Advocating for an Inclusive Work Environment
At Weber Shandwick, diversity is a necessity, a priority and a competitive advantage. We strive to employ a workforce comprising people of varied backgrounds, beliefs, experiences and perspectives. In addition, as a result of our extensive global network, multinational clients and the many countries and cultures in which we work, diversity contributes to our professional and personal experiences every day.
By drawing upon our employees’ wide range of perspectives, we ignite powerful, game-changing solutions for our clients. The resulting fresh thinking helps us deliver upon our mission – to help every client develop a legion of believers, supporters and followers they need today to drive growth, cultivated through the power of advocacy – while contributing to a highly engaging, culturally rich work environment for our employees.
As a global company, Weber Shandwick is committed to building and promoting diversity and inclusion throughout our organization:
- We value inclusion. We help our employees and business to succeed by creating and managing fair access in the workplace, promoting awareness of multiple world views and respect for their importance, and ensuring that all employees have the information and access to opportunities they need to succeed.
- We embrace diversity. We recognize and respect differences based on a wide range of backgrounds and characteristics. Tapping into a variety of life experiences and personal perspectives enhances our effectiveness, brand reputation, employee engagement and ultimately, our success.
- We are committed to cultivating a multicultural workforce. Our goal is to be an employer of choice for the best minds in the business in an increasingly complex and demographically changing world.
- We are actively developing programs to enhance diversity throughout the agency. Diversity councils and champions across our network of offices are listening, acting and launching new programs, providing a wide range of opportunities for employees to take part in our diversity efforts.
Weber Shandwick’s parent company, The Interpublic Group (IPG), shares our strong commitment to inclusion. There’s no doubt that when a company proactively seeks out diverse talent and business partners, appreciates new and different points of view, and works to achieve an inclusive work environment, the company will achieve better performance.
Weber Shandwick employees are invited to participate in IPG’s
Multicultural Employee Resource Groups for Excellence (MERGE), resource groups for employees who identify with specific affinity communities. These cross-agency, employee-driven groups are organizations of individuals who identify with or have an affinity to a particular dimension of diversity. MERGE’s groups currently include:
- Black Employee Network
- Asian Heritage Group
- SOMOS - Hispanic Heritage Network
- IPG GLBT
In addition, Weber Shandwick actively supports IPG’s
Women’s Leadership Network, a resource group co-founded by a senior Weber Shandwick executive, to promote the recruitment, retention and advancement of women. IPG has pledged to support additional business resource groups that develop organically.
Diversity Partners
Weber Shandwick partners with a number of organizations to identify, recruit and prepare candidates for positions within our company. These partners include:
- Howard University
- The LAGRANT Foundation
- The National Black Public Relations Society
- The Opportunity Network
- Prep for Prep
- Ladders for Leaders
In addition, through office initiatives, we support community organizations that enhance job readiness, accessibility and success. Some examples include:
- Hoop Dreams, Washington, D.C.
- Enterprise for High School Students (EHSS), Los Angeles
- Springboard Forward, Los Angeles
- YouthForce, Seattle
Weber Shandwick emphasizes collaboration at every level: within teams, across geographies and practice areas, and within our IPG sister agencies. Maintaining an environment in which we leverage the unique strengths of each of our employees, ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity, encourage open dialogue and diversity of thought, and work to help every team member realize his or her potential supports our ability to recruit and retain the best talent and is a key to our ability to deliver value to our clients around the globe.