OPEN Heritage employee resource group at IPG Mediabrands UK | London, UK

In the UK & Ireland we have lived and breathed IPG Mediabrands values for several years:
– Respect for all.
– Accountability to excellence.
– Commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion.
– Collaboration through trust.
– Responsibility to our communities and to our future.
We recognise that we needed to amplify these values locally and set about bringing them to life through the creation of several ERG’s also known as our Open Networks.
Open aimed to create a platform where people with shared values and passions could work together. With a commitment to Open-Eng up conversations for people to share their experiences and stories and be listened to. We wanted to create a sense of belonging, to enable teams cross-agency to collaborate freely to create awareness and work towards the changes they want to see throughout the UK&I.
Our Open Heritage Network
The Open Heritage Network was created to celebrate the voices and culture of our Black, Asian and Ethnic minority colleagues. We saw the Black Lives Matter movement make a huge impact on all our employees at IPG Mediabrands and the Heritage Network became a pillar to help educate and raise awareness. The Network has truly brought the richness of a wide spread of cultures to the business which has created a sense of belonging for our Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues.
In just 3 years, the Network has grown from 3 members to a core committee of 10 members and a dozen volunteers. Heritage has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace culture that values diversity, equity, and inclusion – having played a pivotal role in observing and organising cultural events beyond Black History Month to include Ramadan, Eid, Windrush Day and Diwali. These event programmes have not only celebrated the rich tapestry of cultures within our organisation but have also created opportunities for cross-cultural learning and understanding to bridge gaps and promote unity among our diverse teams.
In addition to organising cultural celebrations, our Heritage Network has also been an ardent supporter of heritage months like South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) and Black History Month (BHM). For example, during SAHM last year, we organised a series of cultural events at IPG Mediabrands such as henna designs, block painting, sari draping, and a themed South Asian cuisine office lunch. During both SAHM and BHM we also held a series of talks, radio sessions and panels to the themes of the month – averaging 60+ in person and 80+ online. Through our Mediabrands marketing team via LinkedIn we have seen in excess of 100 likes and double-digit re-posts.
Amplifying Voices:
We’ve had prominent figures help in the education and celebration of our colleagues from the closet confessions podcast ladies Candice Brathwaite and Coco Sarel coming in to talk about showing up as your true self to British Barrister and Founder of South Asian Heritage Month, Jasvir Singh coming in to talk about his sexuality and how that was affected by his culture.
Our efforts within the Heritage Network have gone above and beyond, creating wider understanding of the significance of cultural events, and highlighting an unwavering commitment to making the organisation a more inclusive and diverse workplace.
Retention:
The Heritage Network alongside our new initiatives; The Black Breakfast Roundtable and My Future are examples of our commitment which we provide more detail on below. Following the recent impact and success the Heritage Network has made on the business our DE&I Manager sought our advice and guidance to help create two new initiatives to support and retain our Black employees. The Black Breakfast Roundtable and My Future are two programmes that are spaces where Black Employees at IPG Mediabrands gain access to career coaches, mentoring and tailored workshops and training to help develop them in their career at IPG Mediabrands. Recent feedback we have received is:
“It is crucial to have open conversations like this, connecting with people who have similar experiences is really important. Let’s keep encouraging these kinds of conversations.”
“I loved how intimate and the safe the environment was and connecting with leaders in the business who look like me.”
Whilst we have held numerous events such as live podcast shows, panel discussions, charity donations, we are also helping to influence IPG Mediabrands company policies focused on Asian family bereavement with the aim of extending mandatory time off to 2 weeks to reflect the cultural necessities to bereave in certain religions. We aim to put a proposal together for our DE&I and HR teams for the end of Summer 2024 (August).
The Heritage Network is more than just a response to the Black Lives Matter movement – it is a space for open dialogue & celebrating cultures. We have support from colleagues in the senior leadership team as well as role models throughout the business who help push for our key pillars.