Smart Company contacted me to comment on the Sydney’s ad agency Banjo recruitment scandal. Read the full article here. The article was written by Dominic Powell.
“Bec Brideson, diversity advocate and the founder of Global Marketing Women, told SmartCompany the widespread use of social media means “more and more” of these situations are likely to be made public. However, Brideson believes both employers and employees can learn from these scenarios.
“It really shows how we’re beginning to democratise life and empower individuals through the power of social media,” Brideson says.
“These mistakes are beneficial, I think both companies and individuals are learning from them.”
Brideson, who is also the founder and director of Venus Communications, says Banjo’s response could have been better, claiming it was a bit of a “non-apology.”
“In saying ‘emotions run high’ regarding equality and diversity, it’s almost implying that the comments were misinterpreted,” Brideson says.
“Instead of apologising for the situation, the agency could have owned up to this ‘groupthink’ that many agencies are guilty of, and admitted they need to re-educate.
“It shouldn’t be a witch hunt for Banjo, they should take the opportunity to own up to it and admit their mistakes.”
Brideson says with the amount of attention diversity and equality has been receiving recently, acknowledging the issue and still not increasing diversity is unacceptable. Some companies have chosen to implement diversity quotas, which Brideson says is a good approach, for now.
“More and more big corporations have put diversity on the agenda, which until we have achieved diversity, is what needs to happen,” Brideson says.
“Look at how quickly we’ve adjusted to new technology, who’s to say we cant adjust to diversity in the same way.””