Veritas, DonerNorth and Meat & Produce have launched a new parental leave policy aimed at countering a pandemic-driven decline in women entering the workforce.
Under the new policy, employees at the agencies are now eligible for up to 12 months of full top-up on their salary, based on tenure with the company. The agency is also formalizing its hybrid working policies after it “heard from many staff that the increased flexibility that they got from remote work made it possible to accomplish their goals,” she adds.
Krista Webster, vice-chair of Stagwell’s Doner Partners Network – of which the agencies are members – also describes it as as a “rewrite” of the way the agencies approach talent retention and leadership.
“The ‘great she-cession’ that took place during the pandemic focused our efforts on formally updating our policies. That said, this is not a new challenge for women,” Webster tells strategy. “This policy was a long time in the making. It was born out of conversations with women in and out of the agency about what they struggled with in those critical first months with a new baby at home.”
The crisis had been well-documented throughout the pandemic, she adds, particularly for the marketing sector.
“A significant number of women opt out of ‘#agencylife’ or careers in marketing and communications altogether after maternity leave. It’s not because these jobs are ‘too challenging’ for parents – in fact, across all the agency teams that I’ve led, I can’t think of a single new father who left because of the demands of parenthood,” Webster says. “Women leave because the unique time challenges of parenthood disproportionately fall to mothers and agency leaders need to do more to accommodate for this reality.”
The new policies are intended to be a strong asset for the companies in their bid to retain talent, even though the agencies retained most of the mothers on their teams through the pandemic. “We knew some people were struggling and recognized that we needed to further accomodate the needs of our incredible talent through hybrid opportunities and ample flexibility,” Webster says.
It also extends to all employees, not just future mothers.
“It is a reality both in terms of our workforce and societal expectations – expectations that I hope are changing – that this policy will largely benefit women,” she explains. “That said, if fathers want to take advantage of these benefits – whether they’re in heterosexual relationships or if our 2SLGBTQIA employees are starting a family – we completely support that. Our new policy applies to either parent and includes support for adoption and surrogacy.”
Among employees, reception has been “tremendous” and “appreciative,” Webster notes. Currently, two women have been benefiting from the policy since it was first implemented earlier this year.
“The best people in business want to work for leaders who recognize their potential, cultivate a work environment that allows for achieving through all stages of their lives, and inspires those around them to imagine what is possible,” Webster says, noting that the executive teams within the participating agencies carefully considered the move and “felt that despite the additional financial pressure we will need to take on as [executive] teams, this policy was unanimously the right thing to do.”
“Entirely anchored into the principles of how employers can better empower women (and future parents) in all career and life stages to make choices based on having access to better options, this policy shows that our agencies are places where they can build a career, not simply places to gain experience,” Webster says. “Our goal ultimately is not limited to only empowering our female employees, but also to set an example for the rest of the industry.”