Diversity and Talent Acquisition: Why it’s Important to Have a Diverse Talent Acquisition Team

In Episode #1 of Talent Acquisition Matters, we were thrilled to have Bally Chima from Pinnacle Talent, who is currently partnered with Autolomous.  

His background is in Life Sciences, specifically within Gene Therapy, and he has had the opportunity to work for some of the biggest players within this specialism! 

We had the opportunity to discuss the importance of diversity within talent acquisition teams, and Bally had some excellent insight on what companies should be doing regarding this. 

What could the perfect in-house talent team look like? 

“Well, for me, it’s where I believe there’s a good mix of individuals. So, I would never go with people that always look and think the same. I’ve often gone into organisations where they’ve really promoted themselves as being really diverse and being able to cater to everyone; and, then you go into the organisation, and no one looks like me.  

You need to have a diverse workforce of people who come from different backgrounds – and this is the ideal scenario. I’ve worked in organisations where there have been 23 different nationalities and 30 different languages;  it’s been incredible. I found that the best companies to work for, cater to everyone.” 

What else do you think is important in a diverse talent acquisition team? 

 “I would say a mixture of enthusiasm, youth and experience. So, I would go for, people who might be relatively new to the industry, but have that passion, desire and drive to improve.  

Also, you have to remember that there was one point where I learned from someone else. I used to watch the way my manager used to do stuff and cherry-picked the best things from them, but then do it my way. If you ask me, what’s the magic ingredient? I’d say a bit of everything.” 

How do you think talent acquisition might change over the next five years? 

“Yeah, I think it’s ever-evolving. I think where we are today is so different, perhaps where it was five years previously. Technology I think will only play a greater part than it’s probably playing now. I would hope that we don’t get to a place where everything is automated, to the extent where the human element is taken out altogether.  Personally, I think it’d be a bad thing because you should never take away the human when you’re dealing with humans!”  

Every 2 weeks we sit down with some of the most engaging, innovative Talent Acquisition professionals [globally/UK etc]. Make sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to get alerts when new episodes are posted! 

Fraser Dove International is a talent consultancy operating exclusively across the life sciences industry. While our roots lie in executive search, we provide more than the traditional recruitment services. Uniquely placed within the market, we have been providing cutting-edge talent solutions and insight to organisations at all stages of their journey – from start-ups to established leaders – since 2013.