Create Space is our initiative to drive progress on inclusion and belonging. We aim to help businesses create workplaces where diverse employees are supported in achieving their full potential and provide resources to help focus and support your journey towards diversity, equity and inclusion.
WHY WE NEED TO CREATE SPACE
Despite real progress, diversity, equity and inclusion is still a challenge for Australia’s advertising industry, as it is for most others. But for our industry, there’s an added impetus to passionately pursue progress.
D&I is fundamental to our historic and future success; advertising was built around a notion of a communal space for all talented thinkers and makers to contribute and craft ideas that drive change. An industry that looks and feels homogenous, and where majority rules, flies in the face of this distinctive proposition, diluting our ability to adapt to culture and commerce.
This is a people project, not just a policy project. Whether you’re a junior creative, a senior producer, an account director or in accounts payable, a senior leader, an aspiring leader, a consultant or a client – everyone is invited to Create Space.
About the Create Space initative
The Create Space census first launched in December 2021 and gathered comprehensive data from over 2,600 professionals from across the advertising, media and marketing industries. The census delivered a rich portrait of the industry today and how it looks, feels and behaves when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion. It also provides benchmarks to compare and measure our performance.
In July 2022, the Create Space report was released with a national webinar, unveiling the findings under the headings of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, disability, mental health, neurodiversity and cultural norms. The first phase of the Create Space Action Plan zeroed in on three initial priorities for immediate action – gender equity, mental health and microaggressions. In June 2023, three new actions were released focusing on the experience and representation of LGBTQIA+ talent, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities.
To measure the industry’s progress on diversity and inclusion, ACA will repeat the Create Space Census on November 1 2023 and every two years thereafter.
CREATE SPACE REPORT & ACTION PLAN
Based on the largest study of its kind into how inclusive and diverse our industry really is, Create Space summarises findings through lenses like gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, social mobility and age, and delivers an action plan across six initial priorities for immediate implementation – gender, mental health, microaggressions, LGBTQ, ethnicity and disability.
ACTION PLAN
Explore the action plan and access resources to help you get started.
ACTION 1: improve the experience & retention of female talent
With 1 in 4 female middle managers saying they’re likely to leave the industry due to a lack of diversity and inclusion, it’s vital we address the barriers and invest in the drivers for retention as an urgent business issue. Our focus is to ensure work is a safe space first and foremost. We then want to see a focus on gender-neutral parental leave and return to work policies – these provide all employers with a competitive edge in attracting and retaining talent as well as driving gender equality. We also want to drive widespread awareness of the gender pay gap.
To take action, we’re asking the industry to do three things:
First
Tackle sexual harassment and victimisation
Download and adopt the Create (Safe) Space Toolkit and seven-step plan.
The toolkit includes self-assessment tools, factsheets on how to tackle sexual harassment from a behavioural point of view, a trauma-informed guide to responding to disclosures, understanding and updating Whistleblower plans and policies, and moving towards more victim-centred NDAs.
Second
Develop a gender-neutral parental leave policy
Use WGEA’s Leading Practice Guide
DOWNLOAD THE LEADING PRACTICE GUIDE
Reference Blackbird Venture’s Open-source Parental Leave Policy
ACCESS THE PARENTAL LEAVE POLICY
Poor parental leave or a lack of support returning to the workplace are often prohibiting women — particularly those from marginalised groups — from taking on senior positions. Review your current policies to ensure they’re inclusive. Does your organisation make any contribution to superannuation while individuals are on parental leave? Does your organisation consider workers on parental leave (paid and unpaid) for promotion? Are you offering truly flexible options ie not just WFH or 4 days a week?
And Then
Measure and address your gender pay gap
Use the WGEA Employer Action Guide
DOWNLOAD THE EMPLOYER ACTION GUIDE
Consult this one tailored for small businesses
DOWNLOAD THE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE
The first step in addressing the gap is to assess the situation with a pay audit that looks across roles, demographics, responsibilities, education, experience and performance. This helps quantify whether a gender pay gap exists and, if it does, measure how big it is.
Why?
ACTION 2: IMPROVE EXPERIENCE FOR TALENT WITH MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES
The census has again demonstrated that issues of mental well-being and mental health need more explicit attention if we’re to reduce churn rates and increase inclusion scores.
Specifically, we now know how many suffer in silence while they would be better able to flourish in a culture where health conditions are acknowledged. A safe and healthy work environment that prevents burnout ultimately benefits organisations. Employees are more engaged, more productive, and less likely to leave.
To take action, we’re asking the industry to do three things:
First
Read, sign and share Mentally Healthy Minimum Standards
Signing the minimum standards is your opportunity to show your people and the industry your commitment. There are more resources for individuals and employers on the website too. Leaders should talk openly about the Minimum Standards to destigmatise and encourage transparency.
Second
Download RUOK? Practical Workplace Guide
To increase awareness of the signs of mental stress and improve support for people with mental health conditions, use the workplace guide to train staff and managers in identifying signs of distress, asking RUOK and responding with compassion when someone says no, I’m not.
RUOK PRACTICAL WORKPLACE GUIDE
And then
Become a Mental Health First Aid skilled workplace in 2023
Providing more avenues for support at work is critical. We’re asking the industry to commit to training a percentage of staff in Mental Health First Aid and undertaking actions to encourage open conversations.
Why?
ACTION 3: ADDRESS MICROAGGRESSIONS FOR EVERYONE TO THRIVE, PARTICULARLY MARGINALISED GROUPS
Microaggressions are the everyday, subtle, intentional – and oftentimes unintentional – interactions or behaviours that communicate some sort of bias toward marginalised groups.
They may sound mini but the impact is mighty. To recognise and reduce microaggressions, we must first classify them as important.
In many cases, seemingly benign behaviours like interruptions and being called too politically correct – aren’t enough to raise red flags with HR but the effects can compound until employees feel disrespected, undervalued, and discriminated against. The ultimate result is low morale, poor team performance, and diminished company culture. Allowing microaggressions to fester will undercut your company’s DEI strategy.
To take action, we’re asking the industry to do three things:
First
Educate your team on what constitutes a microaggression
Download, read and share our fieldguide.
The guide contains definitions, examples, links to videos and further resources, as well as suggestions on how to lead action.
Second
Spotlight everyday exclusionary language and unlearn biases
Share and contribute to the Micropedia of Microaggressions.
Micropedia of Microaggressions
And then
Begin to cultivate a culture of allyship and bystander action
DOWNLOAD 5 ALLYSHIP ACTIONS – A STARTER LIST
Why?
ACTION 4: IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE AND REPRESENTATION OF LGBTQIA+ TALENT
The Create Space Census indicated that our industry is not as open and inclusive as it thinks it is in regard to queer talent.
Our workplaces lack queer representation at senior levels (9% of agency leadership) despite over a quarter of junior talent identifying as LGBTQIA+.
This disparity impacts not only the culture of an agency but also the creative work itself. Non-cis and non-straight people are the second most under-represented group in the work we make for brands.
With this action plan, we’ve designed three steps to address best practice inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people working in our industry. Any agency that tackles all three areas will be creating a safe and inclusive workplace for its LGBTQIA+ talent now and into the future.
First
REVIEW AND IMPLEMENT THE BASICS FOR AN LGBTQIA+ INCLUSIVE CULTURE
Make a simple start by reviewing talent policies, using inclusive language, running staff training and respecting some basic do’s and don’ts.
This Forbes article covers the basics to get you started.
Second
IMPLEMENT PRONOUNS
Our industry working group has developed a guide to help get you started.
Read the Pronouns Guide and LGBTQIA+ Glossary
Simple ways to show respect for a person’s identity involve using correct language through pronouns and having an understanding of LGBTQIA+ terms. We have devised a simple workplace resource to educate, inform and provide ways to implement pronouns that can be championed by anyone.
And then
BECOME AN AWEI-CERTIFIED LGBTQIA+ INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE
ACON’s Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) provides a comparative benchmark on LGBTQIA+ workplace inclusion and uses the largest national employee survey on the impact of inclusion initiatives on organisational culture across all industry sectors. Participating organisations achieve Bronze/Silver/Gold employer recognition.
Why?
ACTION 5: IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE AND REPRESENTATION OF ETHNIC MINORITIES
While our workforce is ethnically diverse overall, the ethnic majority is people with European origins.
We also see far fewer people from ethnic minorities in senior roles.
Beyond recruiting, we need to address the issues impacting retention. Ethnic minorities working in our industry are experiencing discrimination and negative behaviour, leading to a much higher likelihood of leaving the industry.
To take action, we’re asking the industry to do three things:
First
REALLY GET TO KNOW YOUR TEAM
Run another (tiny) survey to uncover cultural and religious practices among your team.
Use our template to build your own mini-survey.
It’s not just about knowing that someone on your team (or how many of them) was born overseas, it’s about knowing what their background, ethnicity or religion means in practice so you can better understand and consider their perspectives.
Second
BE A MATE AND LEARN TO PRONOUNCE NAMES
Include best practices and tools in your induction processes, including the introduction of phonetic tools. LinkedIn supports voice recordings of names to aid in pronunciation which is a great thing to promote among your team.
Using correct names is a crucial part of creating an inclusive workplace culture.
We can all help by including the importance of names in our DE&I training, together with phonetic spelling/pronunciation guides, and name pronunciation audio tools in our email signatures and in profiles.
And then
ACKNOWLEDGE, CELEBRATE AND SUPPORT CULTURAL HOLIDAYS AND TRADITIONS
Most people of different backgrounds have days they’re celebrating at home that nobody at the office knows about. Be aware of which holidays agency staff are observing and be respectful or share in the celebrations appropriately.
Add these events to the social calendar for the office and team.
This may mean a Diwali lunch or Hanukkah greeting cards or Lunar New Year festivities. (The Survey from Step 1 should inform what dates you should consider).
Introduce a flexible public holiday policy.
Rather than default to a set (largely Christian) holiday model, introduce a Set and Floating holiday model to create an inclusive workplace. This signals a commitment to diversity and inclusion and acknowledges the diversity of employees by allowing them to take public holidays on days that suit their circumstances.
FLEXIBLE PUBLIC HOLIDAY POLICY TEMPLATE
Why?
ACTION 6: IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE AND REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
15% of the global population have a disability – amounting to over 1 billion people. 80% of disabilities are invisible and acquired between the ages of 18 and 64 – working age. It is time to dispel the myth that it is hard to find disabled talent or that modifying systems or facilities is too complicated or expensive.
The Census showed 58% of our industry are living with a mental or physical health condition, with 1 in 4 employees reporting to be affected by some ongoing physical condition. Of this cohort, only 10% make their company aware of it.
With this action plan, we would like the industry to take three steps aimed at increasing representation, accessibility and inclusion. Importantly, we acknowledge that Disability is a spectrum, including both physical and intellectual disabilities. Some are invisible. The key thing is to ensure people feel comfortable disclosing their challenges by ensuring people without disabilities understand inclusion.
First
COMPLETE ‘THE QUICK 10’ SELF-ASSESSMENT TO UNDERSTAND THE GAPS
Available to all organisations at no cost, this tool from the Australian Network on Disability provides a snapshot of your current performance against key access and inclusion criteria. It also provides valuable information on how to progress in all 10 key areas. Simply answer 10 quick questions to assess your maturity and get a score out of 100 to kick-start your access and inclusion journey.
Second
RAISE AWARENESS AND FOSTER INCLUSIVE CULTURE AT WORK
Conduct Disability Awareness Training
The Disability module of the course includes topics such as understanding different types of disabilities, assumptions about disability, technology and disability and how to include disability in the workplace.
Alternatively, Disability Awareness has a free e-learning course available on its site.
And then
DEVELOP A DISABILITY ACTION PLAN (DAP) TO ADDRESS DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES AND SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY
Use the Australian Human Rights Commission guide to design a well-publicised and thoroughly prepared DAP.
Take a look at Group M’s DAP for ideas
GROUP M DISABILITY ACTION PLAN
Why?
