Dentsu International has achieved gender parity across the organization with 53.2% women-identifying globally, according to its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) report for 2022. This is the second year for the report detailing the various initiatives the company has taken to continue being a fair and equitable workplace. 

Since its 2021 report, the agency has focused on maintaining the pipeline through to executive levels by 2025. In executive levels, the number of women in Dentsu International has increased globally by 17.5% year-over-year at 36.2% in June 2022 versus 32.5% last year. It is also moving towards its 2025 goal of 50%+ women in director and executive roles. Dentsu Canada now counts 54.5% of women executives and 52.4% of women in management roles. 

Some of Dentsu’s initiatives include the creation of the Inclusive Business Advisory Council (IBAC) composed of 15 leaders from across Dentsu. The role of IBAC is to have the values of the company rooted into daily business decisions. The agency is also partnering with businesses owned by minorities as a way to align values with investments and to create positive social and economic impact. Dentsu has instituted a practice of net 30-day payment terms for minority owned media vendors.

The agency has continued to increase the representation of BIPOC employees – up to 31.1% in the U.S. – exceeding projections and reaching the level of its 2025 goal. This is compared to 27.1% outlined in the Americas May 2021 DE&I Report.​ US executive levels have also increased in representation at 24.1% BIPOC, up from 21.8% and on track for its 2025 goal of 25%+ BIPOC in executive levels. In addition, 7.5% of U.S. employees identify as LGBTQ+, 7.4% identify as having a disability and 1.5% are veterans.

Dentsu’s DE&I efforts are built around four pillars: delivering accountability beyond crisis, investing in current and future talent, advancing cultural fluency and powering inclusive collaboration. Its investment in talent includes the agency’s career accelerator programs in addition to global and regional programs designed to develop future leaders. Right now, Dentsu has more than 1900 employees in these programs. 

Another program, YourTurn, created by the Canada Anti-Racism Action Team, empowers racialized colleagues by matching them with leadership who share real-world experience, insights and guidance to help them pursue their long-term career goals. Forty Canadian employees – 20 mentoring pairs – have participated in the six-month program, which provides mentors and mentees with guided modules and discussion points.

To advance cultural fluency, Dentsu has set the goal of being the most culturally fluent agency by embedding this as part of its daily ways of working. To do this, it is equipping agency leadership with training via programs such as Inspiring Inclusion, an ongoing program launched last year that addresses bias and encourages a culture of inclusion. Part of the program is an interactive learning experience completed by over 900 senior leaders and an e-learning suite delivered to over 30,000 employees in 17 languages.