The CandidateX Podcast
FOUNDER’S VIEW SERIES — EPISODE 1
FIND OUT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE LAUNCHING A PODCAST ABOUT AN EQUALITY MOVEMENT DURING CORONA.
Recorded during Lockdown, Jon, Sunil and Man introduce The CandidateX Podcast with the Founder’s View Series discussing the blurred lines of work and life during this time.
Transcription
Man Wong 0:10
Welcome to the Founders View from the CandidateX Podcast. I’m your host Man Wong, and I’m joined by Sunil Dial and Jon Jacobs. Gentlemen, welcome
Sunil Dial 0:18
Evening Man, evening everybody.
Man Wong 0:19
How are you both?
Sunil Dial 0:22
What day is it? What day are we on now? Because
Man Wong 0:25
still the Monday I think,
Sunil Dial 0:27
Oh, is it Monday? I’m finding myself forgetting the days and a time at the moment. So yeah. Oh good as could be.
Man Wong 0:37
Thanks for joining me this evening chaps we’re here to talk about the CandidateX Podcast explain to everybody what the CandidateX Podcast is all about and we’re all very keen to do so. But before we do, I’m sure we would all like to say a big thanks from the bottom of our hearts to everyone at the NHS, al the key workers and everyone else that’s been fighting this virus on our behalf.
Sunil Dial 0:58
Yeah, I’ll echo those sentiments Man, I think, everyone who’s involved even even society as a whole, I think it’s a great shining example of how humanity can pull together. So yeah, I agree with you. And I echo that.
Man Wong 1:14
Yeah, absolutely. Jon, how’s it going on your end?
Jonathan Jascobs 1:16
Well, I have a very anxious NHS worker in the house in Jo, so she goes back to work next week and I think the ward that she normally works on has seven Covid patients at the moment. So yeah, fairly anxious times not knowing whether she’s going to have the right protective gear to help support those patients at the moment. And then obviously, coming back into the house with the kids and, and all of that sort of stuff going on. So yeah, it’s…it’s worrying times and I think it’s gonna get worse before it gets better unfortunately for all of us, so we just got to hang in there. I think as you said Sunil, if we just, I think if we can all kind of channel positive thoughts and you will start to see some real positive things coming out of this. I think we’ve the kind of community spirit and a lot of people having the time to kind of pause and reset and have a think and, you know, change some of their habits and I think it’s, you know, it’s a nice time to try and break some of those things. I’ve been in house for a week. And I haven’t left I can’t remember the last time that that’s happened.
Sunil Dial 2:19
It’s a strange thing, isn’t it? The time you spent in your house over the last week and a bit if you think about how long it would take you to live in your house over a period of a year, you’ve probably you’ve probably filled that quota up already.
Man Wong 2:31
Start charging yourself rent.
Sunil Dial 2:33
Yeah, well, I started charging the kids rent actually just to make some money
Man Wong 2:38
It’s been a bit of a ride, isn’t it? Really, I mean, it’s, it’s for me, it’s certainly been a lot more fun to have the family and all the time that we’re that we are together. But it’s really hard to balance and juggle all this you know. The fact that we’ve had to choose to do the recording a night so the kids, when the kids are all asleep.
Can I caveat that Man, one’s asleep. One’s in the lounge about 10 feet away from me, so couldn’t quite get 100% quota down.
Here, some fingers and toes crossed the shield, she’ll make a cameo for us, you know,
Jonathan Jascobs 3:10
I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t bet against it
Man Wong 3:13
Which one is it, Lilly or Maisey?
Jonathan Jascobs 3:14
Lilly, obviously.
Man Wong 3:17
So yeah, I think I think what you guys were saying earlier is quite interesting. You know, it’s, for me, certainly been very refreshing that despite, you know, obviously the horrendous circumstances of these events that we’ve seen a togetherness that, that, that we’ve not witnessed in such a long period, especially after the saga that’s been Brexit, right? ]
Sunil Dial 3:36
Hmm.
Jonathan Jascobs 3:37
Yeah, who would have thought we’d be pining for news about Brexit?
Man Wong 3:42
Those halcyon days.
Jonathan Jascobs 3:43
Yeah, right.
Sunil Dial 3:45
It’s an interesting thing. I you know, it’s awful event to go through and, and we’ve got podcasts coming up and we’ve got some details on it, but I think things will change. And out of this darkness, I think we will see some change for the better in how we operate in society and in the workplace, actually. So yeah, it’s a bit of a rude awakening a bit harsh, but hopefully it’s you know, out of all of this. Well, we’ll see some positive impact.
Man Wong 4:15
Yeah, I mean, a massive spoiler alert, obviously, we’re going to talk a lot more about this during the time that we have in our own individual respective abodes, and we can have some time to discuss the things that we’re seeing and witnessing and experiencing ourselves. And, you know, and there’s some really positive things to sort of highlight you know, just before we came on to this call, I was on Twitter looking at some messages there and I saw a number of things. I saw this lady talk about the fact that she’s got a five bed place in St. St. King Kings Cross sorry, and said, Look, NHS workers key workers who need a place to stay can live there for free you know, while all this is going on, so the camaraderie and the togetherness and community is absolutely brilliant.
Jonathan Jascobs 4:58
The humanity
Sunil Dial 4:59
Yeah. Even though we’re doing volunteering to help some of the elderly, who can’t get out to get food and, and you look at the Whatsapp group, it’s just overwhelmed with people who are volunteering to do that. I’ve even got a local butcher who sells out on a Thursday morning telling me to give him a call the day before and he’ll save some food. And some you know, some some produce for some of the elderly people who can’t make it down to the shops. So everyone could think about is finding ways to help each other and it doesn’t really matter who you are, does it at the moment in time.
Man Wong 5:30
It’s just a shame. I suppose that it took this kind of situation to bring out the best in people. I guess we’re we’re all guilty of that, you know, and I mean, I I’m not sure how all this is gonna materialise in the end and we all remain hopeful that we’re all going to get through this or stronger and grateful for it. And I for one, as I mentioned to you guys already, soon as this is in the clear. I’m going to get a ticket to go see a band straight away, you know, because I’m just going to appreciate it more.
Jonathan Jascobs 6:00
Don’t take for granted all of the things that are available to us in normal kind of living, living years that we’ve had recently, but you just don’t take advantage of them as often as you should do, you know, small things like just seeing seeing your family and friends, right? I haven’t seen you guys in person for three weeks now. That’s when was that ever happened? Rigjt, we’ve worked together Man for 15 years.
Man Wong 6:22
Absolutely.
Sunil Dial 6:23
What I’ve seen my kids grow up more in the last two weeks than I have in their whole lives. Really, this is the most sustained period I’ve had with them, one to one, which is, you know, ones nine to one, seven. So that’s telling you something. I’m so used to being consumed with work that actually I missed out quite a lot. And I’m realising that now over the last two weeks. So that’s having a huge impact, I suppose, going back. i just hope we don’t forget, you know, the learnings from this experience and when we come out of it, we take it forward. That’s the big thing for me. We as humans, we don’t forget and start going back to our old ways and go back to our old, our old self indulged direction.
Man Wong 7:05
It’s interesting, isn’t it because children as well, I think they’re not going to forget this period, they’re going to remember that part not not necessarily the virus itself, but certainly the prolong period they’re having now . Especially your kids, you know, they’re at that age now that, they’re gonna remember that that extended time with MUm and Dad, you know, the cricket that you’re playing with them, you know, the, the exercise you’re running around with them and the homework they’re spending time with and all that sort of stuff, because because it is it’s so different to what they’ve been used to.
Jonathan Jascobs 7:35
I’m quite enjoying the working day being slightly different. It feels a little bit more relaxed, but you’re no less accountable for picking up what you need to get done. But you’re kind of working in hours, which you wouldn’t normally work per se. You know, typically, so far it’s been quite a, you know, you just get down to your laptop by about 9:30. And then it’s kind of a good two, three hours and then you got to spend some time with the kids. Relieve your other half if they’ve been looking after the children, and then, you know, you’re spending a couple hours in the afternoon with the kids, you know, you have to and that’s and that’s how it should be. And then you’re picking it up again, like we are now, what’s the time, quarter past nine at night? No problem. You know, because the data’s been stretched out, I don’t feel stressed, I feel tired. Um, you know, I’m good to go and get to work at this point. And it’s interesting to see how the working patterns are gonna change. I think as as people start to get used to these kind weird and wonderful hours.
Sunil Dial 8:28
As Man mentioned, spoiler alert, there will be alot, we are going to be speaking about this in depth, because we’ve got some great insight on it. But I think on that note, Jon, I think it’ll be interesting to see when especially the corporates go back, back to work properly, if they still will, adhere to that sort of working pattern or where they want still have their deadlines and a lack of understanding for having family time. I think that’ll be an interesting piece because the moment everyone’s on the same level playing field Alright, so we’re all we’re all hands on balancing time, but, you know, some of us when we have go back into the office environment into the, into the cities, etc, Will that behaviour change? And there will be no sort of understanding for your sort of circumstance or you know, for ours as family and people, it’s gonna be an interesting one.
Jonathan Jascobs 9:20
Yeah, for sure don’t know about you guys. But I feel like I’m saving a lot of money. And I’m just not spending it. It’s the small things it’s, well I say small things. This is the commuter costs, it’s the lunches when you’re in the office, it’s, you know, it’s the coffee on the way into the offices, all of those things. They will rack up over the course of a month. So actually, surprisingly, my bank balance hasn’t been as damaged as it would normally be. So, you kinda spend things in different areas don’t do
Sunil Dial 9:48
Just need to make that money first as well. So yeah, that’s the only thing.
Jonathan Jascobs 9:51
Yeah.
Man Wong 9:53
Yeah, I think I think even with the brief amount of time that we’ve had in this in this in this guise It’s, it’s impression is it’s gonna be everlasting really, you know, the the construct of work as we know is can been completely broken through. The methods of work is completely broken through you know, and the and the precedents to show how remote working can actually be very positive and fruitful is incredible. If you imagine trying to apply all this into it into a vibrant economy, how much opportunity we can really sort of introduce now that we’ve broken the mindset. And I think sadly those those companies that have operated very much comfortably in a traditional working model of you know, 9 to 5 or 8:30 to 6, etc. They’re gonna have a bit of a rude awakening when things change back because their workers are experiencing something completely different. It’s just a shame that it’s had to have happened in these circumstances. Right. So And personally, I’m fascinated about this. Once we eventually in this in this all clear will the working landscape actually be the same again? And this question actually segways nicely to providing some more detail on the CandidateX podcast. So when I wrote down what the podcast entail, we talk about engagement with community engagement with innovators, entrepreneurs and organisations, all that good stuff about the impact in diversity. But now we will hundred percent be discussing this in conjunction with the actual and potential impact from the virus. You know, we along with our guests will be doing our best impression of Mystic Meg and predicting what may come. And for us within this isolation period, it’s really important for our well being to talk about these things and also provide an opportunity for CandidateX to engage and for us to be right there with you during this difficult period. Plus I’m bias, you know, I think there’s going to be some pretty interesting insightful, inspiring content as we have in our journeys met and seen some pretty incredible people and companies who do some awesome things in the diversity space.
Jonathan Jascobs 12:07
Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, there’s there’s an awful lot of really positive things happening out there. And I just hope this break doesn’t, doesn’t stop the momentum with with these things. And I think what we’re really keen to do is to highlight these initiatives because, you know, we go out and we have various coffee meetings and, and go to conferences and networking events. And we have these really engaging conversations with organisations and people that have these programmes up, about these wonderful initiatives that are going on. And you know, I think we all feel pretty strongly that there’s a lot of value in the conversation we have with these people, but they’re not able to, we need to be able to kind of learn how to broadcast these things out there to a wider audience so that we can take that conversation and send it out to you know, hopefully hundreds and thousands of people that will find those things valuable and useful. It’s a kind of a scaling of those conversations that we want to have.You know, through the years that we’ve been, you know, working in various guises — you know, we’ve met some incredible people. and, you know, we think a series of podcasts, you know, is the way forward to really bring to light some of these wonderful initiatives that are going on out there at the moment in the in the diversity space.
Sunil Dial 13:23
Yeah, I think I agree with that. What what will be interesting is it’s this experience we’re all going through now and of the diversity piece that no one actually cares, I mentioned earlier in the podcast don’t actually cares who each other are, what you look like or what language you speak. We’re all helping each other out in society, which is great. Actually, for once. It’s almost felt like humanity’s forgotten the divide that we have or we’ve created for ourselves. I think actually going forwards this in a strange way this will benefit diversity and inclusion and us actually working together. And that sort of unconscious bias terms hearquite a lot of terminology, things like that, hopefully, past this experience that there’ll be a different even the staunches of people who had their various beliefs on how things should be, will see actually, the benefits of us working together as one, in society.
Jonathan Jascobs 14:21
I think the virus is is a profound equaliser to humanity, isn’t it? It cuts everybody, the same way everyone no one is above it or below it. It’s equal to all humans. And there’s a lesson to be learned there. For sure about treating everyone equally. So coming out of the back of this whole situation, you know, we should be moving forward in that fashion. So yeah, I mean, to to your point, Man, I think, you know, the various people that we’ve met over the years that are doing all of these wonderful initiatives, this is the sort of these are sort of people that we want to be engaging with or we will be engaging with and have been engaging with In terms of the podcast series, and what we want to bring out to a wider audience.
Sunil Dial 15:04
i think, you know, we all have responsibility is this the only people that we’ve been on journeys and met who are leading the way, and trying to change things into more of an equal playing field. But we all have a responsibility. And I think this experience will show everyone actually we all could contribute in the same way and help us get to that, that sort of level playing field where all equals right. But sport was, I think, though unfortunately we’ve seen some things recently, but sports, music, areas like that it’s very diverse, it helps kind of helps bridge any sort of differences that we do have. So I think everyone’s got something to contribute to, during this period to really help things going forwards in the future.
Jonathan Jascobs 15:45
Now more than now more than ever, I think, you know, it’s going to be a very challenging time for underrepresented candidate groups. People that already find it harder than your average white man to get into work. You know, we’re gonna to see a steady increase in thinking the rate of unemployment over the next six months, I would have thought with with many businesses going under, unfortunately. So it’s only going to add to the anxiety of people that are already out of work and those that are going to be out of work, who maybe struggled to find a job in the first place, they’re now going to be losing. So now more than ever, we need to we need to be holding up an amplifier to the conversation of diversity and inclusion so that we can actually help companies, new companies build with diversity at its core. So you’re not changing complete company cultures that are, you know, the FTSE 350 for example. You know, these companies are huge monster businesses that haven’t thought about diversity from the start. Therefore, they’re having to constantly re-engineer a lot of the way they do things, their cultures of the business to make this up, make it okay. And there’s, there’s a big balancing act going on at the moment. But for all the new businesses that are gonna be coming through in the next year to two years, you know, that’s going to be a core foundation of those businesses being built on and I think, you know, it’s very important the moment we’re holding a megaphone to this conversation so that, you know, we’re here we can support, you know, we want to lead the way with the conversation on on how these things happen.
Sunil Dial 17:11
I agree with both what you’re both saying, I think, you know, we look at what mental health and stimulation as well, we can’t all just stop during this period, we have to move forward. And we have to take some of the positives, that’s what’s happening at the moment and use that for how we go, how we build a better workplace and society together, I suppose as well. So that’s important. I mean, this is really positive, but I wanted to mention something on my experience coming through looking at diversity and, and this kind of the industry was kind of we’re creating an industry within diversity inclusion, I felt as well we had some great people there. But I almost felt that there was this sort of ring fence around it when it’s out on its own, had people pushing it along, but I found a very difficult to try and break in, just to make a difference as well. And I know we’ve got that on the podcast discuss as well. But hopefully I think this talking about levelling the playing field will give everyone the empowerment to get involved and push things forward.
Man Wong 18:13
Really, I think, you know, I’m for me, I’m very excited about this, this series we’re going to be doing in these episodes that we’re going to be exploring here. And, you know, we’ve got, we’ve got some really exciting people lined up to to talk about the various products, services all the different things and organisations that these people are doing. And you know, it’s gonna be great to be sharing with our listeners about all these things, right. So just sort of moving this on to a close. What, what sort of things are you guys excited about sort of sharing with everybody out there then?
Jonathan Jascobs 18:49
I mean, for me, I’d like to cover some, you know, some opinions and some points of view, or people that aren’t your typical You know, business leaders, I suppose in core industries that we would always jump to initially when in our mind, so, you know, it’s about talking to people that are that are in smaller industries and how they’re doing, you know, educating ourselves as to some of these different walks and different challenges that we’re not seeing every single day on LinkedIn. People on on in grassroots level jobs, you know, if I’m if, you know, that’s not a derogatory phrase, I’m talking about, you know, people who are in, you know, blue collar roles, and the struggles that they’re having, you know, we’re we’re very much from services sort of background that I’m interested in learning and educating myself from having conversations with people from different walks of life, you know, to talk about those challenges. I think, I think that’s, that’s interesting for me, see what those priorities are and the challenges that these organisations have.
Sunil Dial 19:50
Yeah, I totally agree that Jonathan, I’m just really keen for perfectly honest, just to have a voice. I believe with the CandidateX movement, proposition that we’re building. Actually things that we’ve always wanted to say or we’ve tried to say over the years or contribute, I don’t feel it’s been listened to, or really adhere to, because we didn’t have a brand or we didn’t have a profile, to break into that, that sort of club. But I’m really sort of really sort of excited that the more more people that join, join us and contribute from what Jon was saying and you know, there’s different ways of doing things, etc. Really will allow us to have an impact as such, and go back to my reasons of why I joined you guys and we all joined together to start this you know, we have have kids, we want to see a better future for them. We also want to see a better world. We don’t want this to be another tick box exercise, as you see in businesses with the gender pay gap for example, ticking a box. I want this to mean something and I want to have a lasting impact. That CandidateX can achieve that my children have a better future. And can look back and go. It was, you know, kind of exit ahead involvement and doing that everyone involved in that.
Man Wong 21:06
Thank you very much for joining me tonight chaps. We hope you hope all our listeners will enjoy the shows that we’re working on. As I said, we’ve got such an exciting pipeline of content. we’re eager to get out. Any passing notes from either of you guys, before we close out tonight.
Sunil Dial 21:20
No, I just thank you, Man, but also to everyone keep safe, and stick together and we’ll get through this.
Jonathan Jascobs 21:27
Echo that
Man Wong 21:28
Together. Brilliant. Thank you, Jon and Sunil. We’re also very interested to know what you think. Tell us what diversity and inclusion topics you think we should be talking about. Tell us who you want us to be speaking with. We can be found on all our socials, our Medium publication and of course CandidateX. co. Get in touch and drop us your thoughts. In the meanwhile, be good, be kind stay safe, stay home and save lives.
