Interviewing the CEO of Parity Consulting, Victoria Butt, was an opportunity to delve into the heart and soul of the company. With a passion for equality and a unique perspective on the recruitment industry, Victoria shares the spark that ignited Parity Consulting and her journey to founding it. In a world where clients often take precedence, Victoria's vision has always prioritised the equal importance of candidates.
At Parity, this philosophy is not just a mantra but a way of life, shaping every aspect of the business. Join us as we explore Victoria's insights on mentorship, diversity, and inclusion, and discover the driving force behind her commitment to making a meaningful impact.
Watch the Interview, or read the transcript below
What Impact Do You Want to Make
Q. Parity: Can you share the spark behind Parity Consulting and your journey to founding it?
A. VB: The spark behind how Parity Consulting came about was the need to equalise the relationship people have with candidates as well as clients in the recruitment industry.
Typically, how it's run is that the client is considered to be king or queen because they're ultimately the ones that pay the bills. However, my perspective is and has always been that candidates are equally important in the process as clients and at Parity, this is something we live and breathe.
Q. Parity: Thoughts on the power of mentorship in today's fast-paced industries?
A. VB: I absolutely love mentorship, being a mentor, mentoring others, and also peer mentorship as well. It is one of the most powerful ways that, we as humans can develop in a safe environment. The key thing for mentorship for me is actually about mentee-led mentorship, so ensuring that the mentee is driving the relationship and that they are getting the most value out of the mentor.
The other thing to note here is that a mentor isn't necessarily for life. It's someone that perhaps needs to either grow with you or that you potentially will outgrow yourself. Having 2 to 3 mentors on your bench at any one time is pretty powerful.
Q. Parity: Dive into the crucial role recruiters play in fostering diversity and inclusion.
A. VB: Recruiters play a critical role when fostering inclusion and diversity. Of course, it's through the whole process from the beginning to the end, the beginning being the start and the scope of the role all the way to the end of the post-placement and mentorship of the candidate. Up to even a year after.
However, where I feel the strongest about this is at that long and short-lived stage. Where we have a demographic of individuals that aren't as common as others. Let's just take male and female because it's easier to describe where we have typically 30% females in an area and typically 70% males.
It's incredibly important that that shortlist and long list is still 50/50 taking the best of the guys and the best of the ladies into that shortlist because otherwise we're giving our clients a shortlist, which is already skewed.
Likewise, when there's more females in a role, like in the marketing and digital space where there's far more females, it's incredibly important to pick the best females for that shortlist and then the best guys for that shortlist. Recruiters play an absolute critical role in fostering inclusion and diversity.
Things That Inspire You
Q. Parity: Any top-notch podcasts you swear by that keep you inspired and informed?
A. VB: I don't know about you, but I love podcasts. They're such a great place and way to learn. My two favourite podcasts at the moment, the ones that I would love for you to check out are Adam Grant ReThinking. Adam is a psychologist and talks a lot about leadership and leadership development, but also brings a real humane feel to that.
Also, Dr. Maya Shankar. A slight change of plan. This is a new podcast for me, but one that I cannot stop listening to. Dr Maya Shankar talks a lot about resilience where there has been a slight change of plan and has the most incredible and diverse guests on her show. I can't stop listening to that podcast.
Q. Parity: What recent project has captured your full attention?
A. VB: We've just finished a massive project, a piece of research on the future of employee value propositions. We've now presented that to over 20 clients which have been executive level and board level. This has been one of my most favourite projects and one that has been really well received just looking at how individuals are motivated, but also how organisations are looking to attract and retain their people.
The second one, which we do every year, is the salary guide and insights and that tends to poll, in the thousands. I think it was 6000 last year and we're starting that project again this year. We've also had the WGEA reporting out for the gender pay gap, which is some work that we're doing with our clients. I'm also currently working on some senior hires which always keep me very busy and excited.
Q. Parity: AI's impact on workplaces: How do you see the landscape shifting?
A. VB: I think we all agree that the landscape is already shifting significantly and will continue to do so. One of the areas that I'm really interested in with AI at the moment is how it engages our people when they're in roles. When you look at engagement surveys and you look at how individuals interact and how they feel about their leader and their workplace, AI is going to fundamentally change that. It's going to help leaders lean into their people, their team members at a point where the data will show that person needs it the most.
AI is going to be a tool while harnessed correctly and ethically will really change the way people are engaged in the workplace.
How To Maintain Balance
Q. Parity: What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
A. VB: Does work-life balance really exist? Cause I certainly don't think so. Sometimes I need to lean in more to work and other times I need to lean in more to family and home life. However, I have tried to pepper some balance, if you like, into my work life and decided to do a triathlon next year, for a very worthy cause close to my heart. I'm riding into work on my bike. Her name is Beatrice, every day and to and from work, and that's given me a really good opportunity to get my mindset right coming into work when it's very full-on.
I've also taken the opportunity to go out to Western Australia with a group of individuals to connect to country and connect to self, that's something I'm really looking forward to.
Just taking that time out and circuit breaking what feels like a rat race and the final piece is where I can spend as much time as I can with my beautiful young family and to bring joy and happiness to their little lives.
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