Diversity and inclusion in the event agency world

Building back better, which means more sustainably, has become a key theme as the world recovers from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. A central dimension of building back better is the need for a people rather than profit-centred recovery that focuses on wellbeing, improves inclusiveness and reduces inequality, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) was thrust in the spotlight in 2020. In the wake of the George Floyd killing and subsequent Black Lives Matters protests around the world, industries across the board began to examine their own issues around inequality, including the meetings and events industry.

Despite being a female dominated industry, the meetings and events sector doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to DEI. A report last year revealed that the sector predominantly consists of white professionals (82 per cent) with just three per cent of event professionals identifying as black, African or Caribbean.

The research, developed by Fay Sharpe, founder of women’s mentoring scheme Fast Forward 15 in partnership with IMEX and Leeds Beckett University, also explored gender equality, indicating that 46 per cent of male event professionals hold executive roles, compared to just 23 per cent of women. There is also a lack of representation from those with disabilities working in events, with only three per cent identifying as having a disability.

Diversity is good for business

This lack of diversity, while not unique to the events industry, is cause for concern and highlights there is significant work to be done to improve equality in the sector. DEI policies should be an essential part of all event companies’ wider CSR and sustainable business practices. Not only is there substantial research to show that diversity is good for business, bringing new ideas, challenging established ways of working and appealing to broader customer bases, but ethnically diverse workforces are also more financially successful (McKinsey).

Rick Stainton, Founder & Group Executive Director at creative agency Smyle, believes that agencies need to be more authentic to the changing world. “Clients want to see us reflect their own corporate culture around DEI and sustainability. I think there is a really exciting opportunity to develop diverse experiences for our clients’ audiences – and to do that, you need to have that diversity reflected in your own expertise internally.

“It is very healthy to have different backgrounds and different perspectives, otherwise you are in danger of becoming out of tune and out of sync with the expectations of the wider world and how they view things.”

In our earlier feature, we explored the evolution of event agencies [Feature 2] and how the pandemic has accelerated the move to more strategic content-led and multi-channel business models. This has in turn shifted the skill sets required within agencies, with communications expertise, digital design and technical experience given greater weighting in a more digitally-led events world.

Widening the recruitment net

With event agencies diversifying their skill set, it gives them the opportunity to diversify their recruitment policies and broaden their appeal to people from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. “We have a great opportunity to hire from different industries right now,” says Hannah Luffman, Strategy Director at Cheerful Twentyfirst.

Hannah Luffman, Cheerful Twentyfirst

“I am really excited about the skillsets we are going to need moving forward and what that might mean for hiring from marketing backgrounds, from TV and film backgrounds and even from completely different industry sectors because we no longer just need the traditional event manager skill set. That opens up a lot for us in terms of diversifying where we can recruit from as well.”

However OrangeDoor CEO & Founder Elizabeth Heron believes the problem is more fundamental than that. While turning to the wider marketing and creative industries could certainly help, those sectors have their own issues with underrepresentation so that alone will not be enough. “When we advertise jobs, we are getting responses from a very similar type of person to the demographic that we already have in our business because that is who is out there. And that is the problem. As an industry, we are not attracting people from diverse backgrounds,” she says. “So we have to go right back to the beginning and bring these people in from schools, colleges and universities and mentor them in the industry.”

The lack of interest in a career in events within the BAME community is largely because the industry has not worked hard enough to promote itself strongly into diverse communities across society, according to Dale Parmenter, Group CEO at DRPG. “I think that is why we have always had issues with recruitment and a skills shortage,” he explains, adding that the agency has just completed a project with the Birmingham Hippodrome around diversity and bringing young people from a whole range of different backgrounds into the industry.

He continues: “There is a lack of understanding among people about what our industry does and how exciting it can be. It’s about educating what the opportunities are within our industry and helping spark that interest and confidence within young people in the BAME community that they can have a go and not to be afraid, because some of them feel they are not good enough or it’s not for their type of person. We are trying to say this is nothing to do with who you are, it’s what you are capable of.”

Dale Parmenter, DRPG

The renewed focus on flexible and remote working since start the pandemic, which is discussed in depth in our feature on the future of the agency workplace (Feature 3), could have a positive impact and level the playing field. With employees no longer expected to be in the office five days a week from 9-5pm, it makes the industry more accessible to certain groups, for example working mothers, helping to break down barriers for women in leadership. Flexible working also allows agencies to cast their net further than people working within close vicinity to their offices, widening the potential talent pool and ability to reach more diverse communities.

No turnkey solution

The challenge with diversity and inclusion is that there is no easy way to do it. But there are organisations that can help agencies build a more diverse and inclusive workplace. In the UK, a new organisation aimed at helping businesses in the events, MICE and hospitality industry become more diverse and inclusive was launched last year. Diversity Ally supports organisations to develop diversity and inclusivity (D&I) policies and facilitates bespoke workshops and training for leaders and employees around anti-racism, inclusivity and allyship.

Ashanti Bentil-Dhue, Diversity Ally

“Diversity and inclusion are not a course, or module or certification that you can study for, and then think right I’ve done it. All of our work is very consultative and it’s all about co-creating solutions that are very bespoke and tailored towards individual organisations,” says Ashanti Bentil-Dhue, Co-founder of Diversity Ally

Smyle is among the agencies working with Diversity Ally. “We have invested a lot in the past couple of years, partnering up with Diversity Ally quite recently to make sure we have a clear plan and a number of strategies around our recruitment processes, our internal promotion processes, and HR policies. But there is no turnkey solution,” says Stainton.

When recruiting, agencies need to look outside the normal channels such as Instagram and LinkedIn as the target demographics might not be on them, and consider partnering with local schools and colleges, community initiatives or internship programmes. If they use recruitment agencies, they will need to challenge them to change too, otherwise they will just keep using the same channels and tapping into the same demographic and talent pool.

It’s not just about diversifying internal resource either. One thing all event agencies can do to improve diversity in the wider industry is look at their supply chains and engage with BAME-owned businesses, says Bentil-Dhue. Event professionals also have an important role in promoting diversity more widely through the events they deliver for clients by making sure that events are accessible and speaker programmes are diverse.

Creating inclusive cultures

Angélique Eriksen, CEO & Founder at Egg Events, says that it’s important not to forget about the inclusion piece. “Diversity without inclusion fails. It’s not just diversity, you have to be inclusive. And we’ve had issues at Egg in the past around inclusivity. I remember one year we had hired three different people that were American, and it just wasn’t as inclusive as I would have liked it to be in the French office, not because they didn’t like the people, it was more to do with the codes, culture, humour. If you are trying to be diverse, you have to make sure that you are inclusive and break down those biases,” she explains.

DRPG has recently completed an internal project on equality and inclusivity. “We have got a pretty diverse workforce, so we got together a team of people across our business, from apprentices though to senior leaders, to share their individual stories. People are telling us why they are different, and we should celebrate that difference rather than stigmatise it,” says Parmenter.

As we return to live events and agencies rebuild their businesses and teams, there has never been a better time or opportunity to tackle DEI. If they don’t, it could impact their ability to attract and retain the best talent in the future. In a recent Monster survey, 83 per cent of Gen Z candidates said that a company's commitment to diversity and inclusion is important when choosing an employer. 

“It’s not just the events industry, its general commercial and business best practice for any forward-thinking business that is looking to be fit for purpose for the foreseeable future,” says Stainton. “Agencies that invest in DEI should thrive from having a more diverse set of experiences and a more representative make up of skillsets and backgrounds that will put them in the best stead to meet the requirements of an ever-changing external audience.”