To all my team, my clients and my peers, I am excited and proud to be writing to you on International Women’s Day (IWD). In Ireland we are starting to see improvements in female representation in our industry but we still have a long way to go to see an equal gender balance especially in senior leadership roles.
It has been proven that diverse companies perform better, both in terms of performance, innovation, and profit, so it’s fantastic to see our industry is beginning to eradicate the obstacles that lead to gender imbalance, especially at the more senior levels of management.
My own journey in the industry has been both fruitful and challenging. I’ve worked in this industry for more than 12 yrs. I started working life as a graduate in a full service media agency here in Dublin, before moving to London for a planned year, but ended up staying 8! I got offered a move back to Dublin and felt I needed to reach a certain level before I thought of starting a family and taking maternity leave. To become managing partner I had to be nominated, then shortlisted before flying to London to do a panel interview. This was all whilst I was 7 months pregnant, which as you can imagine was the elephant in the room, not sure many people have had to do that!
I received my promotion at 8 months pregnant and then fairly promptly embarked on the journey of motherhood. Working up to a senior position and then going on maternity leave can, for many women in our industry, be a point of great tension. Where the roles of being a mother and a working professional can be stretched to their limit. But I always felt supported and luckily MediaCom has always been a place where I’ve felt empowered to do my best work, whatever my stage of life.
Coming back from maternity leave made me realise that I wanted to drive change. I strongly believe that working parents should have no barriers to progression in the workplace, and I am thankful that MediaCom, and my own colleagues have supported progressive policies in enabling everyone to fulfil their potential.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2022 is ‘Break The Bias’. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.
So, what have we been doing in Ireland to support this?
At MediaCom we formed Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to hear from our underrepresented populations. Our ERGs are there to help make us a more inclusive company as well as asking them to hold the leadership accountable for its commitment to meaningful action.
At a wider GroupM level we have a working Belonging Group where GroupM seeks to build the industry’s most inclusive and diverse agency. We see the greater picture of all people to create the empathy, creativity and diversity of thought needed to drive meaningful change for clients and consumers.
Personally I want to say a big thank you to everyone involved in both our groups for all the tremendous work that they have done for the company. We fully recognise that this is the beginning of a journey to a more diverse and inclusive workplace: the challenges ahead are both humbling and empowering, and I have no doubt that we will continue to make progress on our ambitious goals. I myself have chosen this year to break the bias – meaning I want to see real progress.
I encourage all of you to challenge yourself to get involved in listening, learning, and engaging in meaningful action. We are in this together.
Michelle Davis is Managing Partner at MediaCom Ireland and a member of IAPI’s D&I Council
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