Agencies are nowhere near as inclusive as the ads they are making

Once again, this year we saw inspiring campaigns aimed at boosting inclusion and improving people’s lives, such as ‘Mouthpad’ by Wunderman Thompson, a ground-breaking tongue-controlled device that enables people with disabilities to connect with their devices, and Cheil Worldwide Seoul’s Glass Grand Prix winner providing an innovative way for victims of domestic abuse in South Korea to silently contact the police without alerting their abusers.

But inwardly, the industry tells a different story. Despite all the discussions around DE&I in the public sphere and the work celebrated on the global stage, the industry is turning back the clock on progress within its workplaces and culture.

The latest findings of the Global DEI Census, conducted by WFA, Kantar, Cannes Lions and Effie Worldwide, reveal pervasive sexism and discrimination in the global marketing industry, with nearly one in every seven workers saying they would leave the industry over a lack of progress. The All In census meanwhile shows that over half of mothers say their careers are damaged by taking parental leave.

It’s a huge concern that women in the marketing industry still expect to be punished for becoming mothers. At Folk, when we offered a promotion to an account manager who was about to go on maternity leave, we were aware of how unusual this was. Our account manager was ready for the next step in her career, so we promoted her despite being two weeks away from maternity leave and subsequently arranged for her to take on that more senior role on her return to work. She was incredibly shocked to be offered career advancement so late in pregnancy because she just didn’t believe that it could happen in our industry.

Support for women at all life stages of motherhood should be part of company culture, covering everything from healthcare to confidence at work. My own experience has shaped how I approach providing support for women returning to work. In my first month back after my maternity leave, my confidence was at a low ebb and I remember feeling awful after a client chemistry meeting because I felt I hadn’t performed at my best. At the time I put it down to being out of the loop after six months of looking after a baby round the clock and being a bit rusty but, looking back, I didn’t have a skills problem, I had a self-belief problem.

Discrimination in this industry is still widespread. The global census shows that women and ethnic minorities report being under-represented in senior positions. And research from the industry group She Runs It found that when employees are promoted within the industry, the results are often “lopsided“, with the majority of the 17% of employees promoted last year being white. And according to McKinsey's recent research, “for every 100 men who are promoted from entry-level to manager, only 87 women are promoted and only 82 women of color are promoted”.

The hypocrisy of an industry patting itself on the back over work that advances DE&I while discriminating against women and people of different ethnicities, ages, abilities and backgrounds in its workplaces is staggering.

That’s not to say there haven’t been moves to launch new policies to address systemic bias. But policies don’t fix a culture. If you have leadership teams that don’t genuinely value DE&I, no policy is going to get you there.

DE&I is tough. Many leaders get caught up in the demands of running a business and struggle to devote the time, effort and investment DE&I requires. But in a sector where our people are everything, why?

At Folk, I took the decision to do it a little differently. To make sure DE&I is central to our mission, we created a panel of inclusion consultants, all from underrepresented groups and advocating for the communities whose voices often go unheard. They inform our work, act as a sounding board to our clients and, importantly, our culture.

As agencies, we have the power to create positive change both in society and our own organizations, and that is a privilege. But when it comes to advancing society, why is it we aren’t doing more in our own workplaces?

Celebrating DE&I-centered campaigns might win you clients, but unless you can back them up with an equal commitment to DE&I in your workplace, you will lose talent. And in today’s talent crisis, that is a risk that businesses cannot afford to take.

Sharon Flaherty is the chief executive officer of Folk.