Another person here who doesn't really like to weigh in on agency stuff, because it really isn't my bag at all. But here goes...
When I rejoined the Australian advertising industry after nearly seven years working in and for the US, I was expecting the local industry to have got up to speed with the US. That is, DEI initiatives to combat gender and ethnic disparities were in place and having a noticeable effect on not only the makeup of departments, but how they operate.
What I found was, nothing had changed. Or not much.
At most places, it was still pretty much the same guys, working in the same jobs (albeit with fancier titles), employing the same versions of themselves (or how they see themselves as younger blokes), working with the same directors at the same production companies.
There are notable exceptions to this, and I was lucky to work with a few. I can vouch for Matt Lawson and Adrian Mills in that regard, who took a chance on me (A weird, somewhat older brown guy) and the inimitable Sally Hastings (an even weirder slightly younger than me woman), and from afar I admired what BMF Australia were doing in the DEI space. I’m sure there are many more, but looking around, it was obvious said memo was filed in the shredder of most shops.
Now, who’s fault is this?
Agency heads will say the talent isn’t out there.
Recruiters will say they did their darndest to present candidates other than the usual suspects, but those candidates were overlooked and status quo maintained.
So why were those candidates overlooked?
Agency heads will say that it’s all about the work, and so let’s go with that for a moment and ignore gender bias, much as I’d like not to because clearly it exists, but bear with me.
If there are less women, for example, of a level that is required for a role, it’s purely because they haven’t been given a chance to succeed. That’s obvious, right?
So then, it takes an agency taking a chance on potential, rather than proven talent.
And in an increasingly conservative market, agencies are becoming ever more risk averse.
Which is, when it comes to hiring talent, a dangerous precedent.
Because aren’t departments about diversity of voices and experiences?
Isn’t that what makes the work better and more relevant to the world, right now?
I realise by saying the following it may do me out of work, and believe me, it’s been slow AF, so I’m really going out on a limb here.
Stop hiring your mates.
Stop hiring the person who reminds you of the ‘you’ you were, (or you wanted to be).
Take a punt on different.
Trust me, it’ll be worth it.