As Matthew Syed reminded us in the first session, we should seek out the ‘rebels’ and in doing so expand our coverage of the complex ‘problem spaces’ facing businesses today. If we lived in a simple and linear world, hiring carbon copies of our top performers might work. Unfortunately, we don’t. In his book Rebel Ideas, Syed specifically mentions demographics and backgrounds as being critical to achieving cognitive diversity in teams and organisations. Please note, we are not allowed to share this video. No on demand content available.

Finding talent is hugely complex and context dependant. As Dr Louise Ashley puts it in her recent book: “Getting the ‘right’ people into the ‘right’ job is extraordinarily complicated and as they attempt to do so, managers deploy a variety of values which may not be meritocratic, though impressions otherwise can have a powerful legitimating function, to protect the unequal status quo.” Dr Louise Ashley, Highly Discriminating: Why the City Isn’t Fair and Diversity Doesn’t Work (P.22-23), 2022.

This session focused on sharing industry insider experiences and tips. Any firm looking to start its journey should take a look at the Social Mobility Commission’s Toolkit and the Social Mobility Foundation’s Employers Index – something that became evident during the session with Tom Lyas, Browne Jacobson’s Head of Resourcing.

A great session showcasing the lessons learnt from socially mobile industry insiders – sharing experiences and tips. Hear from; Mitesh Sheth, MBE, CIO: Multi-assets, Newton Investment Management, Maisy Salisbury, UK Institutional Sales Support, JP Morgan Asset Management, Kelly Mullane, Senior VP, Senior New Business Consultant, EMEA Sales at Northern Trust Corporation and David Aujla, Fund Manager, Multi Asset, Invesco.

A fascinating webinar, well worth watching on demand. Haldane’s parting words references the importance of diversity and inclusion to the RSA’s purpose:

“The reason it operated in that way takes us right back to the topic of today’s conversation. It was a recognition, born out of the Enlightenment, out of the 18 th century coffeehouse culture, that when you bring people together from different backgrounds, from different professions and from different disciplines – and in this case stick them in a coffeehouse off the Strand – magic happens; innovation happens; social change happens. … The RSA encapsulates the power of diversity across all its dimensions.”