SEC Newgate UK becomes first communications agency to be accredited as an age inclusive employer

SEC Newgate UK has become the first in its industry to become a fully age-inclusive accredited business through its partnership with 55/Redefined, an organisation that helps businesses to attract, grow and engage over-50s talent and consumers.

55/Redefined believes that ageism is the “least visible” and “least challenged” form of discrimination.  Its R/AGE™ methodology takes a snapshot of an organisation’s approach to age inclusion and looks at four areas:  

1. Redefine – the company’s talent strategy and culture, employee value proposition (EVP) and its ambition to become more age inclusive.
2. Attract – how the company recruits and attracts over-50s talent.
3. Grow – how a company trains its employees on age awareness and growth for over-50s.
4. Engage – how over-50s employees are engaged, consulted and retained.

 SEC Newgate has taken 55/Redefined’s R/AGE™ Readiness Score which analysed its age strategy through the lens of the over-50s employee and job candidate and its attitude to age-inclusion, as well as how it recruits and attracts older talent, trains on age awareness and engages with its over-50s employees.

The R/AGE™ audit positioned SEC Newgate as ‘highly rated’ based on the analysis of its employee data where: 

• 36% of its people are aged 40 or over
• 15% are aged 50 or over
• 17% have been employed for more than ten years
• 16% of SEC Newgate’s workforce work part-time hours

Lyndsey Simpson, CEO, 55/Redefined, said:

“SEC Newgate’s willingness to undertake the R/AGE™ test and its high score (before becoming Age Accredited) really shows it is already leading the pack on age inclusivity in an industry that has been slow to react to this global megatrend – the need to attract and retain older workers to fill the growing skills gap.” 

Emma Kane, CEO, SEC Newgate UK, commented:

“I’m delighted SEC Newgate has been ‘highly rated’ on an issue that I personally care deeply about and one that I feel needs to be put higher up the agenda. Being a fully age-aware and age-inclusive organisation is a key element of our commitment to being a world-class employer, attracting and retaining the very best talent.   

“The most effective teams comprise people bringing different insights and experiences to the table.  Our clients come to us seeking to seize opportunities and solve issues across a range of stakeholders and our campaigns benefit from a wealth of experience and expertise from a truly diverse team.  We are delighted to have our commitment to being a fully age-aware and age-inclusive organisation endorsed through this formal accreditation.”

Suzie Langridge, Head of People & Culture, SEC Newgate UK, added:

“Our culture encourages people to tell us what they want and need from us throughout their career. We’ve been doing a lot of this work organically rather than via formal policies or initiatives; our focus is now to build on this by formalising our approach and actively seeking to hire more people in the over-50s.

“I highly recommend that organisations undertake the R/AGE™ Readiness Score to shine a light on what they’re doing well and the specific areas where they can improve such as by consulting internally with their employees through discussion groups, embedding ageism strategies into their ED&I plans and increasing flexibility to retain and attract senior talent.”

As a next step, SEC Newgate will introduce a reverse mentorship scheme and a dedicated employee resource group for older workers as part of its commitment to age inclusion.

The communications industry has a reputation for attracting younger workers and a poor record on retaining older talent. Recent research from Women in PR, found over a third of the 218 women surveyed working in PR (34 percent) had experienced ageism in the workplace, with 42 percent reporting that there were not enough career opportunities for older women to progress in the industry.