Diversity & Inclusion Policy

We named our company Sonder & Tell after the made-up word ‘sonder’ which means that everyone has their own story; their own unique way of seeing the world. We value inclusive storytelling and are committed to diversity and inclusion. Not just because it’s the right thing to do but because it makes for richer stories.

As such, it is Sonder & Tell’s policy to treat employees, clients, all job applicants, colleagues and suppliers fairly and equally, regardless of actual or perceived age, sex, race, colour, nationality, national or ethnic origins, religion or belief, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, civil partnership status or disability.

Through this Policy Statement, and the below Guiding Principles, we will do all we can to promote good practice in the area of Diversity and Inclusion. We understand that this needs to be done alongside continuous and consistent training.

Guiding Principles

Company

We are open, honest and transparent when it comes to our Diversity Policy and expect the same from our team members, freelancers and clients.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Policy Statement will be published on our website
New team members are sent a copy of the policy when they join and our clients also know the standards we work to and expect
We annually review our diversity data and audit our culture to make sure the environment we work in is inclusive to a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives

Culture

We’re committed to an inclusive social and office culture, including our social activities as well as within the office

Zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, harassment (including third party), victimisation, bullying, intimidation and microaggressions and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action.
To help give people the confidence to communicate any behaviour out of line with company policy, we run monthly culture polls via Charlie HR. Answers are always anonymous, and we welcome feedback on the inclusivity of our working environment, with a commitment to address all feedback within one month of receiving it.

Recruitment

Guiding principles of our recruitment process are:

We ensure our job descriptions are fair, based on level of experienced required and aim to remove conscious and unconscious bias based on anything other than that
A university education will never be a prerequisite of a role at Sonder & Tell
We provide detailed, constructive feedback after interviews for all candidates
We only work with recruitment consultants that are actively committed to diversity and can, and will, put forward candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds for interviews
We keep a record of roles advertised, responses received, interviews given and quantity of responses and interviews from a diverse background to assist with our audit and progression.
We keep a record of freelance POC contractors who we prioritise in future work
We have a minimum of two people on our recruitment panels

Nurturing talent

We promote, champion, seek out and encourage talent based on merit and level of experience only. In order for this to be the case we implement:

Objective, transparent and accessible pay levels per role and training schemes across the group regardless of age, sex or race
Salaries are based on the role, level and experience of the individual are are no way linked to race, sex or background
Cultivate talent from a diverse representation of colleges, universities and schools
In the future, we plan to run internships for candidates who have transferable skills but who may not have taken a traditional educational path

Training and Education

We are committed to ethnic diversity across all levels from boardroom to work experience.

Our senior management team will attend Diversity and Inclusion workshop training every year.
Our training is done by an external team of experts and we do not rely on our diverse staff to educate us on topics of diversity and inclusion

Work

We aim to create work that is inclusive and recognises diverse audiences.

We review creative work and content to make sure it promotes diversity and ensure insensitive or offensive work is never published
Regularly review each employee’s client work to ensure staff have equal opportunity to work on big clients and award-winning campaigns

Staff

The organisation doesn’t have a compulsory retirement age, and each employee may choose for him/herself when to stop working, subject to them continuing to be sufficiently fit to perform their job to a satisfactory standard
Employees who are disabled or become disabled in the course of their employment should inform the organisation about their disability. Management will then arrange to discuss with the employee what reasonable adjustments to their job or working conditions or environment might assist them in the performance of their duties. The employee will also be encouraged to suggest any adjustments that they believe would be helpful. Careful consideration will be given to any proposals and, where reasonable and reasonably practicable, such adjustments will be made. There may, however, be circumstances where it will not be reasonable or reasonably practicable for the organisation to accommodate proposals put forward by the employee.
Responsibility for ensuring that there is no unlawful discrimination rests with all staff and the attitude of staff, the freedom to speak out against discrimination is crucial to the successful operation of fair employment practices

Closing Statement

Responsibility for ensuring the effective implementation and operation of the guidelines set above will rest with the Directors. They will make sure that they and the team operate within this policy and arrangements, and that all reasonable and practical steps are taken to avoid discrimination.