Havas' Anonymous Chat Tool Leads Raft of New Wellbeing, Development and DE&I Initiatives

Havas UK has launched a pioneering internal communication tool to facilitate anonymous and confidential conversations between its employees and senior HR leaders. Havas Anonymous, which operates like an instant messaging platform and uses encryption to protect employees’ identities, is part of Havas’ continued drive to create a safe, secure and inclusive working environment for all its people. It will be rolled out across all Havas UK agencies from this month.

It is designed to be a designated safe space, separate to standard management or HR structures, for Havas’ people to ask questions or raise concerns about their experiences at work when they are unsure about the best way of doing so, or are uncomfortable using normal channels or processes. By preserving their anonymity, it aims to encourage open, secure, equitable conversations, in comfort and confidence to ensure every employee is able to have their voice heard. 

Initial enquiries will receive a response within 36 hours, beginning a conversation between employee and one of a number of qualified and experienced HR professionals within the business. While employees’ identities will be protected, they will be able to see who they are conversing with – allowing them to refer the conversation to another member of the HR team if preferred.

The new tool is geared toward any enquiries, feedback, or concerns relating to workplace policies, procedures, or personal experiences affecting employees’ working lives. It does not replace pre-existing channels for everyday queries (i.e. contractual matters, benefits) that can be raised safely without anonymity, nor the group’s pre-existing whistleblowing procedure.

Ewen MacPherson, group chief people officer at Havas UK, says, “We want our people to feel comfortable talking to us if they have questions or concerns about their experience at work. We have lots of existing mediums to enable this already, but we recognise sometimes people don’t do so for a variety of legitimate reasons. This portal is designed to remove those barriers – enabling all our people to have their voices heard.”

Havas Anonymous is one of a number of new, group-wide wellbeing, development and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. These include:

• A new Inclusion Council, which aims to ensure all work produced by Havas UK agencies is diverse, equitable and representative, and contains accurate, authentic portrayals of all sections of society. Any Havas UK employee is able to submit a brief, script, film or campaign execution to the Inclusion Council – which comprises a range of 50+ diverse employees, DE&I ambassadors, ERG members and the Havas UK executive committee – for open review and representative feedback.
• Real Living Wage: Havas has achieved Living Wage Foundation accreditation across all its UK agencies and offices, extending its commitment to paying the Real Living Wage to all contractors and supply staff as well as its own employees.
• Matchable: Havas has partnered with corporate volunteering platform Matchable, which matches charities with employees seeking volunteering opportunities based on their skills, interests, location and available time commitment. All Havas UK staff will be given access to the Matchable Platform, amplifying their ability to have a meaningful impact from a volunteering perspective.
• Mentoring: By popular demand, Havas has launched a formalised mentoring programme to support employee development across its UK business. The first phase, in partnership with its Women of Havas ERG, will focus on advancing female careers – matching senior staff with more junior mentees. Further iterations of the programme, focusing on other groups, will be rolled out in the coming months.