Universal Registration Document 2022

4.1.1.1 Policies and actions in selected countries

1) United States

The action program in the United States is rolled out by the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) team, supervised by the Chief Diversity Officer. This team makes it possible to scale up certain actions and to ensure the general alignment behind the motto Viva la Différence.

• In 2020, the Groupe launched its seven-point plan during the first session with all employees entitled Pause For Action. It is led by the Chairman of the Groupe’s Management Board and monitored by the US Executive Committee. Pause For action is now an annual internal meeting to review with all teams and work together on areas for improvement. The publication of data on the ethnic origins of employees, in compliance with regulatory and data protection provisions, shows real progress.
• This seven-point plan guides all efforts and measures the steps to be taken, hence the importance of building an internal culture of allies (allyship). The training programs supplementing the mandatory sessions around unconscious bias are structured in three parts around: Disrupting Everyday Bias series, Inclusive Leadership, and Inclusive Hiring.
• The Black Talent Career Development program continued, again in the form of an individualized six-month support program enabling the employees concerned to better understand the opportunities within the Groupe and to build a stronger internal community. The second edition of the Black Talent Summit gave employees the opportunity to take the time to reflect on their future and professional projects.
• For the 13^th consecutive year, the Groupe’s proprietary program, the MCTP (MultiCultural Talent Pipeline) took place over two days: it welcomed 272 young people, 75% of whom were young women, proposed by 80 universities or schools with which the Groupe works. The active presence of the Groupe’s agency executives is key to giving the young participants a very concrete and real experience of what it means to work in the Groupe.
• New partnerships have been developed to enhance certain more targeted actions, such as with the ANA Educational Foundation (AEF), and She Runs It & Out Leadership. In line with the actions encouraged by the Groupe in favor of disabled people, support for the Disability: In & Out & Equal conference made it possible to mobilize more people internally. Various internal tools have been updated, in particular the Societal Impact Response Guide for managers to help them respond to issues around identity-related traumas.
• Nine Groupe agencies received a score of 100/100 for the 11^th consecutive year by Human Rights Campaign which distinguishes the companies “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality”.
• BRGs (Business or Employees Resource Groupes) have 80 chapters spread across the cities where the Groupe is present and rely on volunteers. Nearly one in two employees in the United States declares that they are an active member or ally. The aim of these affinity communities is to act together: VivaWomen! (women), Égalité (LGBT), VivaWomen! Of Color (Women of Color), PublicisParents (parents), VivaWIT (women in Tech), MOCA (Men of Color Alliance), Hola (Latin origins), GenNext (Young Talents), Publicis Connects (for HR managers and facilitating internal mobility), Cross Boundary (international mobility), Sages (for those over 50), PubVets (Military veterans), Conscious Mind (Well-Being and Health), Écologique (environmental concerns). enABLE (people with disabilities) really started its program of activities in 2022, with substantive work on invisible disabilities. Finally, the Pan-Asian Alliance was created, bringing together employees of Asian origin and the Pacific Islands (API). Given their large number, an Intersectional Committee was set up to better share experiences between volunteer leaders in these communities.
• Lastly, collaboration between the Groupe and its clients on inclusion issues is a very important area, based on the internal Workplace to Marketplace framework, in order to obtain more tangible results both internally and externally. The first step is based on the creation of truly diverse teams and the constant attention to an internal culture based on fairness and real inclusion to support our clients and serve them better. The second stage consists of structuring projects, such as the Once And For All Coalition, launched by Publicis and now a sectoral approach to promote media diversity, in order to better contribute to their development and financial strength (see Section 4.2.2). Since its launch, nine tools have been built by the Coalition to better track the commitments made; on average, advertisers increased their investment in these media by +50%.
• Two interesting lines of action have been initiated within Epsilon in order to go deeper towards a cultural change. The first concerns the integration of diversity and equity issues at the level of each team leader, in order to become a daily subject to anchor changes around an Inclusion Index scorecard applied to the department in question. The second involves cross-functional actions with a few clients, in order to work together with under-represented Groupes, in particular young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, to give them access to jobs that are in short supply.
• Publicis Groupe is a member of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion; through Leo Burnett, Publicis Groupe is a member of Free the Work, an independent platform aimed at facilitating working relationships between directors, photographers and creators from diverse backgrounds. The Groupe is also active in the alliance of ANA SeeHer, intended to change the representation of girls and women in the media and advertising.
• The Groupe’s agencies participate in the Alliance for Inclusive Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) to welcome and support more interns representing diversity. The alumni network of the MAIP (Multicultural Advertising Intern Program) initiated by the American inter-professional organization (4As, American Association of Advertising Agencies).
• The Diversity Progress Council created in 2020, bringing together people from outside the Groupe (clients, academics, etc.) with employees including young talent, met in November 2022 to monitor the progress of the actions undertaken by the Groupe reports and define joint projects.
• Each year, teams participate in a few selected conferences such as ADCOLOR recognizing young talent from diverse backgrounds, or the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit, as well as Out & Equal that does a lot for transgender people, as well as Disability In to promote equality regardless of disability.