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Member in the spotlight Ed Dixon, COO & MD of Sannam S4, explains how Brexit may help UK businesses
The unconscious bias Make your decisions based on the facts, not preconceptions which may cloud your thinking
T h e
I n f o r m e r Issue 13
February 2018
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GDPR LOCKDOWN
Changes in data protection laws are coming. Here’s what you need to know
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MBA FUNDING FOR SMEs SMEs have an opportunity to access government funding for degree apprenticeship training (including the Executive Apprenticeship MBA), helping you to accelerate productivity and growth at a fraction of the usual cost. If your UK wage bill is under £3 million per year, the government could pay up to 100 per cent of the training costs. Designed to fill skills gaps in business and industry, degree apprenticeships can be used for existing staff in your organisation or to help bring in new talent that will bring fresh ideas to your business. Aston University’s degree apprenticeships give you the opportunity to upskill employees with a formal qualification and practical learning that can be implemented in the business straight away.
As a member of The Clubhouse you can access free specialist advice from Aston University’s degree apprenticeship experts by emailing: apprenticeships@aston.ac.uk
INTRODUCTION
ADAM BLASKEY FOUNDER & CEO The Clubhouse
W e l come As I hope you know, our aim at The Clubhouse is simply to make our members and their businesses more successful. It’s not just about providing our members with a great place to meet and work; we try and offer everything you need to run your business – and more. In The Informer this month, we look at ‘unconscious bias’. As many of you are the key decision makers in your organisations, it’s so important to ensure that we are making conscious, unbiased and objective decisions – turn to page 7 to find out how. Following on from last month’s hugely informative members’ breakfast, on page 4 we have an insightful piece by Adam Rose of Mishcon de Reya giving us an overview of GDPR and
THE CLUBHOUSE PRODUCTIVITY TIP #
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Think like a Finn: ‘sisu’ An integral part of Finnish culture is ‘sisu’: an action mindset of extraordinary determination, courage and resoluteness to enable you to reach beyond your limits.
WINNER Best Business Club
the far-reaching consequences which take effect from 25 May – a must-read for any company which stores customer data. If a strong culture is important to your business, then our members’ breakfast on 27 February is not to be missed: Miranda Wheatley Price of Rubica will explain how to leverage your culture to create a successful business and what to do if your current culture isn’t as strong as you would like it to be. At the time of going to press, this month’s guest speaker for our monthly members’ evening had not been confirmed, so watch out for an update as we have a great line up of guest speakers over the coming months.
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Welcome to the February issue of The Informer. February already! Where did January go? These words probably resonate with many of you: we start the year with a fresh piece of paper, goals to achieve, clear objectives, a defined vision or revised strategy for the year ahead, and suddenly a month has already past. I very much hope that the year has got off to a great start and the five productivity tips we highlighted in The Informer last month have been of use. However, if things have got off to a slightly slower start and you missed these, please visit the news area of our website where you will be able to read this feature along with previous issues of The Informer.
WINNER Best Meeting Room
DESIGN & ART DIRECTION
Christian Gilliham_christian@cgcreate.co.uk_07951 722265
To partner with The Clubhouse or promote your business in The Informer please email adam@theclubhouselondon.com Copyright. The Clubhouse London Ltd
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GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION
M y t h - b u s t e r Leading international law firm Mishcon de Reya sets the record straight on all you need to know about GDPR
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eaders will be well aware that the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) comes into effect in UK (and EU) law from 25 May 2018. Many will have been making arrangements to be ready for that date. But, among all the noise being generated around the importance of compliance, a number of issues have become confused in people’s minds, leading to the evolution of some myths. The UK’s data regulator, the Information Commissioner (and the Commissioner’s Office, the ICO) has issued a myth-buster. Here, we consider three of the big myths that we regularly face. 1. Because fines can now be as high as €20million, fines will be as high as €20million. The ICO has tried, perhaps somewhat unsuccessfully, to dampen down that fear. With the current cap of £500,000, there have been two £400,000 fines, most recently to CarphoneWarehouse for not taking sufficient care to prevent data breaches and before that, to Talk Talk after their much-publicised data breach. The ICO is trying to make it clear that just because it fined businesses £400,000 against a £500,000 cap, it is not going to be issuing €16million fines under GDPR. We can expect fines to reach £1m or £2m for really serious breaches, but do not anticipate that they will go beyond that for some time. 2. Businesses need consent to process personal data. This is not true: they can rely on other lawful bases for processing personal data. Most importantly, they might have a legitimate
interest in processing the data which is not outweighed by the individual’s data rights. So, for example, an estate agent instructed to sell a property can process data relating to people looking to buy properties without expressly obtaining their consent. Indeed, to force them to consent to processing before agreeing to share property particulars with them might mean the consent was not freely given. Consent, however, is required for direct email and SMS marketing unless a limited exemption applies. That limited exemption is where a business has collected personal contact details in the course of a sale of goods or services, it may send electronic marketing to that person for its same or similar goods or services. That is known as the ‘soft opt-in’. 3. The whole of the GDPR applies only to bigger businesses. This is false, GDPR applies to all businesses, of whatever size. Although GDPR is effective from 25 May, no-one is expected to be ‘compliant’ on that date. Compliance is an ongoing journey, and businesses, which have had two years to prepare for implementation, will be expected to continue to work towards better compliance in the months to come. One of the key aspects of the GDPR is ‘accountability’. What that means is that businesses are expected to keep sufficiently detailed and contemporaneous records of their compliance, which does only apply to businesses employing more than 250 people. ●
Adam Rose is a data protection partner at Mishcon de Reya
Expect fines to reach £1m or £2m for really serious breaches
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One of the key aspects of the GDPR is ‘accountability’
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MEMBER STRAPLINE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
ED DIXON GROUP COO & MANAGING DIRECTOR Sannam S4
A globa l g a m e - ch a n g e r Tell us about your company and how it started. Has there ever been a more important time for organisations to consider how to unlock their value internationally? Our aim is to partner with those that are seeking support on this journey. Sannam S4 was originally set up in India in 2008 by our British CEO Adrian Mutton. We help internationally ambitious organisations explore, enter and expand into dynamic markets around the world (over 20 markets to date). Our role is to help companies succeed (by helping define the right strategy, helping find the right partners etc) and be compliant in foreign markets by supporting their finance and accounting, HR, recruitment and office infrastructure needs. What has been your biggest success to date? While we materially work outside India (we work in another 20 markets), building a successful business in India is no small undertaking. We now have more than 140 people based in four offices across the country delivering impressive growth. Achieving this gives us the ability to speak to potential clients in a way that many advisers can’t. What project are you most excited about right now? Brexit throws up huge opportunities for the UK. Leaving the politics to one side, it has created an environment where organisations
are having to consider an existence outside the EU. This is where we specialise. In terms of projects, we are currently scaling up to deliver increased levels of support and have never been so busy. We will be recruiting over 100 new people this year, almost doubling the size of our business. How has being a member of The Clubhouse contributed to the success of your business? It gives us the flexible space we need. All our team in the UK are client facing and spend a lot of time on the road. It is good to have somewhere for them to dock into, meet with clients and link up with our colleagues from overseas when they are in the UK. Since we joined The Clubhouse a few years ago, several of our clients and strategic partners have recognised the quality of the services and facilities and, as a result, they have also decided to become members. Thumbs up to Adam and the team! Where can members find you? We work across all three locations of The Clubhouse. sannams4.com
The Clubhouse gives us the flexible space we need
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QUICK-FIRE ROUND
Favourite place to go in London? Walking over one of the Thames bridges at sunset, looking into the hubbub of the Southbank, with the city silhouette one way and Westminster the other. Having spent a number of years living and working overseas, I no longer take for granted what a wonderful city London is! Who inspires you and why? Right now, Elon Musk and his team seem to be accomplishing some phenomenal things. I can’t profess to be close to the detail but it looks inspiring from afar. Best bit of advice you’ve been given? If you get too many emails, make more calls. It’s not easy to put into practice in a very international business working across time zones, but I find it does work. If you were on a desert island, what would you bring? For necessity, a water purification unit. For sanity, a solar-powered music device (with an awesome playlist of course!). Which super power would you like to have? To fly. Freedom!
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FUTURE EVENTS
The Clubhouse
The Clubhouse
ST JAMES’S
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A breakfast with Rubica – how to use and adapt your business’s culture to your competitive advantage
SAVE THE DATE Phil Popham, CEO of Sunseeker International
TUESDAY 27 FEBRUARY 8.00 am - 9.30 am FREE FOR MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS A business’s culture is its greatest competitive advantage, but when that culture no longer supports a business’s future direction, change is required. Join us for this members’ breakfast where Rubica’s director of organisational change, Miranda Wheatley Price, and her team will talk about why culture is a business’s greatest competitive advantage, how to leverage that culture to maximise your company’s success, and what to do if your culture isn’t supporting the future direction of your business.
SA V E THE DA TE
Miranda Wheatley Price
Phil Popham
THURSDAY 22 MARCH 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm FREE FOR MEMBERS £25 FOR NON-MEMBERS Prior to joining Sunseeker as CEO three years ago, Phil was group marketing director at Jaguar Land Rover, the business he joined as a graduate trainee in 1988. Phil was instrumental in the recent growth of Jaguar Land Rover – undoubtedly a major UK-based automotive success story – and has since turned around Sunseeker, returning the business to profit and with a forward order book of £250m on the back of new yacht launches. Having been at the helm of two of Britain’s most successful and globally recognised premium brands, this is an evening not to be missed!
HOW TO BOOK: VISIT THECLUBHOUSELONDON.COM OR ASK AT THE FRONT DESK
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Art
Theatre
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CONDO
FROZEN
FROG BY ADAM HANDLING
Feel ready for a city-wide art show? That’s what Condo is: a whole collection of world-class contemporary galleries from places as far flung as Los Angeles, Guatemala City, Warsaw and Tokyo basing themselves in 17 of London’s best young galleries. Condo’s list of participating galleries includes The Sunday Painter, Arcadia Missa and Carlos/Ishikawa alongside more established London gallery names such as like Maureen Paley and Pilar Corrias. Keep an eye on the website for all listings and events.
One sunny evening a young girl walks to visit her grandma, she never arrives…. A play about retribution, remorse and redemption, Frozen explores the interwoven lives of three strangers as they try to make sense of the unimaginable. Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster, Scott & Bailey), Jason Watkins (Line of Duty, Taboo, W1A) and Nina Sosanya (W1A, Last Tango in Halifax) star in Bryony Lavery’s award-winning play. This psychological thriller is directed by Jonathan Munby and will play a strictly limited twelve-week season so book now!
A visit to the second site of MasterChef: The Professionals finalist Adam Handling will simply blow your taste buds off your tongue. Inventive cuisine and playful touches make up the five-course tasting menu, with exquisite snacks to keep you occupied – cheese and truffle doughnuts, frogs legs popcorn, you get the gist. Sit counter-side with views in to the open kitchen then head downstairs to the speakeasy-style basement bar.
UNTIL 10 FEBRUARY 2018 CONDOCOMPLEX.ORG/LONDON
9 FEBRUARY - 5 MAY TRH.CO.UK
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34-38 SOUTHAMPTON STREET, COVENT GARDEN FROGBYADAMHANDLING.COM
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DECISION MAKING
How to overrule your gut instinct
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t is estimated that our senses gather over 11 million pieces of information to communicate to our brain per second, yet the conscious mind seems to be able to process only 50 pieces per second. This means that we are filtering masses of information through our established system of beliefs and judging everything with an element of bias. But what is bias and why does this matter? Bias is a combination of past experiences, subliminal desires, mitigating fears and a level of self-preservation that we have built up over our lifetime and it lurks in our unconscious mind. In order to live without bias and make our best decisions at work without bias, we need to be objective, informed and impartial. To do this we need to let our conscious mind overrule our ‘gut instinct’ and live by the facts in front of us, not intuition alone. Dr. Brian Welle, a member of Google’s People Analytics team, has focused greatly on how unconscious bias is counter-productive and why we are conditioned to make decisions based on irrational and often unfounded thoughts. Here are four different ways to beat bias, according to Dr Welle:
In order to make objective decisions, turn to the facts, not your unconscious bias 1. Structure for success Where there is a lack of structure in a system, there is more room for bias. To hedge your risks, make sure to articulate expectations and clarify requirements – especially when defining what success looks like in a role, what constitutes a successful interview, or what warrants an exceptional performance review. The more structured a process is, the easier it will be to remain objective in your decision making. 2. Collect data If the first step is to admit that you have a problem, then the next is to find out where the issue is occurring. The only way to address potential biases is to measure them from the start. If you haven’t already, invest in tools to track your people data. This could include organisational demographics, performance metrics, and interview feedback. Use this data to drive process training and decision making. To squeeze out unconscious bias, use all the information available to help alleviate ambiguity.
a. Halo/Horns effect: being overly influenced by a single favourable or unfavourable trait b. Similar to me: rating people more highly if they are similar to you c. Self-serving biased: inflating ratings to make the manager look good d. Perception bias: forming stereotypes and assumptions about certain groups that make objective decision making impossible. e. Confirmation bias: seeking out information that confirms your pre-existing beliefs or assumptions. f. Group-think bias: going along with the group and not voicing your individual thoughts and beliefs. On an individual basis, Google suggests that managers give themselves a moment before making a final decision; it gives them an opportunity to question themselves and their actions. You can do this by writing things down or asking others for feedback before coming to a conclusion. ●
3. Evaluate subtle messages Even the smallest details can send indirect messages to potential candidates and employees. For example, are your recruiting materials truly representative of your workforce and do they emphasise diversity? What about your office decor – does it send a message of openness and inclusion? Which employees are frequently promoted and praised within your organisation? Many organisations are unaware of the subtle messages they’re sending and are unintentionally being exclusive. 4. Hold everyone accountable Create an awareness around bias and hold everyone accountable. Start with yourself – which of these do you identify with?
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Billion dollar company. Est. 2018 This is the age of explosive growth where ideas, technology and burning ambition can turn a start-up in a garage into a global powerhouse. To help plan the meteoric rise of your business, go to theleap.mishcon.com Business | Dispute Resolution | Real Estate | Mishcon Private
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