Reuters' diversity steps falter, say women

After a period as a leader in diversity enterprise, Reuters editorial is now following the lead of corporate efforts by the agency’s parent Thomson Reuters, according to several women who were interviewed for this article. The women agreed to speak on condition they were not identified.

“There is less transparency” on job openings, one woman said. “It’s back to the old Reuters” when jobs were filled without being posted. “There are fewer jobs being filled and then there are the jobs you didn’t even know existed being filled.”

Reuters said in response to questions put by The Baron that it fosters an inclusive workplace where all employees are valued and have the opportunity to reach their full potential. “To drive innovation and competitive advantage, we embrace diversity of thought, style, and experience,” said Barb Burg, global head of communications. “Our goal is to create a globally diverse workforce comprised of the most talented professionals to provide the innovative solutions our customers expect from us.”

She said that this year, every people manager within Reuters as well as Thomson Reuters was required to have a specific goal with metrics related to diversity and inclusion.

TRUST PRINCIPLES

“In Reuters, our strategy and everything we do is in line with the corporate policy and our Thomson Reuters Trust Principles which clearly articulates our stance on freedom from bias.”

A female manager who spoke on condition of anonymity said that within the editorial department “I have no knowledge of any diversity programme or initiative, anything at all – not from the general managers and not on the editorial Link.” When a journalist asked senior editors what was being done about diversity she faced a hostile reception, the manager said. “It’s easy for editorial bosses to detect resistance and act accordingly.”

Thomson Reuters said that at a meeting of the company’s senior leadership in March there was a clear focus on diversity and inclusion. The diversity and inclusion strategy and commitment were presented to all senior leaders. “Steve Adler [editor-in-chief] and the other members of the editorial leadership team that were present cascaded the messages from the meeting including our diversity strategy down throughout their teams. Diversity and inclusion is embedded into all of our talent and people processes within Reuters and the employee resource groups are available to all staff – including the editorial groups – across the globe. Our effort to promote diversity and inclusion is a key part of our discussions concerning our talent, recruitment and leadership development.”

One of the company’s key diversity and inclusion initiatives is a women’s advisory task force which is chaired by chief executive James Smith. It is focused on “investing in women through targeted leadership development programmes, career sponsorship opportunities and positioning Thomson Reuters as a premier company for women”.

But a female editor said formal mentoring programmes were no longer taking place, so she and some of her female colleagues were privately encouraging younger women to consider bigger and/or broader roles.

Thomson Reuters’ corporate website states: “We understand the larger significance of our work. We share a passion for customers and the global business environment, as well as a firm belief that our diverse people make a difference beyond boundaries and across borders. It is the key to our customers’ success and, ultimately, to our own. These are our values and they shape everything we do.” It adds: “We seek talent from all sources. We take pride in our rich diversity. We offer opportunities to grow and develop every day. Each employee – working as part of a team – brings passion and expertise. Each employee makes a vital contribution to help us achieve our global mission.”

SIDELINE ISSUE

Women interviewed for this article said the corporate policy on diversity is to have an inclusive interview panel and a diverse short list of candidates to be interviewed. However, they noted that not all jobs are posted, not all editorial managers seem to be aware of the policy, and the policy is not applied consistently.

A female editor said the drop-off in diversity initiatives seemed not to be at the forefront of people’s minds. “There is so much change, it becomes a sideline issue. There is more attention to the job cuts.” (The loss of 2,500 jobs – about four per cent of the 60,000 global workforce – was announced in February.)

Another female editor disagreed. “It’s been demoralizing. There is zero discussion on diversity from the leadership. Role models are there but by luck, not design. People are not being groomed for jobs.” Yet another female editor added: “This is not a company that encourages debate or discussion on diversity.”

This is in contrast to years past when Reuters corporate diversity awards for their diversity efforts within editorial were given to several editorial managers including Russell Blinch, Karen Hamilton, Greg McCune and Betty Wong.

Another female editor said: “There is a culture of fear, nervousness and loss of confidence from a group that used to have a lot of confidence. I could understand when, two years ago, Steve Adler had an agenda and diversity was not a priority. But it’s two years on and it’s still not a priority. It has become a culture of hiring friends. There was a hiring flurry for the first year at all levels – junior, senior and very senior. Almost all men. Some are very, very good. There are a few women but some of the women brought on were not very much of a success.”

There was not much racial diversity in the management team either, she noted. With the flurry of external hiring, many without related job postings, she said, “We lost a lot of ground in the interim” on diversity.

Thomson Reuters would not say what were the percentages of women and minorities in middle management and more senior roles within editorial and how this had changed in the past five years. It said its corporate policy does not allow the sharing of this level of detail.

DIVERSITY CHAMPIONS

Reuters did not identify any of editorial’s diversity champions, but Burg said there were several employees around the world that help to champion diversity and inclusion throughout the organisation.

Women interviewed for this article identified senior diverse editorial managers as Dayan Candappa, Caroline Drees, Sarah Edmonds, Alix Freedman, Chrystia Freeland, Janet Guttsman and Jean Yoon.

An editorial training programme called Be Global, which allows national and domestic service editors to work on improving their English speaking and writing skills to work on the international service, continues. Fledgling editorial women manager networks have disbanded and some female editors have joined corporate women’s affinity groups globally.

The 13-member Thomson Reuters board of directors includes two women – corporate directors Mary Cirillo and Lawton Fitt – and one independent director from a minority background, Indian businessman Manvander Banga.

On the group’s 11-member executive team there is one woman, Deirdre Stanley, a black American who is the company’s executive vice-president, general counsel and secretary, and one man from a minority background, India-born Shanker Ramamurthy, who is president, global growth and operations.

Elsewhere in the corporation, Monique Villa is chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation which has pursued several initiatives aimed at strengthening women’s rights around the world.

Last week the Foundation announced it “continues to successfully contribute to the enhancement of women’s rights internationally”. It said it runs a number of groundbreaking programmes aimed at empowering women and men through news, information, free legal assistance and media development. The Foundation’s revamped website, trust.org, is one of the fastest-growing sources of information on women’s rights “giving a voice to the ongoing struggles faced by millions of women seeking freedom, justice and equality”.

The Foundation has been pro-active in publicising women’s issues through the Trust Women’s Conference held in London last December and the international campaign against human trafficking. ■