Differences, we all have them. But not many teams in the advertising world are as rich of them as our very own House of Communication in Brussels. Ethnicity, religion, sexuality, mbti type, neurodiversity… you name it, we welcome it in our agency. But we know better than to feel complacent with our numbers. The way we see it is simple: diversity leads to creativity, which leads to innovation, which leads to great work for best brands. To truly foster such creativity, we must make sure to attract and appease to the very best talent out there, including all their quirks and needs that make them unique. And to nourish such environment, we knew we needed the help of experts.
Collaborating with inclusivity experts
We turned to YIN United, two leadership experts, who help businesses become more diverse and inclusive. Together we embarked on our journey. First, we held a anonymously online survey. This allowed all colleagues to participate in a discussion with one goal: find out the opinions and needs regarding certain topics inside the agency. The second step was to hold jam sessions over the following months. These are workshops about topics that came to light during the survey, such as purpose and company values, team rituals and psychological safety. From those sessions, we created a canvas that will serve as a blueprint for the upcoming year.
Celebrating the team's diversity
Of course, while focusing on how to improve, we also wanted to celebrate the richness that’s already present in our agency. We chose topics that resonated with our team members and worked together with them to create different experiences throughout the year.
Together, we welcomed the Lunar and Jewish New Year, celebrated about all kinds of love, discovered the power of language, learned about Black History Month, showed gratitude, took time for coffee and poetry, had an Eid feast, cuddled up with our office dogs, discussed forms of work, care, ethnic backgrounds and much, much more. All of them which can be found on our dedicated website celebratediversity.be
The future is inclusive
Diversity is counting, inclusivity is making everyone count. This is our next step and focus for 2023. We learned that diversity & inclusion is also about leadership, so we will work on that in a broad sense, integrating these principles into company policies and rituals.
Is this an easy journey? No. We had to have tough conversations, change the way we viewed and approached things and challenge current beliefs. But we learned from it and became more determined and more convinced with each milestone to fully commit ourselves to building an agency that is both diverse, inclusive and bursting of creative talent.
