- Several programs were rolled out in 2022, such as the setting up of ecumenical rooms in some buildings and rest rooms. A series of webinars on professional and personal topics enabled employees to discuss the following topics with experts: self-care; cultural appropriation; multicultural intelligence; understanding people with neurodiversity disorders; understanding micro-attacks; fighting against all racism; men and patriarchy; self-confidence, etc.
- For women, five entities published their data for Gender Pay Gap reporting, still showing demographic difficulties, with fewer women at certain levels of responsibility. Efforts are aimed at meeting the Groupe’s objectives of having 45% of women in key management positions by 2025.
- The DEI team finalized a major project on internal policies of Publicis UK Life Stage Policies (covering in particular maternity, premature births, paternity, shared parental leave, adoption, miscarriages, fertility, menopause, the fight against domestic violence). The team also orchestrated various actions throughout the year such as the Race Equality Week, the National Inclusion Week, women’s rights, and a strong action to fight against stereotypes around menopause with Break the Bias on Menopause. These activities are rolled out with the support of expert organizations such as the Stonewall’s Global Diversity Champions program and its sessions around the mobilization of allies around LBTQI+ people, the Business Disability Forum, the Black British Network, Catalyst, the Advertising Association Black Representation in Marketing initiative from which 15 employees were able to benefit.
- In terms of recruitment, targeted actions were carried outwith the National Student Pride Recruitment Fair, and Uptree with different schools and universities. Publicis UK also participated in the film We Rise intended to encourage young people suffering from a neurodiversity disorder to take an interest in communication professions. A specific approach has been put in place internally with The Innovators enabling young people with autistic disorders to take an interest in data and commerce. The Multiverse program continued to help 10,000 young people from disadvantaged communities to enter professions that seem far removed from them, such as those in our agencies.
- This rich set constitutes a solid foundation, which responds to information from the internal “Raising Concern” mechanism or informal sessions, AskUsAnything CTO drop-in-days. All this has made it possible to change internal perceptions, recognizing that management has taken better account of all these subjects with very positive feedback from employees who took part in all these actions.
- As part of the Groupe’s WorkingWithCancer program (see Section 4.1.3.3), Publicis UK worked with the Mcmillan Cancer Research center on the analysis of the needs of people facing the disease. A study of more than 2,000 patients or former patients highlighted the need for personalized support.
- The success of these actions also relies on the active role of BRGs (Business/Employees Resource Groupes) and DEI Champions – internal networks that support these positive changes throughout the Groupe through advocacy, the creation of alliances and awareness-raising. Égalité, Embrace, enABLE and VivaWomen! championed inclusion in 2022 with a series of innovative and cross-sectional programs and events. Two new Groupes were created: Divergent Minds around different people in terms of neurodiversity, and Écologique in order to accelerate changes in practices to limit environmental impacts.
- In London, Publicis Sapient EMEA launched its new mentoring program with a platform called PushFar, dedicated to linking of mentees and mentors according to the needs expressed by the mentees. Studies have been conducted by external firms to identify internal difficulties or stumbling blocks to take action. This made it possible to focus on specific points. 333 employees, from all practices, took part in training sessions aimed at changing mentalities in terms of real inclusion in the Tech professions.
5) Poland
So that initiatives do not come only from the Talent teams, the team of volunteers in the Growth X-Team is responsible for preparing sessions and scheduling workshops open to all employees on new topics; the priority in 2022 was on the themes of inclusion and ecology. This takes the form of a series of sessions with inspiring personalities from the agency or the Groupe, or from outside. In June 2022, internal events were held every week in favor of minorities or under-represented Groupes. Particular attention is paid to migrant workers, given their proximity to Ukraine. All this work has resulted in a best practices guide, to help clients improve on this subject, both in their content to be even more inclusive and to move towards highly targeted media, not to mention e-digital accessibility. In November 2022, the same logic was applied to issues related to body image and how to change it to stop obsolete stereotypes. The objective is to be deeply inclusive, whether for women or men, regardless of their age, skin color, weight, posture, etc. These sessions are very popular in the agencies with between 250 and 300 participants each time, because by addressing these topical issues, we meet the expectations of employees and they are even better equipped to discuss these same topics with their clients.
6) South Africa
The fight against inequality is central to the agency’s approach, and support for South Africans of color is an essential lever to participate in the transformation of the country. The agencies are “BBBEE – level 1” certified (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment), following an evaluation process carried out by external auditors. This level is achieved thanks to a voluntary strategy with specific efforts in terms of management, recruitment, training of all employees and a procurement policy focused on suppliers who have been disadvantaged in the past. In 2022, the focus was on training and upgrading the skills of 109 unemployed young people from the communities. At the end of the program, 61% of young people were offered a job and 19 young people had the opportunity to continue their training with a reputable organization, thus improving their qualifications. All of these efforts allow the agency to have 77% of so-called people of color. Finally, a dozen low-skilled employees in the agencies benefited from a one-year internal scholarship program, enabling them to work and take courses, leading to a certificate in their chosen field.
A special effort continued with regard to suppliers headed by women or South Africans of color; the agencies work with a network of 380 various BBE-certified suppliers. All these actions are aimed at continuing the fight against apartheid and rebuilding a more egalitarian society.
