•Investigate aspects of the values and culture of the placement provider and the impact on their stakeholders.

The advertising and marketing industry has been traditionally unattractive to people of colour and has not been encouraging of women to senior positions.

The values of Tracy Locke (TL) are entirely contrary to this and as a company have done more in both of these areas than many in the advertising and marketing industry. For instance, the industry average statistic for women in senior creative positions is 11.5%, whereas TL’s is 35%.

Similarly, TL’s annual intern programme has to consist of 1/3 of placements from diverse ethnic backgrounds. TL also operates high standards and values for all employees offering more favourable maternity and paternity packages, clear guidelines on performance review and pay rises and more personal time off than many other companies in its industry.

Lastly, TL is a company that believes business success should also equate to individual success. a successful year will always result in a financial bonuses for all employees, which will encourage employees to work hard all year round.

In an environment where diversity, gender, ethnicity and sexuality is at the top of many businesses agenda, TL progress in these respects, making it highly attractive to potential clients which leads to incremental revenue. Similarly, it ensures that TL can attract the best talent in the North American advertising industry which leads to optimal creative output.

Lastly and inevitably, companies with positive values receive equally positive attention in their industry, press and media. This has a positive halo effective on TL’s stakeholders.