Our industry needs to be more diverse, more inclusive and more representative of the world that we live in today. As one of the largest agencies in the UK, we know that what we do at IMA-HOME can make a difference in the real world. So, we have a whole team of people dedicated to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion. It’s called ‘IMA-HOME &Me’ and it’s made up of committed and enthusiastic ambassadors who meet monthly to ensure DE&I considerations, efforts and actions are front of mind. I may be the one writing this piece, but I’m certainly not alone on the mission to drive cultural change at IMA-HOME.

Together our ambassadors work across six core workstreams which all made significant progress in 2023…

Women

We find that partnering with organisations that align with our DE&I goals is a real and genuine way to start an initiative and stick to it. We were one of the first companies to be accredited by Careers After Babies, an organisation set up to create a world-class cohort of employers who are committed to supporting working parents.

We also developed our Maternity Playbook, taking inspiration from the excellent organisation, Bloom North. Our playbook maps out exactly what mothers can expect to happen pre, during and post mat leave.

For Menopause Awareness Month in October, we hosted a menopause talk with an external expert, all centred around creating positive conversations. With the team’s learnings, we developed our Menopause Playbook, outlining the ways in which we can support people during this time.

Menopause is not just a women’s issue, so we also hosted our first Menopause Café, welcoming anyone and everyone to join, share stories, ask questions and learn in a safe and supportive environment. We will continue to host menopause meet-ups throughout the year.

Race and Ethnicity

Addressing race and ethnicity is a huge, complex task, and we know there’s a long way to go. We started by reviewing our recruitment practices to identify how we can reach more diverse networks. We also benchmarked and reported on our current agency demographics and thought about how we can be more inclusive for minority groups. Beginning with the basics, like celebrating a wider range of holidays, not just Christmas.

We then shared an internal questionnaire to understand the appetite for learning about race and ethnicity. We used this to compile a calendar of important awareness dates to help drive knowledge-sharing. For example, highlighting survivors’ stories for Holocaust memorial day or sharing our favourite black creators and businesses for Black History Month. We also interviewed Leeds Labour Councillor, Abigail Marshall Katung, during this time. Shedding light on pioneering black women who are helping to change history.

Social Mobility

We've been putting a lot of energy into creating accessible routes into the industry. Starting with the simple step of removing ‘having a degree’ as a requirement on all job specifications.

We connect with students through various initiatives, to inspire the next generation of marketeers and let them know the options available to them. We became one of the first partners of the Upriser programme - a partnership between creative businesses and local schools which includes long-term mentorship. We also opened our doors to local students in Leeds and London as part of the IPA careers programme, Advertising Unlocked, where we gave the students a brief to get stuck into.

Another huge milestone for us in 2023 was launching our apprenticeship programme, ensuring that we not only celebrate alternative ways into the industry but actively foster them.

LGBTQ+

We want to make sure our physical environment is inclusive too. This started with implementing and signposting gender-neutral toilets in our workspaces. A small gesture that could have a big impact on how accepted or comfortable someone feels at work.

We also shared guidance on how everyone can opt to include pronouns on their email signatures. Not only does this display externally that we are inclusive of and acknowledge different gender identities, but it also helps let the receiver know how to address the sender.

We saw Pride Month as an opportunity to inform and educate. Across the month, we curated posts of helpful resources, safe spaces, charities to support and learning and development opportunities. We also hosted agency-wide talks, delving into the history and importance of pride, rainbow capitalism and how we can help our clients get involved for real, in non-superficial ways.

Individual differences

Last year we achieved accreditation as a Disability Confident Employer, a significant milestone in our journey towards being more inclusive and accessible to everyone, including current and future employees. Becoming a Disability Confident Employer signifies that we are dedicated to providing a supportive and inclusive workplace for disabled people.

In 2024 we will be driving internal education around neurodiversity, with eLearning modules and knowledge sharing.  

Parents and Carers

We pride ourselves on being people and family first, so last year we reviewed all our policies to make sure we have supportive measures in place. We recognise that everyone’s journey is different when it comes to starting a family and our policies acknowledge this; covering IVF, pregnancy loss and neonatal.

Being a parent doesn’t stop once the maternity and paternity leave is over, so we have a dedicated Parent Carer Community - a support network for those with the responsibility of being a parent or carer. As a group we host coffee mornings and swap shops, help each other out or simply hold space to vent to someone who gets it.

This group was the driving force behind our ‘Life Moments’ initiative - created to acknowledge that some milestones are just too important to miss. Perhaps it’s your child's first day at school, they have a nativity or it’s the big sports day – if you need to flex your working hours to accommodate, we’re fully supportive.

Our progress has been made possible by all the people at IMA-HOME who are passionate and committed to making positive change.

Our biggest learning throughout this time is to try not to get overwhelmed by the size of the challenge. Always think long term, keep learning from others and their experiences and make marginal gains as you go.