It’s time for creative industries to get creative with work arrangements
Employment flexibility should not be reserved for mothers, or even just working parents, but for everyone in the workforce. After all, diversity is the mother of creativity, says Lauren Hill.
The gender diversity spotlight has been shining bright on the creative industry this past week thanks to some disturbing comments from Kevin Roberts, Saatchi and Saatchi’s chairman. He was suspended and then stepped down after he claimed the Gender debate is ‘over’ and the lack of women in senior roles was because they ‘lacked ambition’.
The Comm’s Council reports only 16% of senior roles in creative agencies are held by women. Whilst alarming, I’m not surprised at all. From the recent spate of articles about agencies struggling against some internal gender related issues, this is quite clearly a problem, but I believe there is another contributing factor to the lack of women in agencies, and that’s tied to a cultural shift that needs to happen if creative agencies want to remain relevant in the workplace of the future.
It’s common knowledge that if you work at a creative agency you work long long hours. Usually with very little flexibility. Naturally, these hours are not conducive for working parents, especially women who, in our society, still assume most of the care-giving responsibilities.
Perhaps the lack of more experienced women in the creative industry is not through a lack of ambition but simply because they cannot commit to the same hours once they have a family?
So why the ridiculously long and inflexible hours? I believe the root cause comes down to the longstanding client/agency relationship that exists.
I have worked in agency life and I have worked on the client side. I have put down my bags as I was leaving the office at 8:30pm and headed back to my computer to get something urgent done for a client. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I have made the call to our agency asking for something to be turned around by the morning for an important meeting that has just been arranged at 5:00pm.
I’d even go as far as to admit that I have said ‘don’t worry, we’ll just get the agency to do that for us’ within a ridiculous time frame. The typical relationship that exists between agency and client resembles that of a master and servant – where the balance of power sits squarely with the client.
If the agency does not deliver on time, every time, at any time the request comes through, they know there is another eager agency waiting in the wings. Agency management feel this pressure and push it downward to the teams to be more creative and to work more hours, and they end up being in the office from 9:00am to silly o’clock. A lot.
In days gone by procurement contracts used to give some agencies a sense of security and promote more of a partnership relationship but the competitive landscape and proliferation of smaller agencies hungry for work means clients are now choosing to work with agencies on a project basis, and retaining the upper hand.
Sadly, it is not only the agency team members who are affected by the long hours, but their families at home who have eaten dinner on their own again and again and again.
I see this scenario being played out daily through the life of one of my closest friends. Her husband is a director at a top tier agency and with the title comes the loss of control over his time. Dropping children at school is a no-go, leaving to collect a sick child is unheard of, and attending the assembly to watch his son get a certificate is just not an option.
In organisations that embrace flexibility this would have been a simple conversation with his leader, communication with his team and a pat on the back for being such a great dad. Instead, his inflexible hours have had a number of negative impacts on their family, and also on her career, as she is expected to fulfil all the child-minding responsibilities, or outsource them.
The Works: Mothers and fathers will be eligible for the childcare payments
Last month we celebrated when The Works announced it was going to pay the childcare fees of its staff to encourage women to come back to work. We also praised Bellman Agency for its heart-warming welcome to their new mum hires. DDB refers to their work-life “blend” and how they embrace flexible work practices on their website.
Unfortunately, these examples are the exceptions and not the norms in the creative industry. Flexibility should not be reserved for mothers, or even just working parents, but for everyone in the workforce. After all, diversity is the mother of creativity.
As many of the organisations that creative agencies serve embrace flexibility, it will have an impact on the current client/agency relationship. The hope is that clients and agencies work towards more of a shared norm of flexible work, with a mutual understanding that supports the teams working on both sides. And perhaps some of the best creative ideas might develop outside of the office whilst watching the school sports carnival.
The time is now for creative agencies to get more creative with their work arrangements. Embrace flexibility – it could be your best campaign yet!
Lauren Hill is head of marketing at FlexCareers. Previously she worked in marketing roles at agencies, corporations, private businesses and now start-ups
Right now, clients are in a position to behave the way you mentioned. But once the next generation of clever people realise that’s no way to live your life, the clients will sleep in the bed they have made for themselves
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This article explains why I haven’t encountered a female ECD here in Sydney. Gender bias. And that’s why predominantly in major ad agencies, roles for designers or Art Directors are mostly male. Having enlightened with that, isn’t it about time flexibility should be a mandated thing in advertising? It’s not the per hour, it’s more of the output or the creativity consumed.
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Same across the board. (Media) agency side my entire career, returning after my first son and then realising the work hours expectation was not feasible. Needless to say, after my second son I moved swiftly publisher side and couldn’t be happier.
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Great article. This is exactly why after recently becoming a mother I have left agency life. Let’s hope change is around the corner.
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Why is agencies exploiting people a gender issue? In my experience, they don’t care what sex I am when they expect me to continually work unpaid overtime.
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Thanks for your feedback. Millenials entering the workplace are valuing flexibility and wellness over salary etc which will also prompt more changes in this space.
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Output should definitely be the focus and not presence in the office. Face to face communication and collaboration are very important in the creative industry and there are a number of tech solutions that can be explored to support more flexible work arrangements whilst still achieving the desired goals. Good luck with your career and hopefully you’ll encounter more women in the industry when it becomes more flexible.
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Sounds like a superb career move for you. Congrats on that and the two little ones of course! Thanks for your comment.
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We’re very hopeful and doing what we can to normalise flexibility across industries and genders. Hopefully you have found a role that suits your career aspirations and flexibility needs. And congrats on becoming a mum!
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You’re right, it’s definitely not a gender issue however in society today women are still expected to take on more of the child raising responsibilities and hence working full time is near impossible. In an ideal world, flexible work arrangements would be available to all employees, male or female, parents or not. With many clients moving to more flexible work arrangements this will have an impact on how agencies deliver and hopefully together they can craft a more realistic way of working that allows for work arrangements that look a little different to what exists today.
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As a husband I don’t expect my wife to look after our children more than I do. I take half the responsibility for raising them and am constantly making sure my wife’s career is able to flourish as she wishes. This may come as a massive surprise but spending time with kids is bloody good fun.
So why in all these discussions is the personal responsibility of the mother or unhappy female to make good decisions completely over looked and instead blame is attributed to ‘society’s expectations’. This is bullshit, make better decisions about who you choose to live your life with, don’t marry or have a child with a Neanderthal. Choose a partner from this millennium. Choose to be with someone who takes equal responsibility for raising your children, choose to work for a company that looks after its staff, choose not to work for misongonists, choose to vote for better leaders etc etc etc. Stop blaming everyone else for your life choices. Wake up tomorrow and make a good choice.
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