on from the course, here are some of Lewis’ takeaways about unaddressed biases:
Horned Bias
Usually stemming from first impressions, a horned bias is when a negative trait (lateness, poor presentation, quiet tone) that could be a product of unfortunate circumstance becomes the defining trait of a candidate – a recruiter immediately sees the bad and so is unable to see the good – a good way to avoid bias is to, within reason, give candidates benefit of the doubt – bad first impressions can be a result of personal issues, mental/physical health issues, or just nerves.
Halo Bias
Unlike horned bias, halo bias is when a recruiter bases all of the candidates behaviours on their good qualities/first impressions. This can even extend to personal investment such as going to the same university or having a mutual friend. In some cases, recruiters may excuse a candidates poor conduct or even offer them more opportunities based on their rose-tinted perceptions of them.
Puzzle Piece Bias
Similar to horned bias, this is when a recruiter forces aspects of an individual to fit a predetermined narrative – for example, if the recruiter believes that a candidate is likely to be lazy/unreliable (because of their gender, race, sexual orientation) then they will find additional reasons to back up these claims – suddenly, an innocent year spent travelling instead is perceived as a year of unemployment.
Attraction Bias
Particularly common in customer facing and beauty-centric industries, attraction bias is when a candidate receives unfair advantages/opportunities because the recruiter finds them attractive – their outward beauty overshadows their potentially negative traits and attributes – this is particularly common in industries that revolve around beauty, fashion, presentation or moving image media.
Beauty Bias
This is the opposite of attraction bias, when a recruiter allows insecurity and resentment to make them undercut/disadvantage a candidate because they are intimidated by their perceived beauty. This also leads to unfair assumptions being made about the candidate, such as vanity and materialism.
Replacement Bias
This is when a pipeline of candidates are being unfairly compared to their predecessor – it is very common in recruitment for people to inadvertently recruit for a position based on the demographic of the person currently in the role as opposed to their actual professional qualities. For example, only working with straight white men with an interest in football, in order to fill a role that was previously held by a straight white man with an interest in football.
Bias Continued
Generalisation Stereotypes
The most common bias people think of when asked to define issues with D&I in the workplace. This is when personal experience or public opinion influences a recruiters interpretation of whole groups of people. Most commonly this includes stereotypes on gender and race, however this can also extend to where a person grew up and the education they received. It can even be influenced by what football team they support or a music subculture they identify with
Class Bias
This refers to judgments based on someone’s current or previous social class. People are more likely to assume that this would take the form of a middle class person refusing to offer opportunities to a working class candidate, and while this is a common issue, there are also instances where resentment can cause those with ties to working class backgrounds to unfairly judge those they feel had an easier life than them, due to a higher social class
Political Bias
Political bias is an incredibly common form of non-inclusion in the UK (now more than ever). Simply put, this is when recruiters allow a candidates political leanings to influence their decisions on their progression
What skills are required to work in programmatic advertising?
Programmatic is a complex and ever-changing industry, so it is important to have a good understanding of how the ecosystem works. It is also important to be analytical and have good problem-solving skills, as programmatic can be data-heavy.
As programmatic relies heavily on technology, it is important to have a good understanding of how ad tech platforms work.
Strong communication and presentation skills
Programmatic is complex and ever-changing, so it is important to be able to communicate clearly and concisely, both in writing and verbally.
Sales experience
Many roles in programmatic require experience in sales, as you will be selling either ad space or programmatic technology.
Project management experience
Many roles in programmatic involve managing multiple projects at once, so it is important to have strong project management skills.
