GroupM: Redefining Workplace Equity in Advertising
GroupM AUNZ CEO Aimee Buchanan and NZ CEO John Halpin
Advertising has a hangover of the Mad Men stereotype, has the industry evolved?
John:
“We have seen an evolution in terms of the types of agencies over the years, they’re not that singular one-shop ad agency you might be familiar with. The role of women in leadership has taken off, but there is still a lot of legacy from that Mad Men era, in terms of how businesses operate and are led. It’s institutionalised, creating cultures that are harder to shift. In the past, a lot of the time things have been swept under the rug and we weren’t having an open conversation at an industry level to address it. Our focus is on GroupM, and we are doing everything to protect and encourage and progress our own people but it’s important to understand the wider context.”
Aimee:
“On the surface, a lot of the data points have changed. It would be remiss not to celebrate that. There is a lot more gender diversity at the top tables in New Zealand, and in Australia. Statistically, we’re in a better space, but if we look under the hood of some agencies, there are still some horrific stories and statistics. In recent times, some of the reports, more in Australia, can’t be ignored. It's not OK for people to be unsafe in their workplace, for there not to be policy, processes of reporting, and accountability. When I stepped into my first CEO role, I was the only female of 12 board members and the only Australian. It’s different now, but it’s not done until it’s done. And it’s not done. I want this industry to be a place my daughter might want to go into.
What led GroupM into the gender equity space?
Aimee:
“A lot stems from our vision. We believe we are responsible for shaping the next era of media that makes advertising work better for people — not only consumers and clients, but the people in our business and the communities we operate in too.
When we unpacked our vision, we looked at where we were sitting from a diversity point of view across the business, our policies, and also the sticking points in career journeys. It became clear there were a few moments of struggle for women, but also men, around having a family. The churn of primary carers, and people coming back after having children was very low.
I reflected on my own experience. When I had my daughter, I took three and a half months off work, and my husband took six months. His workplace had no parental leave policy, so he ended up using his long service leave. We were lucky that was possible, but I said that’s not OK. Nor is it OK to expect the secondary carer to come back to work after two weeks and function. Anyone who has had a child will know you won’t be functioning particularly well!
One critical way to resolve gender inequality and tackle the pay gap is to neutralise caregiving.”
What changes have you put in place for caregivers?
Aimee:
“We looked at policy, making sure we had the right parental leave, supporting both parties to have an active role within that period. We increased the parental leave policy to 16 weeks, and we made it gender neutral, acknowledging it’s not always the female who is the primary carer. We also removed tenure, so you no longer need to be with us for any period of time to be eligible, it’s from day dot. It doesn’t matter when a baby comes along, it matters that those parents get to build a career and relationship with us.
Another key opportunity was onboarding, coming back into the business too. We have a good flexibility policy that enables people to work from home, however, people want different levels of contact when out on parental leave. There is often a massive crisis of confidence coming back into the office after having a baby, people are vulnerable, thinking about feeding, vomit on their shoulder, it’s chaos. So we’ve created a mentorship program and brought people together to talk about their experiences.
We launched ‘Bridge’ for anyone returning from a long break from work, anyone who has been ill, suffered from mental health issues, or has been away for a while on parental leave. When we launched, 95% of the uptake was new mothers or returning mothers, and it’s mostly women so far, although a lot of men came to the discussion. We’ve been having conversations around sick leave too, educating people that it can also be for carers’ leave – ageing parents or children being sick. We pay people for whatever their long-term commitment is. We want people here for a long time, not a short time.”
When I came into the advertising industry working in agencies I was told about 30 times ‘If you want a family, you have to become a client’. Agency life just wasn’t seen as compatible with having a family. I would like to think a lot of the work we’ve done has shifted that narrative, and seeing people in senior roles being parents does that, but it never used to be something you were loud and proud about, particularly as a woman.
How does culture play a role?
John:
“As the saying goes, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’ We're not checking a list in terms of whether someone has met a particular standard to benefit from our flexibility policy, it’s more an understanding of what it means to different people. We have a young workforce and there are a lot of people who haven’t had children, so it’s important understand what everyone is going through. Culture and equality isn’t just about supporting parents, but it is a very significant life change we want to support. The culture of agencies in the past has been about working long hours, and that becomes incredibly difficult when you are a parent. As much as you may be committed to the job, the tasks at hand, and working within the team, you have a different responsibility that is your primary concern. We want everyone to understand the challenges for others.
There are stresses that come with being a new parent returning to the workforce, whether male or female: whether you’ve slept the night before a big meeting, whether your child is settling in with childcare. You’re going through an enormous amount of learning, it's not easy.
If we don’t look after new parents, we’re losing talent. People with five, six, or ten years of service to the industry are opting out because it’s all too hard. But keep that talent in and we’re better workforce and a better industry.”
Aimee:
“You can put all the policies in the world in place, but if the informal culture, leadership and philosophy isn’t there, then the policy just becomes red tape. Informal culture is all about creating an inclusive environment. A lot of businesses focus on what they call diversity and inclusion but the focus is policy around diversity and they don’t really understand true inclusivity.
If I am hiring a person of either gender at the age where they’re starting to talk of having a family, I have a 60% higher chance of getting them by talking about culture (and having a policy of course). We do a ‘bring your kids to work day’. In Australia, 150 kids come in, there is lots of chaos. The first year, I was changing a nappy somewhere, it’s humbling. It’s also levelling seeing everyone unshackle the armour. It sends a message that we get it — you are the sum of your whole self, and a massive part is raising children. It makes the invisible visible. My kids now ask when it's happening and love coming into our offices.”
What other initiatives have contributed to the inclusive culture?
Aimee:
“Our positioning around our people is ‘better for all’. We’re focused on what the ‘all’ is, and how do we make a workplace that embraces everyone's full self? We don’t go into a room without thinking about what our diversity is like, whether it’s a pitch, building a team or speaking on panels: Who is the right person, who is the casting, who is the client, who is the audience.
We have done a large program of work and put in a Disability Action Plan, to ensure our workplace is accessible and representative of the whole of New Zealand and the whole of Australia. There is also a big piece of work looking at all our suppliers, auditing the hotels we stay at, whether they are accessible, and looking at our own buildings. We've done work on our menopause policy, and a gender affirmation policy to support those who might need it. Every Policy isn’t for everyone – but it puts in place support and framework for those who do. In the coming years, we are digging into age – you don’t find many people over the age of 45 in our industry, and we’re losing great experience so how do we balance that out?”
John:
“The diversity of people we have in the business and the way they find their way into media is fascinating. Recently, I caught up with two people who were both a year into the job, one came with a Masters in International Business, and one came from a supermarket. People don’t always know media is a career choice but the opportunities and possibilities for roles is almost endless. We are working with high schools to find more paths and ways into the industry looking to bring in Māori and Pasifika young people, and letting them know the job exists.
We are exploring sabbaticals, recognising people's lives go through cycles, and sometimes you don’t want to leave, but you need a break. In NZ, we trialing allowing people to work from anywhere around the world, or travel for three months and come back.”
How does a focus on diversity impact recruitment?
Aimee:
“Recruitment is where the rubber hits the road with true diversity. A lot is happening in eliminating bias from our interview process. We’re trailing AI, removing names, gender and ethnicity from résumés. If you don’t start with an unbiased talent pool, it’s impossible to add it later. All our senior roles are panel-based interviews now, representative of the different layers of our organisation. That’s been a game-changer. You arrive at a more balanced decision and ultimately end up with more diversity, but more importantly more success in the candidate fit.”
John
"Auckland is the fourth most diverse city in the world. By 2040 40% of Aucklanders will self-identify as Asian. This is very different makeup of a third of New Zealand in one place, and different to what most people grew up with. Diversity will only continue to grow.”
Does fostering a more diverse and inclusive workforce impact the work you create for your clients?
“We’re in an industry that is all about creativity and ideas, and the more we are representative of the society we are trying to engage with through our clients’ advertising, the better it is in terms of the product we will output.”
Aimee:
“I don’t know how we can market to the whole of New Zealand without having representation from the whole of New Zealand. What's shifted lately is the expectation from consumers, they want brands to understand and talk in the tone, language and environment that reflects who they are. Brands are not as tolerant to ‘one-size-fits-all’ now. There’s a bunch of reasons why: data, technology, and the rise of platforms that are using your social presence, but for a brand to truly thrive in a multi-culturally diverse environment, it needs to be considered through the lens of that diversity. It’s supercritical. We're making progress but we’re still not doing it enough in this space as an industry.”
Any advice to other organisations embarking on this journey?
Aimee:
“I hear quite a few CEOs, particularly males, say, ‘We can’t afford the cost of putting in parental leave or shifting our policies,’ and my guidance is that if you look at anything like this in a short-term window, you’ll never do it. But if you look at the accumulation of investment and cost, at churn, retention, IP, reputation, training costs, market perception, and the amount of extra resource you’ll throw at the client because they’re unhappy you'll be paying for it in a thousand other ways if you don’t do it. If you’re a large organisation and you’re telling me you can’t afford it, you need to pull out your calculator again because you haven’t crunched the numbers properly or understood the challenge. It’s an investment, not a cost. That’s my number one piece of advice.”
John:
“It’s cliché, but you can’t buy experience, so being able to keep people in the business, and remain engaged and committed to it is vital. You are retaining amazing talent and experience that would otherwise be lost. If a parent gets a call and their kid’s fallen off the monkey bars, if they know they can go and there won’t be any penalty, someone will step in and take care of things for them, that is a powerful position. It builds loyalty.”
Aimee:
“Finally, not everything works. You have to throw the gauntlet out there - a lot is test and learn. And continually think about the modern workforce and how you support your people in a more contemporary way.”