Is media land ready for diversity?

Creative and advertising businesses are turning to diversity and inclusion as the next step in their business journey.

Some companies are already planning change. At GDP, we have recently had an interest in D&I workshops and seminars from advertising, media, and publishing groups. We have also advised many leading brands on how to ensure they promote a positive message in relation to diversity and inclusion.

Given the often “anti-establishment” and free image of the creative sector – people of all appearances dressed however they wish in offices that look more like a club than a corporation – it may come as a surprise to hear that the data shows this sector is neither very diverse nor very inclusive.

To lead change, many of its senior leaders are making statements about the importance of diversity and inclusion.

A good example is a recent article in Campaign which quoted Interpublic CEO Michael Roth reflecting on diversity: “While he lauded the progress made in increasing the number of women in leadership, he said there needs to be more of an effort to improve the representation of African-American women. Just 1 per cent of female agency leaders are black women. ‘That’s insane given who the marketplace is.’”

It’s not just the agencies. Brands are also adapting and creating stories in their advertising and communications that include a wider, more diverse audience in a truly authentic way. The results have won awards and are genuinely impactful – no tokenism here.

The result is that through these stories and images, our media is now representing society more fully and this is an important next step given the role that it plays in shaping attitudes.

The potential for change is very exciting.

And of course, there is a ‘but’.

The journey a business needs to take to change its culture to become truly diverse and inclusive is tougher than either making speeches or creating ads that feature a wider spectrum of society as they truly are.

Becoming a diverse and inclusive business almost always means fundamental change. It’s not about getting a team of consultants in who create a report. It’s not about having training programmes and workshops.

The type of programmes that GDP implements are focused on helping companies to see the real barriers to diversity and inclusion in their business. Some of these are “hard” factors: systems, policies, processes, work requirements. Others are “soft” factors around behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs.

The process that is required to confront and make the commitment to change can be challenging and requires a large personal as well as corporate commitment – I describe it as a “cold shower”. It can be unpleasant, uncomfortable and painful depending on many factors including the outlook of the people involved.

Support is essential to make this process vital. Imagine the effort and commitment required to double the percentage of black agency leaders from just a meager one to two per cent. No company or sector can do this alone: help and nurture are essential to make it happen, as well as leadership.

Or as we like to call it at GDP, the comforting “warm bath” after the shock of the “cold shower”.

The “warm bath” is designed to make the process of becoming a diverse and inclusive company as easy as possible for organisations. Otherwise, there is the risk that it just won’t happen. That other priorities will take over and nothing will change, despite the speeches and the good intentions.

The shocking and fascinating revelation of the astronomical salaries commanded by some of the BBC’s ‘top talent’, as well as the predominance of white and male presenters among the top 20 earners has perhaps eclipsed the reality that in barely six months, companies across the UK will be expected to publish their own pay gap figures. Potentially, this could become something of a cautionary tale for the rest of us in only a few months.

With no BAME presenters in the top 20 and the top earning man (Chris Evans) being paid almost five times as much as the most highly paid woman (Claudia Winkleman at number seven), it seems a highly pertinent time to ask, what should the BBC do next?

This would be my action plan for the Corporation:

• The revelations have sparked controversy and criticism but remember that there is a virtue in transparency. Don’t be defensive when criticised and don’t rush to change until you have a viable solution in place that supports the Corporation’s long-term goals.
• Move swiftly to close gender gaps that have no valid reason. This may be further down the salary scale but is an effective first step while bigger issues are resolved.
• Don’t be immobilised by the scrutiny: be proactive and purposeful in your actions. Commit to three concrete actions and deliver against them, then review and find the next three.
• Communicate your actions regularly to ensure this story is seen a spur to real positive action. Continue to communicate the real challenges you are facing and how you are looking to overcome them.
• Open up the debate around diversity internally then work to be a ‘do as I do’ organisation.
• Use this opportunity to bias proof all policies and procedures for bias and look for ways to eliminate this. Introduce across the board unconscious bias training and measure its effectiveness.
• Carry out a diversity root cause analysis talk to your female/BAME employees and understand their experiences and perspectives.
• Encourage those BAME/female to become part of the solution, they will be your most effective ambassadors if you do or your most fervent critics if you don’t, take your pick. Ensure you bring all along with you to ensure you achieve your objectives.
• Leaders must be bold in their actions and focus on how they can genuinely impact change down through organisational tiers. Build the confidence of decision makers and middle managers. Set the tone at the top.
• Get help. Changing policies, procedures and processes is hard enough. Changing mind-sets or behaviours is harder. Sometimes it takes a fresh perspective to get people to truly modify their behaviours.

There is no question that it will be painful for the BBC in the interim but if there is a genuine and sincere intention to change then it is possible to turn the situation around and to demonstrate true leadership.

We are all working together to rewrite an organisational rule-book that has been steadfast for decades but has no further place in the 20th century. Change is possible if we stop pointing fingers, encourage transparency and then once we are aware of the state, play to work collaboratively to plug the gap.