Reporting Pay Gap Data

Reporting our pay gap data is something we are committed to every year, as transparency with our people and the wider industry underpins our DE&I journey. We are therefore proud to have taken part for the third successive year in PRWeek’s Pay Gap Report.

In a turbulent year for the industry, our focus on DE&I has been unwavering. We believe it is only by being open with our data that we can have open conversations to ensure we continue to foster an inclusive environment and continue to learn and develop.

Our data this year tells us a few things:

• We have reduced our Gender Pay Gap by 3.5% in the last year. We continue to make good progress with our gender pay gap and are proud of pay parity across the board. Last year we showed a positive pay gap for women at the three most senior levels. This is now replicated for account executives and at manager level it is minimal.
• Our ethnic pay gap is 34%. In a year where hiring and promotions have been more challenging, we are disappointed to see this gap increase by 3% and recognise there is still much to be done here. This will be a huge focus for us in the coming year.
• To that point, ethnic representation at all levels has increased (26% overall). We also now have ethnic diversity on our board – a key KPI within our DEI strategy – and were awarded full Blueprint status earlier this year.

Of course, there remains a huge amount to be done to address our pay gaps and to help raise the standard for the industry.

While representation is improving, we know there is still more to be done here. We’ve made brilliant progress with our recruitment processes, but this isn’t just about hiring talent. We must continue to nurture talent and provide a platform for people of all backgrounds to progress in the careers and reach leadership positions.

This means, for example, retaining our focus on mentoring and bespoke training across our female talent, supporting traditionally difficult career transitions or shifts into leadership positions. It also means supporting our people with external schemes such as The Xec, which aims to create the next generation of BME leaders and to increase boardroom diversity client and agency-side.

Our DE&I journey never ends, and our commitment to making progress with our pay gaps is fundamental to this journey. We are far from perfect, but we are striving to be better and to inspire the industry to be better with us.