Agencies have quickly responded to a call to reveal what they are doing to support gender equality in the advertising industry
The UN Women’s recent campaign, in partnership with The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, called on Australians to examine its efforts for gender equality, saying as robo-farms, humans walking on Mars, and a Moon colony are more likely to happen before we reach global gender equality.
Mums in Ads, via LinkedIn, called on agencies to share what they are genuinely doing: “The recent research is showing the major hurdle for women everywhere is the clash between child-rearing and workplace equality.
“When careers and kids aren’t facilitated to work together, that’s when women’s equity starts to really plummet. And Adland has been historically bad at helping women overcome this.”
Thinkerbell: “We have gender pay equity and this is reviewed six monthly with the CFO and Head of People and Culture measured on this. We have 58% females in leadership and a 61% female workforce.
“We offer 10 weeks parental leave for the primary carer and 4 weeks for the secondary carer, along with up to 52 weeks paid superannuation for the primary caregiver as we are aware of the significant long term impact this has on nest eggs for retirement.
“We hope one day to get to parity for primary and secondary carer as we know how important it is for the secondary carer to be available in the early development of the baby.
“We’ve always been flexible and offer flexibility to those who need it (not just parents). We have multiple people working overseas to visit family for extended periods as well as many who have relocated outside of Sydney and Melbourne, and we make this work with regular check-ins and ensuring they are included in Thinkerbell events and training.
“We have a lot of part timers (parents and non-parents) and offer flexibility to those who need it, this includes remote working, and parents structuring their days around school runs, child pick ups and other commitments.
“We have full time and part time mums working with us in leadership roles and they bring invaluable skills and knowledge to these roles. We will always consider part timers for promotions. In terms of recruitment, we would make hiring a part timer for a role if they bring the right skills and experience to the role like anyone else.
“We make sure those on parental leave are kept across training and events throughout their leave, with regular check-ins, and keeping in touch days. We work on a dedicated phased return to work plan allowing both family and career roles to flourish to ensure a smooth and enjoyable transition back to work.
Clemenger Group Limited said: “We conduct a pay gap analysis every year for Clemenger Group and will continue to do so annually.
“Our paid parental leave policy is gender neutral and offers primary carers up to 20 weeks of leave (including in the unfortunate event of a stillbirth).
“Our flexible guidelines are open to every person in Clemenger Group, and empower them to do their best work from wherever that may be.
“We have strong part-time permanent representation across the Clemenger Group agencies, including in management roles.
“We have the ambition for 50% of key leadership roles across the Group being held by females by the end of 2024 – and are reviewing our recruitment and promotion practices to fulfil this”
Host/Havas said: “It’s a brave (and naïve) agency that can honestly say they are doing everything they can. So the short answer is no, we’re not - but the longer answer is below for what it’s worth.
“We look at gender pay and distribution at ever level and in every team. We can confirm that we have no gender pay gap at any level and are assessed by WGEA annually.
“We offer paid parental leave to all parents, regardless of gender, with a minimum of 3 month paid leave and no upper limit based on tenure. We also offer comprehensive return to work support including (but not limited to) optional paid “stay in touch” days throughout leave, paid child care of any type or flying family members out to support the transition, and encouraging a gradual return to work if that’s preferred.
“We have had core hours in place for a number of years. We also have staff members (both men and women) who work part time and even partly interstate or overseas to accommodate their family commitments.
“The transition back to work from parental leave is so fraught (and a bit awful for many). Having senior leaders who navigated it themselves helps build empathy around the complexity of it, and offer support and mentoring.”
Howatson+Company said: “We can confirm we have no gender pay gap and review annually.
“We have 3 months paid parental leave, regardless of sex and pay for 12 months continuation of super for all primary carers regardless of gender. In addition, we offer paid leave for pregnancy loss, those undergoing fertility treatments, surrogacy, adoption and menopause. We offer gradual transitions back to work depending on the individual’s needs, support networks and role.
“We have men and women, parents and non-parents working full and part time, in some cases fully remote or hybrid. We just ask that our team work in a way that suits them, and does not impact their clients or colleagues.
“We offer 5 days pay for 4 days work, or 4 days pay for 3 days work for returning primary carers. Currently we have 5 staff taking advantage of this. But definitely agree that continuing to look at job redesign for each role on an individual basis is important.
“We pride ourselves on promoting based on achievement and have recently promoted two of our superstars about to go on parental leave.
“We support gradual transitions back to work (per question 2) and each carer (primary or secondary) has a one on one with another parent before and after leave to help them ask any questions around how they might best come back to work and adjust their working arrangements if needed.
“We offer each individual a training budget, and many of the team have moved into new roles in the agency with support from the team e.g. from EA/office management to finance, from account management to strategy.”
Communicado said: “50% of our team are part time mums including 70% our leadership team and 100% of the owners of the company. We have adapted roles to suit (whether that be 2 to 4 days or entirely remote) and we support parents doing work in the hours that they can. This isn’t limited to new mums, we have always supported parents at all stages of parenting, for example those trying to get pregnant as well as parents to teens and late teens, particularly during the crucial VCE stage.
“We feel paid parental leave is challenging for smaller predominantly female businesses and we acknowledge more needs to be done here in addition to a broader industry solution to make it more achievable for us to offer more.
“Overall, we celebrate flexible working arrangements for everyone (even prior to the pandemic) which includes 100% remote work, team members that have made the sea change interstate, or the hybrid working model.”
Bullfrog said: “While we at Bullfrog certainly don't claim to have it 100% perfect, we are extremely proud of our transparent People Policy, which includes: 6 months' paid Parental Leave including super, 'Leap Allowances' for personal development, Holiday Exchanges and much more – see the CB comments for more details.”
DDB Remedy Australia said: “[We} are continually working on and improving support for all our parents with 3 months paid leave and a non-gendered parental leave policy.
“Importantly we support smooth transitions back into the work place with part time and flexible hours as well as job share options.
“We support our parents at all stages of the caregiving journey via Circle In - a parenting platform which supports family-inclusive workplaces and helps create a culture that supports caregivers.
“There is more to be done of course and we look forward to being inspired by our team and indeed the rest of the industry.”
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