Most advertising agencies are composed of multiple teams, each working within their areas of expertise towards one common goal or initiative. Depending on the agency’s size, many professionals work across multiple disciplines to support a range of client needs.
The makeup of each team is critical for performance. From working collaboratively to ideating your next big campaign, having a diverse set of voices and minds can only add to the wealth of knowledge the team possesses—it rarely takes anything away.
The ideas expressed here challenge preconceived notions about professional pedigree and promote a workplace where diverse backgrounds are perceived as a valuable asset.
Unconventional Doesn’t Mean Unqualified
Maybe their résumé includes a stint when they went on tour with their punk band, or maybe your team has a disproportionate number of former English teachers who taught abroad. Whatever the experience, it shouldn’t be seen as a detriment to their professional brand but an added perspective on top of their qualifications.
Plenty of well-known professionals spent time “floundering” before they hit their stride. After college, Reed Hastings taught math for the Peace Corps before founding Netflix. Sara Blakely, after failing the LSAT, sold fax machines door-to-door before creating Spanx. Barack Obama worked as a financial researcher, project coordinator, community organizer, and law professor before beginning his political career in 1996.
Life isn’t straightforward. Diverse and unconventional experiences not only shape unique perspectives but also fuel success in unexpected ways.
When Tradition Limits Innovation
Do you really want to staff your office entirely with employees educated at the same schools, who’ve had the same experiences, and who maintain the same outlook on the work that they do? That seems a bit Orwellian, to be honest.
Marla Kaplowitz, President and CEO of the 4A’s, stated in a 2019 article, “As agencies continue to compete for talent and want to ensure a diverse and inclusive workforce, there’s an opportunity to move beyond the previously strict four-year college degree requirement.” This highlights the need for managers to look beyond their previously held beliefs and embrace candidates who have so-called unconventional qualifications.
In the long run, tradition can be limiting. Even in his book Confessions of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy warns of agencies who rely heavily on the formulas of past success. He refers to this as “dry rot setting in.” Once an agency makes its name, it can become resistant to change—which leads to stagnation and formulaic work.
By being open to an influx of new experiences, thoughts, and practice, the reservoir of originality only deepens, warding off stagnation from overtaking the work.
Foster Diversity, Foster Progress
Company culture follows a trickle-down effect. Every drop of blood, sweat, and tears shed by leadership ripples throughout any agency. When it comes to harboring an appreciation for diversity of people, ideas, and experience, leadership sets the tone. As a leader, the position inevitably means not only being a role model but an advocate for this diversity.
The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution: Eight Powerful Truths by Juliete Bourke and Bernadette Dennings provides key insights and benefits into cognitive diversity from a managerial perspective. “Research shows that diversity of thinking is a wellspring of creativity, enhancing innovation by 20 percent. It also enables groups to spot risks, reducing these up to 30 percent.”
By fostering a culture that values diversity, agencies not only strengthen their teams but elevate the quality of their work. Essentially, nurturing diversity is just as significant as being diverse. By aligning your decision-making process with an enterprise-wide commitment to progress, employees can actualize and leverage their own and others’ unique qualities for the good of the team.
Embrace Diversity
Embracing diversity is about recognizing the richness of each individual’s experiences, perspectives, and skills. As a full-service agency, &Barr prides itself on drawing people from diverse backgrounds—they can go elsewhere, but they choose &Barr. This diversity empowers fresh ideas to flourish and effective solutions to come to life.
By cultivating an inclusive culture, &Barr has unlocked the full potential of its workforce—creating an environment where every voice is not simply heard but, ultimately, valued.
