Agency environments are inherently competitive, no matter which industry you look at. Competition in the workplace isn’t always a bad thing, it’s a great motivator and pushes us out of our comfort zone. However it can quickly turn into something more toxic if left unchecked, something that stops being about striving to be the best version of ourselves and rather about striving to be better than everyone else.
Narrow the agency focus even further to consider only women, all reaching for just a handful of roles, and herein lies the problem.
The Last Woman Standing
Women make up 67% of the PR industry’s workforce, and yet at C-suite level only a third of boardroom positions are held by women. The PR industry pits women against women from their very first day, creating a dangerously competitive environment where hundreds of highly-skilled and talented candidates fight for the bare minimum of senior roles available to them.
This contributes to several problems no doubt many of us have encountered across our careers. First, the ever-present burnout culture fuelled by unchallenged expectations of working longer hours to “prove yourself”. Another is the lack of support for mental health and wellbeing, as if it’s a rite of passage to struggle almost until breaking point. And, finally, a toxic culture where women no longer empower each other, but feel they have to fight to be the last woman standing.
With an average age of just 28, it’s clear there are significant barriers preventing PR from being an industry in which women see a life-long career. And at almost 28 myself, I find that particular stat really concerning.
Women Supporting Women
We need to be pulling each other up as we climb the ladder, not holding others back. Having experienced the latter myself, it’s something I feel strongly about changing for others today. We need to vouch for those in junior positions more often, and celebrate a win for one woman as a win for us all.
Mentorship programmes are a great idea if you need to get a formal solution in place, but let’s not overcomplicate things. So much could be improved by just talking. We need to share more about our experiences of bias, inequality and everyday sexism in the workplace. Discuss toxic environments we’ve worked in and difficult leadership we’ve worked under, hopefully to realise it’s not an isolated issue.
At Hard Numbers, I’m very proud to form part of an all-female senior management team, and I fully appreciate how rare that is. I’ve worked in that toxic and competitive environment before, but with this team I’m now able to see the better path forward. I’m lucky enough to work with a group of like-minded women, all open about the barriers they’ve faced in their own careers, determined to change this narrative.
A Supportive Female Network, at Work
The energy that is wasted on competitive and political tactics, can instead be used to make positive change that benefits everyone. Without internal competition taking up too much headspace, individual differences, talents and skills will shine through and thrive, producing a richer and more varied team.
No one can provide a support network like women can for each other. In a fast-paced industry like ours, this kind of wellbeing support system can be the difference between a young PR growing in her role or buckling under the pressure and quitting before she reaches her true potential, as I once came close to myself.
Within my team, we are all very different. In personality, in how we work, manage others and strategise. We are not a carbon copy of each other and yet when you bring our different skills, talents and approaches together, we make a formidable team. Add in the wellbeing support that’s never more than a Slack message or Zoom call away, and this team of women has become one I rely on and trust implicitly. Needless to say, my work and agency are benefitting.
I know I’m very lucky to work in this team. Sadly, I also know how rare it is. But I am hopeful that more of us will get to experience what I do. Women supporting women is the key to shaping the future of this industry into something that provides a secure, challenging but happy career path for women – hopefully even one day past the average age of 28.
Amy Stone
Amy’s expertise lies in broadcast media, having spent 5 years working within broadcast PR eventually leading a small media team to secure top tier broadcast coverage for brands & charities such as Nationwide, British Red Cross, Lego and Vodafone. In 2021, Amy made the move to Hard Numbers and is now a Senior Communications Consultant at the B2B PR and marketing agency, where she has helped to expand the broadcast PR service and upskilled the wider agency team in broadcast media relations. Amy forms part of an all-female management team at the agency with 3 others and is passionate about driving forward equal opportunities for women in PR.
