Inclusion Is the Future of Work: A Conversation With WPP CPO Jacqui Canney and UWG Chair and CEO Monique Nelson

What will that new normal look like? How do we prepare students for jobs that we don’t yet know will exist?

These are the big questions the Fordham Gabelli School of Business posed for participants in its Centennial Celebration Conference on The Future of Business Education – a venue for business school leaders, students, alumni and industry leaders to talk about how young people can prepare for the workplace of the future.

At WPP, we are tackling these kinds of questions for our clients, our communities and ourselves. Just like universities, companies across industries are transforming and reckoning with a future that can feel so uncertain during a year like 2020.

That’s why we joined the conference to discuss our own journey at WPP and in our companies like UWG – particularly our journey to build and foster an even more inclusive culture. We talked about how companies can create an environment where all employees can bring their authentic selves to work, and how universities can help prepare students to be the kind of purpose-driven employees who will thrive.

From our point-of-view, inclusion is the future of work. That is why WPP announced our Commitment to Anti-Racism in June. It’s why we’re working with all our companies across WPP to accelerate meaningful, sustainable change. It’s why we are using the power of our voice and partnering with our clients to advance the cause of racial equality. UWG, for example, has helped clients find their voices in this moment. UWG worked with Dove to thank people who are doing their part to fight systemic racism (America the Beautiful) and front-line heroes for their courage (Courage is Beautiful). The company also worked with Ford to celebrate Black women as creators with Built Phenomenally spot.

These are just a few of the many inclusive, inspiring stories we’ve helped tell this year. When we build inclusive, diverse teams, we do our best, most creative work.

You can see the video of our conversation here and a few highlights below.

Highlights:

Jacqui on building an inclusive culture and people strategy:

• “Monique has been my partner – you can tell we’ve been through this time together. I joined WPP in June 2019 from my role at Walmart, where I was for four years. And when I started, I met Monique probably in my second week of work. We were on a panel talking about diversity and inclusion and how important it is in this industry along with our CEO Mark Read and Gayle King from CBS. I didn't know then what I know now about what would happen in the next year, but we set out to chart a course for where WPP would be.”
• “The murder of George Floyd was broadcast to the world, and while there were so many others who have died and been murdered, that moment really pushed us to think about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Our people agenda was built around three pillars – to be the employer of choice, modernize, and build a talent pipeline. Since June – when our CEO very vocally committed to anti-racism, and knowing that we’re a people-led business – we've really tripled down on what our people strategy is. I am really proud of commitments that he made publicly. The first is signing on to the “Call for Change” with other black advertising leaders that asked for things like the top to bottom review of our HR processes. A second large commitment is using our voice to stop racism and stereotypes. And the third is a financial commitment of using $30 million to charities and training. And we're just getting started.”
• “Accelerate is really our people strategy, and I mentioned the three pillars that we built on. So now, it’s not just to be the employer of choice, but we want to be the employer choice for all people. It’s not just modernizing the experience here, but modernizing an inclusive experience where data and insights drives our decision making – not just who you know. And then the third pillar, which was talent pipeline, is now more around a learning agility and taking care of yourself – building your capability so you can build your team’s capability. We’re really examining each part of the HR function: how we hire, who we promote, how we choose who we promote, how we reward, how we develop – disintegrating them and bringing them back together in a more inclusive way by listening to our people, by learning from others, by learning from our clients and then holding our leaders accountable.”

Monique on committing to anti-racism:

• “I think a lot of organizations were really timid around leaning in [on anti-racism], but I have to say I'm so proud to be a part of an organization that really jumped in feet first in the deep end. We had a lot of conversations in safe rooms, and really talking about being vulnerable as leaders.”
• “We are all really committed to the fact that this is everybody's job, that this imperative was really everyone’s job. So we talked about it in a framework, about our three “A’s.” Acknowledge and Assess – let’s really be really thoughtful about what are we trying to solve. And then let’s put some real strategic actions against that, and how quickly we can do them. Of course, we only treasure what we measure, so that last “A”, that Accountability that we speak of all the time is really critical. How do we hold people accountable, and not in a way that’s punitive, but in in a way that’s additive and value is created. And making sure that people saw that there was more to our diversity and inclusion strategy – that it was about being differentiator, about being more creative. The more diversity that we had around those tables, those virtual tables now, was going to be more impactful than we had imagined.”
• “Agility, open mindedness, inclusive leadership is ultimately where we all want to be. It’s a continuous improvement model, and honestly that's what the work is. It's a continuous process. Culture moves, humans move, but we definitely know that if we put people, purpose and performance together, we can have a winning strategy.”

Monique on working with clients to use the power of our voice for inclusion:

•  “We love to collaborate, and clients of course came to us with, ‘What do we say in this moment, and should we say something in this moment?’ We had lots of clients that were willing to have that conversation, Dove being one of them – really making sure that beauty did transcend. They made a very bold statement to say America is not beautiful until all of us can be seen, heard and protected equally.” [Dove: America the Beautiful]
•  “Our Ford client continued to lean in on the fact that they believed not only should they be producing working in this time, but actually making sure that they put minorities and women behind the camera and in front of the camera, that communities of color could be represented and uplifted in this moment. So I’m very proud of our roster of clients, and certainly their ability to have a bold conversation in this moment.” [Ford: Built Phenomenally]

Jacqui on preparing young people for the future:

• “I wish I had a crystal ball to make sure I get this right, but I'll give you my point of view. A few years ago, working at Walmart, I was thinking with CEO Doug McMillon about how we prepare the workforce for the future. And we circled around a few key skills that I think it stood the test of time, even in this year. It was to have digital acumen, data-driven decision making, a growth mindset with an open mind, and you can see that this capability to embrace technology was going to be important for a long time. But more than any of those skills, I think, empathy was the one that we really leaned on. As I reflect on this last year, I do think that empathy has probably been the one most required to be a leader – whether you're managing a team from home or a team from around the world that can’t get together, or a client that doesn't know what to do, or people who are struggling with this whole environment. Empathy above all is really the key.”
• “Where I would like to say the skills of the future are pointing, and I know I sit with a people hat, is that it’s really inclusion that is the capability, the skill of the future. All of you out there who are educators – if you weave that into your curriculum and rise that up in your students, they will really be the leaders of the future. Frances Frei is a good friend of mine – she's a professor at Harvard Business School and she talks about inclusion as a continuum. You need to feel safe and welcomed first, but the ultimate place you want your team to be is cherished and celebrated. I think about this for WPP: if we had 100,000 people working with our clients every day, producing those one-in-three ads, and they felt cherished and celebrated – what amazing work would be there and what a fulfilling career would be provided.”