A handful of agencies, such as Mischief, Rethink, Lerma and Mother, offer flexible returns to the office for new parents.
Just over half of the finalists explained they provide reimbursement for fertility treatments. Ten of those agencies provided actual dollar amounts, ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 at Mother, with Publicis shops The Community and Leo Burnett reimbursing $25,000. Omnicom’s TBWA and GSP, as well as IPG’s FCB and Deutsch LA, all reimburse $20,000.
Agencies are also starting to add reimbursement for freezing eggs and providing services for shipping breast milk if a nursing mother is traveling for work.
Other unique benefits
Agencies have also developed a number of unique benefits based on employee feedback. For instance, Wieden+Kennedy helps pay down student loans, invests in its employees’ side hustles and reimburses new parents up to $500 for meals in the first month after their child is born.
At Colle McVoy, the agency created a summer camp to help fill childcare gaps that plague parents when school is out. BETC Paris also offers funds for at-home help that can be used for babysitting or tutoring children.
Multiple agencies, including Ogilvy and Mother London, provide employee benefits around menopause. Mother London will also pay its employees 1,000 euros to quit smoking.
Courage bans Monday presentations to give employees their weekends back. The agency carries that policy over to clients, who can expect PowerPoint-free starts to the week.
DEI
Among the 34 finalists, 23 provided data on the makeup of their agencies. Combined, those 23 agencies are made up of roughly 50% people of color, which is higher than the 36% rate reported by the 4A’s earlier this year in its Diversity in Agencies Survey Report.
Agencies also provided details on how DEI is about more than just data, but actual policies, programs and ways the agencies work. For example, Joan Creative has a DEI Review Team that scrutinizes all briefs and decks for potential problems in everything from audience descriptors to casting notes.