2020 saw the unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that endangered public health and forced national, market, and social shut-downs around the world. The year was also marked by strong political divisions and social unrest in the face of jolting racial injustices and inequities.
This has had drastic impacts on the way we work, most notably the virtual work-from-home reality for many office staff, the need to sustain collaboration and connectivity and the impact on our mental health and wellbeing.
At Kantar, we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where a wide range of backgrounds, styles and thinking can come together to inspire our people, our clients and society. Understanding people is at the heart of what we do, and it starts from within. Through creating a culture of belonging, we can create an environment where everyone is empowered to succeed and can bring their whole selves to work.
A diverse workforce drives innovation and creativity, enabling us to support our clients in their understanding of their customers and address business challenges through the lens of inclusion and diversity.
This is a continuous journey.
We must constantly review our current environment and how we can ensure an equal and inclusive workplace for all in the future.
We achieve this at Kantar through a mix of global initiatives and the work of our Inclusion & Diversity Steering Committees. In 2020, Kantar’s Inclusion & Diversity strategy continued to focus on Talent, Leadership and Client strategic pillars.
Over the year, we have made progress on a number of structural inclusion areas which you can read about in this report.
On behalf of the Kantar Executive Committee
Our governance framework is designed to maximise the global impact of strategic efforts and to empower solutions for local community issues across our markets.
A Global Strategy Council partners with the Executive Committee to ensure I&D priorities are representative of Kantar's business strategy and to help embed a culture, policy and practices that support and accelerate identified I&D goals. The Advisory Panel, consisting of select internal and external experts, sits alongside the Global Strategy Council to provide guidance and support to shape our solutions and approaches.
This is supported by Inclusion & Diversity Steering Committees in 38 markets that develop and deliver against a plan specific to the needs of their market, assist with the implementation of global strategy and initiatives, and advises local employee resource groups and communities
They have spearheaded a variety of initiatives including the delivery of unconscious bias training, online speakers and micro-inequities workshops as well as the development of flexible working policies.
In addition, last year we set up a new quarterly exchange called the Inclusion & Diversity Collaboration Café, which brings together colleagues from across the business who have an interest in driving Kantar’s Inclusion & Diversity activities. The sessions are designed to provide greater visibility on global I&D activities, to explore opportunities on where we can support and solve issues together, and to share best practice and celebrate successes. We aim to create an environment where everyone feels valued and part of a shared mission.
26,000 employees - 53% women and 43% men - across 76 countries, contribute to the work of numerous divisions and functions at Kantar. We represent a variety of races and ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, age, and ways of thinking. Our rich experiences and diversity drive our ability to understand people and meet our clients' challenges.
Representation of FTE Kantar employees by age
Representation of FTE Kantar employees by gender