TIN MAN’S DANDI-LIONS - HEAR US ROAR

Diversity and inclusion is the topic on everyone’s lips in PR & Communications, however, if we want to see a real, tangible change we must cut through lip service and take effective action. Ensuring we’re having ongoing conversations about improving representation and creating more diverse teams is the only way we’ll know if a difference is being made. 

That’s the collective message we took away from the many events and seminars the DANDI team (our D&I champions here at Tin Man Towers) have attended recently. And it’s the backbone of what we’ll strive to achieve at Tin Man over the next 12 months and beyond. 

We’ve got a jam-packed year to come and we’ve already kicked off some of our initiatives to bring about change, not only to Tin Man but to the broader PR industry. From open discussion groups, setting tangible KPIs and focusing on retaining our diverse staff, read on for some of our favourites… 

DANDI Café - tea, coffee and perspectives served here

Our brand-spanking-new DANDI Café is a monthly informal discussion forum designed to encourage learning and development in relation to diversity and inclusion. Hosted by our DANDI-LIONS team, the sessions aim to encourage people to replace assumption with curiosity, and learn from the perspectives and experiences of others. 

With topics ranging from neurodiversity to race and ethnicity, we aim to address and discuss current news, as well as talk about how we can be more supportive in our personal and professional environments. 

We hosted our first session this week, focusing on neurodiversity, so watch this space for an upcoming Tin Chat with our findings!

Change begins with education, so let’s educate

Alongside inviting speakers to inform and educate on subjects such as unconscious bias, inclusive language and neurodiversity in the workplace, we’ve also kicked off our DANDI Real Matters newsletter. 

Shared fortnightly, we discuss what’s dominating the diversity and inclusion news agenda, celebrate the progress made, and flag the instances that remind us that there is always more we can do to promote better inclusion in our field and beyond. 

To join the mailing list for our Real Matters newsletter, drop us a line at DANDI@tinmancomms.com. 

Diversity at play in our recruitment and retention

This year we’re implementing a range of policies to ensure that the recruitment and retention of diverse staff remains a priority.

We’re setting internal KPIs across all levels of the business - whether making sure our media contacts are representative or keeping clients accountable - we’re making ourselves responsible for upholding an inclusive workplace.

We’re also reevaluating our recruitment process and gathering feedback from the agency to better understand the perception of D&I at Tin Man Towers. We are seeking opportunities to diversify the talent coming through the door, specifically at a grass-roots level. We’re working with organisations such as Loop not Luck to ensure we are accessing a wider range of candidates and providing more opportunities to a more diverse group of people.   

While these are only a few of the D&I initiatives we’re working on here at Tin Man, they kick-start our goal to educate and drive awareness throughout our agency, as we collaboratively work to become the change we want to see.