The Brokerage The Overlooked Advantage - Flipbook - Page 10
Increased productivity and drive amongst young people growing up with experience of disadvantage
have been observed by the Social Mobility & Child Poverty Commission, who noted that “employers
who recruit talented people who elsewhere get filtered out of the system [say] that those
employees often bring something extra to the business: the hunger, grit, ambition and drive of
those who have succeeded against the odds.” [16] Employers working with The Brokerage used
strikingly similar ways to describe the young people coming through their programmes, praising
how relentlessly these individuals sought opportunities to do their best:
“For all of them it was the first time anyone in the family stepped foot in a professional
environment. They see it as their chance, an opportunity to grab. All of them ask us, ‘How can I
do better and ensure it turns into a long-term thing?’ It made them work so much harder [than
others]. They didn’t want to waste a single moment.” - Employer
3. Emotional and cultural intelligence
Over the past decade employers who pay attention to diversity and inclusion have been investing in
identifying and developing inclusive leaders, “who are aware of their own biases and preferences,
actively seek out and consider different views and perspectives to inform better decision-making”.
[17]
Emotional, as well as cultural intelligence (ability to suspend judgment until information becomes
available beyond the ethnicity of the other person[18]) were described to come naturally to The
Brokerage Candidates who have had experience of growing up in diverse communities, regularly
interacting and adapting to people from different backgrounds. Previous research has similarly
linked lower socioeconomic status with people’s greater sensitivity to social cues, explaining that
people from these backgrounds have little control over their environment and are forced to pay
much more attention to others who can have an influence on their life outcomes, honing their
empathy skills and detecting changes in their social relationships.[19] One research participant
described the moment that highlighted their emotional and cultural intelligence in an assessment
centre:
“Coming from a background that is a bit more sporadic and not structured develops your ability to think
on your feet, be a team player, understand the dynamics [of a group], develop emotional intelligence. I
noticed I am able to think more creatively and push forward to navigate the situation, compared to some
other young people I’ve met.
"In one assessment centre I took part in there was a group project – I noticed one person wasn’t really
getting a chance to speak, and I thought it was really unfair. So I asked that person what ideas they had
- Former
and got them to contribute. When I got feedback later on, I heard I came across as having good
interpersonal
skills,
acting
like
a
team
player,
being
able
to
navigate
the
dynamics
within
a
room.”
Brokerage Candidate
- Former Brokerage Candidate
[16] Milburn, A., Shephard, G., Cleal, P., Johnston, D., Attwood, T., Gregg, P., Hamilton, D., Carrie, A.M., Guy, C., &
Williams, C. (2013). Business and Social Mobility: a Manifesto for Change. Social Mobility & Child Poverty Commission.
[17] Moss, G. & Sims, C.M. (2016). Inclusive Leadership... driving performance through diversity! ENEI.
[18] Triandis, H. C. (2006). Cultural intelligence in organizations. Group & Organization Management, 31(1), 20-26.
[19] Kraus, M. W., Piff, P. K., Mendoza-Denton, R., Rheinschmidt, M. L., & Keltner, D. (2012). Social class, solipsism, and
contextualism: How the rich are different from the poor. Psychological Review, 119, 546–572.
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