WPP Media has been a beacon for women in Australia’s media industry for some time. Even back when it was GroupM.
WPP Media has set about putting its money where its mouth is—quite literally in some cases. Chief executive Aimee Buchanan is ably supported by agency CEOs Pippa Berlocher and Maria Grivas (and Peter Vogel, of course), as well as several female MDs and a 50 per cent female executive committee.
Over the past year, it has made significant strides in salary transparency. With less than half of media professionals feeling adequately remunerated, WPP Media offers unified salary bands across nearly all its roles, boosting employee trust and satisfaction.
When taking all of this into consideration, it is hard to think of another name that could take out the B&T Women In Media Award in the employer category.
Chatting with B&T after their win, Buchanan and chief people officer Scott Laird called the award a “special” recognition.
Buchanan said that at a time when everyone is doubling down on tech, WPP Media’s focus has been on humans. “We really try to get everyone to bring their whole selves and accept that everybody comes from different backgrounds, but that is what makes them unique. I think as we increasingly talk about technology, and we’re all investing a lot of money into it, we’ve really doubled down on looking after our people”.
For Laird, “it’s about giving everybody a voice in the organisation”.
“We do a great job of listening. It starts at the very top, but making sure every single person can share their feedback around what’s working, what’s not, we take that very seriously, and we make ourselves accountable,” he said.
That accountability has led to tiered leadership development programs—Ascend, Illuminate and Spark—that develop entry-level talent into tomorrow’s bosses. Its CraftMasters and ThriveBites initiatives focus on future-ready capabilities and personal wellbeing. All include a focus on DE&I, psychosocial safety training, and cultural-learning initiatives.
After all that work, WPP Media’s attrition rate is below industry average and four-fifths of staff say they receive enough training and learning opportunities. WPP Media has promoted 278 staff in 2024 (with two-thirds of them women) and 56 per cent of its manager roles are held by women, well above the industry average.
