By Matt Neale, CEO and Gary Rudnick, President & COO

A lot has occurred over the past few months, and it has led to a long-overdue awakening and time of reflection in our country – and in our company. As we have taken a hard look in the mirror, we see that we clearly haven’t done enough to ensure that our company reflects the communities in which we live and work. We are whole-heartedly committed to changing and improving – but realize that in an industry that values and prides itself on crafting beautiful words – it will be our actions, not our words, that will truly be the measure of change.

Accountability starts with transparency, and as such, today we are sharing our agency’s 2019 diversity data, in accordance with the Equal Employment Office’s (EEO) standards. We are not proud of these statistics, nor what they represent. But, it’s important to acknowledge them and commit to doing better – which we are doing here – starting today.

Our plan for the coming months and years is aggressive, and in fact, several initiatives have been underway for some time – with many more planned to ensure material change happens quickly in our organization. As an important starting point, Inclusion has been added to the articulated core values of our agency, joining Curiosity, Creativity, Bravery and Collaboration as the foundational pillars of our company. In addition, we are focusing on four key areas:

1: Systems

We are increasing and cultivating diverse talent by addressing recruiting, orientation, retention, pay equity and racial parity.

• Achieve EEO employment sector targets in 2021, and Census targets on/before 2025 across all management levels
• Change our hiring strategy to ensure at least one Black candidate is interviewed for every open position in the agency, and that there is a Black finalist candidate for every senior position
• Increase our pipeline of Black talent by establishing deep relationships with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other predominantly Black institutions
• Ensure every Black employee has a 12-18 month career development plan in conjunction with their manager and HR
• Invest in developing sponsorship programs and external development opportunities to provide our Black employees a roadmap and tools for advancement
• Continue to analyze gender and race pay equity on an annual basis, and make changes as necessary
• Continue the push to elevate the value of Black audiences and influencers in our approach to research, planning, creative and outreach
• Audit major marketing materials, creative concepts and client programming over the past year to determine a baseline from which we will improve representation
• Align our framework for leadership success with inclusive leadership competencies

2: Enablement

We are working with diversity and inclusion specialists to create custom programs for Golin. Training modules will initially focus on Inclusive Leadership Training and Intercultural Competence, including:

• How to Talk About Racism
• Micro-aggressions
• Overcoming Unconscious Bias
• Becoming an Ally
• Courageous Conversations

3: Investment

Actions (and dollars) speak louder than words, so we are putting our time and our money behind our pledge to change:

• Golin is making a $1M commitment in a combination of time, new dollars and the reallocation of our existing resources to ensure change over the coming year
  • Pro-bono work on behalf of social engagement causes and organizations that support race equity – local efforts across our offices
  • Supplier diversity – vendors, partners and freelancers
  • Sponsorships – organizations, affiliations and events
  • Training resources – outside courses and perspectives
  • New hires – account management, recruiting and training talent

4: Measurement

We will focus on measurement in the following specific categories:

• Favorable Climate Surveys (Employees)
• Talent Pipeline Development
• Workforce Development
• Market Impact

And, we will measure our progress across every function of the agency including:

• Company level
• Office level
• Function/Practice level
• Account level
• Individual level

– Matt Neale, CEO & Gary Rudnick, President & COO