AI. Diversity. Sustainability. All of these timely developments enable us to bring our whole selves to work, be more productive and creative, and generally have more fun. And we’ll be exploring all these topics in Season 2, which focuses on ‘being more human’.

But what about kindness? Simple yet effective, it’s a workplace ethic that our MD, Julia Linehan, believes is a core driver of a happy and successful team.

This week on OROP, we had the pleasure of speaking to a firm advocate for humanity in the workplace, Andy Powell, Vice President and MD, EMEA at InMobi - a mobile-first platform allowing brands, developers, and publishers to engage consumers through contextual mobile advertising. 

Andy’s biggest belief is that kindness starts from the top. It’s the key to reducing churn and improving productivity.

“Respect, empathy and just being nice to people go such a long way. People stay at InMobi for years. Just the other day, someone was congratulated for their 14th work anniversary. And it’s not just because we have a good product - it’s because we’re kind. It’s a kindness that starts from the leadership team - who are actually present - and that connection and humanity trickles down.”

Andy goes on to explain that at InMobi, the senior leadership teams are super involved with the rest of the crew.

“We’re having check-ins on a regular basis. We’re making sure we share our wins and failures - together. We’re making sure that everyone is brought into that process. You have to lead by example.”

So, how can the wider industry follow suit and create a culture of kindness? The answer lies in autonomy.

The autonomy InMobi gives its leaders makes them feel valued and trusted. And the fact that every small achievement is celebrated only adds to that feeling. Likewise, at The Digital Voice, instilling kindness, connection, and autonomy into our culture has always been important. But what about the rest of the ad tech industry?

As Andy explains: “The industry’s become kinder and I think that has a lot to do with Covid. People spent so long at home that once they finally saw each other again, it was a breath of fresh air, which brought a desire to connect. For example, at events such as Cannes Lions, there used to be an underlying sense of animosity between competitors. Now it’s just like a group of friends getting together. The first thing that people ask is: how’s life? How’s the family? Not just: how was the last quarter?”

In Andy’s role, he’s been able to see this kindness spread throughout the industry across many different cultures and regions.

“The Middle East has been just as welcoming and kind as Europe,” he says. “I think the only difference in work culture is that I’m used to getting things done fast - in an instant. But here in Dubai, there isn’t the same expectation to reply instantly. It’s just taught me to become more patient.”

This is all great, but what about the stereotype that kind businesses are weak businesses? Can you survive in a cut-throat environment if you’re too kind? Is there even such a thing as too kind?

Andy personally thinks that this stereotype is wide of the mark, because companies that are seen as weak are only weak because they haven’t built a strong team culture. If everyone’s constantly bringing each other down and competing, then you’ve lost core pillars like trust and transparency.

“If I was horrible to work for, I wouldn’t have a team,” he says.

And the great thing about developing that transparency? It creates a culture of ‘love it, own it, improve it’ - in the words of The Digital Voice’s own motivational tagline.

“As a leader, putting yourself out there even if you fail gives the rest of the team the inspiration to do the same. At the same time, you need to be able to ‘fail fast’ - spot when you’ve made a mistake and address it quickly.”

When it comes to social media - particularly in ad tech - it’s so easy nowadays to get sucked into a cesspool of negativity that it’s understandable for some advertisers to be nervous about being open and transparent across channels. Andy has seen this first hand and he gets it - it’s hard to deal with a toxic social media environment. But as a business, you can’t ignore it completely.

“I think the key is to be kind in your communication on social media,” he says. “Treating the person consuming your message as a living, breathing human generally breeds kindness. Just think about what you as a consumer would like to see, or what would annoy you, and play around with your creative.”

To wrap up, we asked Andy what attributes you should bring to the workplace every day:

“Positivity, passion, respect and transparency,” he suggests. “I just try to be as positive and passionate as possible about the work I do. I try to respect people: their cultures, beliefs, and ideas. And most importantly, I care about integrity - about leading by example and letting the core ethos trickle down.”

To hear the full conversation, check out the first instalment of Off Record, On Point Season 2! To find out more about InMobi, head on over to www.inmobi.com.

Having combined her love of language and linguistics with a career in tech marketing and PR, Hazel has gained a wealth of expertise both agency-side and client-side. She loves nothing more than exploring disruptive technology and meeting new faces at industry events (as a German speaker, DMEXCO is a firm favourite).