Adland Diversity & Inclusion Index 2021: McCann Worldgroup Singapore

McCann Worldgroup Singapore impressed our judging panel with its focus on conscious inclusion. The agency, with 20 different nationalities within the Singapore team alone, works to ensure the possibilities of diverse perspectivity where each individual would feel wanted, needed and valued.

In an effort to embed conscious inclusion, the 107-man team kickstarted by planning a day on specific months where all business and client work would cease. On this day, Conscious Inclusion would be encouraged within the company, which would allow each individual to come up with unique ideas without the fear of being ridiculed or judged upon. Similar to the sharing community, conscious inclusion allows the person to feel unique, yet fosters a sense of belonging to the community he or she is with.

Consequently, with the pandemic, the creative agency has noted that many individuals within its walls and out have experienced a stretch in their mental limit with nine out of 10 claiming that there has been a decline in mental health as compared to before. McCann’s response to this was to provide a strong sense of support, belonging and purpose among employees.

A campaign called “Day for Meaning” was launched where everyone was invited to work together to identify, commit and correct the practices in the workplace. On this day, all activities were halted for everyone to focus on improving behaviours and lifestyle.

From December 2020 to June 2021, a series of events were also planned to ensure the campaign would be a success. These initiatives included Year of Belonging, which utilises a suite of tools, programmes and activities for everyone to build an inclusive workplace. Initiatives also include an unlimited paid leave policy known as Time Well Taken, and fully funded lifestyle activities known as Workations. Knowing that many employees were also working on their personal times during the difficult times amidst the pandemic, McCann also strongly urged employees to take time out from teams, asking them to take a weekend to not send or reply to emails.

Despite the campaign running only for six months, all of the initiatives yielded significant progress for the agency and pointed out potential room for improvement which the agency is steadfast in tackling. Following the initiative, McCann also measured four key areas it aimed to improve on -  equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging.

The percentage increases with the baseline of 2020 are as follows - 29%, 31%, 58% and 16% respectively.

With the needle moving in the right direction, McCann said this allows employees to be more confident in their ideas and break the boundaries of creative thinking.

“Beyond the survey findings, our performance in the industry would also suggest that our efforts to create a more inclusive culture, and a genuine sense of connection and shared purpose, is not just driving a sense of belonging but also generating a positive return on investment,” said the team.

To read the rest of the agency initiatives in the Adland Diversity & Inclusion Index 2021, click here.