{"id":40267,"date":"2023-10-20T15:07:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/there-is-a-talent-war-out-there-carsales-com-au-executive-ajay-bhatia-and-other-leaders-on-how-you-can-win-the-battle-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:07:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:07:12","slug":"there-is-a-talent-war-out-there-carsales-com-au-executive-ajay-bhatia-and-other-leaders-on-how-you-can-win-the-battle-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/there-is-a-talent-war-out-there-carsales-com-au-executive-ajay-bhatia-and-other-leaders-on-how-you-can-win-the-battle-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"“There is a talent war out there”: Carsales.com.au executive Ajay Bhatia and other leaders on how you can win the battle – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ACS<\/div>\n

Businesses of all sizes must urgently rethink their approach to diversity in hiring or they run the risk of missing out on finding the talented employees they need to remain relevant.<\/p>\n

That was the key message from a panel of entrepreneurs and executives at an event for the Australian Computer Society (ACS) in Melbourne on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a talent war out there,\u201d said Carsales.com.au chief innovation officer\u00a0Ajay Bhatia.<\/p>\n

Bhatia was joined on the panel by Medcorp Technologies founder and chief Jacqueline Savage; chair of the Multicultural Ministerial Business Advisory Council Rohini Kappadath; and former chief operating officer for Qantas Matthew Lee.<\/p>\n

Beyond the critical need to bring gender equality <\/a>to the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) sector, Kappadath said marginalised groups too often end up in menial jobs. This includes new immigrants who are highly skilled but ignored by employers because they lack local experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a loss at every level, it\u2019s a moral travesty as well,\u201d said Kappadath.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a waste of talent?\u201d<\/p>\n

ACS Victoria chair Maria Markman also noted that people with a disability are \u201can untapped resource\u201d considering one in five Australians are living with a disability.<\/p>\n

Read more: \u201cMy disability is not always visible\u201d: How to create an inclusive workplace for people of all abilities<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Recently launched ventures such as\u00a0Refugee Talent<\/a> and groups like\u00a0Rails Girls and Women Who Code<\/a> give startups and businesses a place to start making their hiring practices more inclusive, but the panel said there are other strategies founders can use.<\/p>\n

Here are three of their tips to build a more diverse and inclusive team.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t just hire people you like<\/h3>\n

Kappadath said the fact we are still discussing the benefits of diversity and inclusion means Australia has a long way to go in seizing the opportunity at its feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity is not just about gender,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity is about all the ways in which we differ. Some of it we can\u2019t change, we\u2019re born with it, some of it we acquire along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

When building a team, Kappadath said it\u2019s crucial to consider the mix of arbitrary attributes, cultural qualities, academic disciplinary backgrounds and intellectual capabilities you\u2019re putting together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a big war for talent out there and if you start to make decisions on unconscious bias<\/a> you\u2019re going to lose out and you will be irrelevant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur leadership teams and our organisations have to be a reflection of our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t chase diversity, chase competitive advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

This means not hiring people you simply like, she said, but \u201creally looking under the covers\u201d to see the potential, achievements and life journey of those who can add great value to your venture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that you have to get on with them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Stop hiring for cultural fit, it\u2019s damaging your teams\u2019 potential<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

To talented people, particularly women working in the tech sector, Kappadath said issues of discrimination and conscious or unconscious bias are \u201cvery difficult, delicate conversations\u201d to have with a boss.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be really aware about what\u2019s going on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the leadership like? Where is the organisation going? Do you want to spend another two to three years battling through this or do you want to work for a more progressive organisation?\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Take leadership<\/h3>\n

\u201cProducts are not about one person and teams are not about one person,\u201d said Bhatia.<\/p>\n

A strong venture requires the collective intelligence of a\u00a0diverse team, he said, and this requires dedicated effort from the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting at the leadership level is very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bhatia said many people believe that leaders operate on an \u201ciceberg of ignorance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leaders in an organisation know two percent of what\u2019s happening in an organisation, yet they make 98 percent of decisions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bhatia said it\u2019s crucial for leaders to reflect and identify what biases, including unconscious ones, they have when making these decisions.<\/p>\n

Lee added that he became aware of his own unconscious bias after hearing about its impact from a tech leader at an event.<\/p>\n

“You need that sort of wake-up call,” he said.<\/p>\n

Once issues are spotted, Bhatia said, it\u2019s important to take the right steps forward. This could mean setting gender equality targets to ensure it’s no longer an issue in years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of didn\u2019t believe in quotas \u2026 but more and more I realise you actually need that to break the cycle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity is not anti-merit, diversity is merit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe choice we have to make as leaders is which side of history you want to be on.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Show young people what\u2019s possible<\/h3>\n

Savage, an award-winning entrepreneur in the biotech sector, said she grew up largely unaware that gender stereotypes and bias were barriers to many in her field.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was never an issue getting a job as a female engineer, I was actually headhunted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, this perception was broken when she began speaking to young girls and realised the prevalence of social attitudes discouraging young students from pursuing STEM<\/a> because of their gender.<\/p>\n

To address the issue, Savage said startup founders like herself and other leaders in the community should work on raising awareness and visibility of these career pathways for young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a big need to really highlight and show people what it looks like,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is rapidly developing and changing \u2026 we don\u2019t have the pool of talent to support that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to grow that pool of talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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