• by Larissa Faw , July 12, 2017

AMV BBDO is introducing a new employment policy aimed at boosting numbers of female creatives in the agency by offering permanent, half-time roles. 

In what is considered one of the first large-scale agency programs of its kind, the UK-based shop says these employees will have full flexibility as to how they complete their work, from the period of the working day they choose to work to whether they work from home or in the office.

The new roles will be built around half the working hours required in standard working contracts (e.g. 3.5 rather than 7 working hours a day). Each new hire will be connected to a mentor from outside the agency to help with their transition back into work.

The roles created by the new policy will be permanent positions within the AMV BBDO creative department, rather than freelance or short-term spots.  Employees will receive the same kind of creative briefs, training opportunities, and appraisals as full-time members of the department. Salary will be pro-rata based on contractual hours.

Although the policy is aimed at women, male parents who are in a primary care role and are attempting to return to work are also eligible to apply for the program. The agency is currently in the process of hiring between eight and 10 half-time creatives, with the intent to introduce the program across other departments in the future.

"On top of diversifying our team through this program, it's important that junior creatives in our company – particularly female creatives - know there is corporate and cultural support in place for returning to work after a break, whenever they may need to take one," stated Adrian Rossi, joint ECD, AMV BBDO.

This idea for the program came from  AMV BBDO CEO Ian Pearman who, while on holiday, was reading a Harvard Business School report about exits and re-entries for women during their careers.  Pearman, Rossi, and agency executive creative director Alex Grieve are credited with devising the plan and putting it in place.   

They hope others will now follow their lead. "It will shift everyone’s focus to increasing the absolute volume of female talent in creative departments, rather than just fighting for a relative share of the currently limited pool,” said Pearman.

Since the project launched about a month ago, AMV BBDO has already received more than 100 applications and additional requests for further information, according to the agency.
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