Why TrinityP3 is requesting agencies declare on issues of harassment, bullying and assault – in the interests of clients and the wider industry

Issues of harassment, bullying and even assault are sadly nothing new for the advertising industry. From today marketing management consultancy TrinityP3 will be asking all agencies who join one of their pitches to sign a statutory declaration. Here is why.

?In the past year, we have become increasingly aware that issues related to workplace bullying, harassment and assault were still occurring in the advertising industry. Too often these issues are framed as historical, and that the industry was “not as bad as it was”. But you only have to look at the stories and concerns that emerged at recent International Women’s Day events to realise the issues are still very apparent and directly affect this generation of adland employees.

?These issues that we whisper about are an endemic and ongoing problem. We discuss it over drinks, we console friends, colleagues, even family, who might have been impacted, but no one takes a stand.

?No one in power moves to force change.

Our fear is that it might impact business. It gets rolled into the too-hard basket. But the reality is marketers and brands are left exposed by ignoring these issues. Afterall, who wants to deal with the backlash of choosing to work with an agency that allowed issues of bullying, harassment or worse to go on?

Instead, we are weighed down by a collective inertia to an industry-wide culture of silence. And we are all made complicit.

Well, TrinityP3 on behalf of its clients is taking a stand. From July 4, 2022, our consultancy will be requesting that any agency wanting to be considered for a pitch we are managing on behalf of our clients will need to complete a statutory declaration of their status and processes regarding workplace bullying, harassment and assault.?

Let me explain why and how, while an imperfect solution, we believe it’s in the best interests of the marketers who work with us.

Over the past 12 months, all of us have heard the wave of stories where particularly female employees have been targeted, bullied, and in some instances assaulted. ?It has felt like Australian adland might suddenly have its “me too” moment. ?But then the strictures of our defamation laws worked to ensure nothing happened and the moment faded.

For TrinityP3, we found ourselves at the juncture of many of the adland advocacy groups pushing for some sort, any sort, of reform. ?On review, it virtually was impossible to ignore the number of groups that have specifically been established to promote gender equality within the advertising industry in Australia.

Groups like the Mavens, The Aunties, Fck the Cupcakes, ShEqual and more have called upon all of us to overcome this collective inertia and move in the direction of progress on these issues. ?In conversations with representatives of these organisations and others, it became very clear that bullying, harassment and assault were an ongoing problem in some Australian agencies.

?It was shocking to hear that workplace behaviour that many considered had died out at the turn of the century continued to exist in these more enlightened and inclusive times. But it appears, talking with those impacted, that while overt sexism and misogyny is rightly frowned upon, today cultures still exist that gag the victims and protect the perpetrators within agency workplaces, allowing the industry to pretend that the problem is no longer an issue.

These acts often go undetected because rather than being discussed openly and transparently, they are instead the topic of rumour and gossip. Yet the material impact this has on the victims of this behaviour, the implications and the consequences, are significant and often life-changing.

In subsequent conversations with those dealing with this behaviour, it became clear that industry-worst-practice had in part, enabled gagging the victims with Deeds of Confidentiality and other legal instruments, leaving them continually victimized, while protecting the perpetrators and their enablers.?

TrinityP3 has a key role in advising our clients on the agencies they choose to work with. ?We are trusted to provide insights and knowledge in recommending the best fit agencies for their needs. ?But there is also a requirement that we inform them of the possible risks and challenges that come with that selection process.

While there has been significant progress across all Australian businesses in offering employees support through the provision of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), the fact is these focus on minimizing the impact across a wide range of issues but do not necessarily address the underlying cause through calling the perpetrators to account when required. It is TrinityP3’s firm view that they do little to solve the problem.?

Some have suggested that the terrific work being done across the industry to increase diversity and inclusion will address the issue of workplace bullying, harassment and assault. But how can we hope to encourage and welcome a wider and more diverse group of individuals to our industry when we cannot guarantee the safety of those currently working in advertising?

Instead, in March this year, we approached the main industry bodies in Australia with the suggestion that they take a leadership position on this issue. By providing an independent and secure reporting process (which some agencies already have in place) that could also provide assurance to advertisers on the validity of their choice in the agencies they partner with, rather than relying on rumour and gossip.

While I won’t speak for them, I will say their collective and confidential response to this suggestion has been, in our view, underwhelming. Many of their members have clear, independent and secure reporting processes that could have been extended to all other members (or those that refused might have clients asking why they would reject such processes). Instead, the response emphasized how using EAPs and other mechanisms was sufficient and that any such member-wide scheme would be problematic.

Sadly, we must all accept an EAP service is like an emergency department: they can provide generalist support for a wide range of urgent issues but do not replace the need for your GP or specialist to address the cause or provide long-term care and recovery – or, dare I say, work to help prevent the situation in the first place.

An EAP might provide urgent counselling to a team member in an agency facing issues such as bullying, harassment or worse. But they don’t follow up and can’t give the employer or the industry visibility on the nature or scale of the problems at hand. The risk of an EAP is that it allows the employer to tick the duty of care box without doing anything that might force cultural change in our industry or get in the way of business.

Again, we find ourselves trapped in collective inertia and by an industry-wide culture of silence. TrinityP3 chooses no longer to be complicit.

Therefore, if the industry bodies are unable or unwilling to take responsibility for this issue, we as advisors need to look for a way for our clients to be able to make some level of informed decision on the agencies they choose to work with.

Our lawyers have drafted a statutory declaration, which we will require any agencies wanting to participate in a pitch or tender managed by us to consider and sign.?

This statutory declaration asks for the following three things:

• The agency to define their status in regard to complaints of workplace bullying, harassment and assault;
• The agency to detail their use of Deeds of Confidentiality and other legal instruments potentially gagging victims and others from reporting such workplace behaviours;
• It also asks for warrants on policies and processes regarding meeting agency obligations as employers in ensuring the safety of their employees and contractors.

Signing the statutory declaration is NOT mandatory for the agency to be considered by the client for participation in the pitch or tender process. But the agency’s compliance or non-compliance will be shared with the client and become part of their due diligence, as they see fit.

The purpose is to ensure our clients are informed as broadly as possible on the capabilities and risks associated with the consideration and appointment of any agency. It is our intention to provide this to our clients until a more comprehensive and transparent solution is implemented.

TrinityP3 does not pretend statutory declarations are the solution to what is a major and entrenched industry problem. But we hope that in taking this stand we can be on the right side of history and act as agents of change in the interests of protecting not only our clients but also the agency employees who too often do not have the power to act and push for change and reform.

We welcome your feedback and consideration, either here in the comments or by email to [email protected]

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