Ad agency boss Wendy Clark on why she won't hire a man for a key job

DDB boss Wendy Clark doesn't apologise for her commitment to gender equality in the workplace. Photo / Supplied

For the past two years, the boss of global advertising giant DDB hasn't appointed anyone to lead the North American arm of the business.

The role has been left open for the right person – and that person has to be a woman.

"I was non-negotiable that it had to be a woman for North America," says DDB global chief executive Wendy Clark in an exclusive interview with the Herald during her recent stopover in Auckland.

"I had to look at the perspective that we have six regional leaders and five of them are men. This is my one opportunity to put a woman into this role. What would it say to this organisation if I didn't put a woman into that role?"

The leadership roles in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are still all occupied by men.

Clark personally held the North American chief executive role for two years before being promoted to the position she currently holds.

She admits her hardline approach might not sit well with everyone, but sees it as a necessary business decision to make.

"If we don't have this diversity of opinion and perspective in our agency, it's the wrong thing to do for the business," she says.

"As the leader, I'm responsible for the long-term prosperity of this agency. This is the right thing to do.

"It's not just the right thing to do because I happen to be a woman or because someone is holding me accountable for having gender equity. No, it's the right thing to do for the business."

Her view is backed by research. A report out of Deloitte in 2017 showed if New Zealand firms achieved gender parity in leadership, the resulting participation benefits would lead to the economy being about $881 million larger. The report showed that diversity improves innovation, the talent pool and staff retention while also giving younger women role models to look up to.

For Clark, the proof is always in the numbers – and DDB still has some way to go. Female representation at tier-one leadership level has risen to 36 per cent, with 17 of the company's key offices around the world now led by women.

But this didn't happen by accident. Clark says in her four years within the DDB group, the numbers had to double to get to where they are now – a reminder advertising has long been a boys' club.

Clark has seen first hand how hard it can be to climb up ranks which had been built by men for men. Her first job was at 16 as a shift manager at McDonald's. And when she finally made the transition to advertising, she took on the stereotypical role for women at the time - a receptionist. She says the only reason she was able to make it as far as she has is because of her relentlessness.

"I'm a hustler," she says.

"I get up every morning and I work hard. I will outwork anyone. And that's probably the reputation around me: that I'm an extremely hard worker."

She takes gender equity so seriously she no longer wants her story to be the exception in the industry.

"If my story becomes just about the success of one person, what a waste that would be. I have to pull other people with me. You have to create a wake around you that helps others in their journey and their success."

The reason she's transparent with her representation numbers is she wants to be held accountable both in terms of where she currently is and where she'd like to see the business progress.

"We're not going to stop until we get to 50 per cent. That's the measure I want to be held accountable to. That's the target the people of DDB Worldwide are going to drive toward with me.

"Once you have your baseline and your targets, you have to be non-negotiable. You have to say: 'We are going to put a woman into that role, we [don't] need to interview men for that role because it will be a woman.'"

It's nothing new for businesses to report on gender figures, but Clark warns against taking some of these numbers at face value.

The numbers shared, she says, often don't isolate the top tier leadership figures, which at many organisations still skew heavily in the male direction. "I think this can get quite opaque at times," she says.

Driving change requires focusing on ensuring those women occupying mid-level roles don't drop out and have a route and the necessary support to attain those top-tier positions.

"I think we too easily say [the mid-level dropout] is associated with maternity leave," she says.

"Yes. It tends to be around that age and a lot of times women don't return from maternity leave. So yes, that's one component but that's only part of it."

Businesses also need to accept some responsibility for this issue and become more cognisant of the enormous pressure women feel when it comes to this stage of their lives.

In 2017, DDB launched a programme called the Phyllis Project – named after Phyllis Robinson, the first female copy chief in US history – committed to increasing the number of female creative leaders in every region across the world.

Phyllis Robinson was the first female copy chief in US history. Photo / File

Focused on mentorship, networking and access to big assignments, the initiative is designed to break down some of the barriers that continue to see creative leadership roles dominated by men.

Despite her strong commitment to these issues, Clark hasn't always found herself on the right side of history.

In late 2018, she stepped down from her leadership role in the Time's Up Advertising initiative after it was revealed DDB had hired creative Ted Royer, who previously lost his job amid accusations of sexual misconduct.

"I have spoken publicly about the regret we had in making that decision. It wasn't fully informed," she says.

Clark says the most important part of that discussion was acknowledging to her team that a mistake had been made and that the leadership isn't going to get it right every time.

"One of the axioms we use a lot is that failure is a bruise, not a tattoo. You get the bruise, and you learn from it, you make sure everyone understands the learning you had, so that the organisation is smarter, and we move forward."

She adds it's important for businesses not to get dissuaded when things don't go exactly according to plan.

"The journey to gender equality, or indeed the broader spectrum of diversity inclusion, is not going to be perfect, but you can't be deterred," she says.

"You can't pull back and say 'Well, everything's pear-shaped and we're not going to make progress'. You have to redouble. You have to learn and then redouble."

After all, nobody said the road to progress had to be straight all the way (or male for that matter).

Wendy Clark facts:

Role: CEO of DDB Worldwide
Age: 49
First job: Shift manager at McDonald's at 16
First role in advertising: Receptionist
Education: Florida State University
Guilty pleasure: Nutella