The benefits of gender diversity; to us and our clients

We’re proud of the fact that we have benefited from a 50:50 gender split amongst our employees for sometime now.

This hasn’t occurred because of an affirmative action though. It has simply come about as a result of our search for the very best talent (which we're pretty good at).

More important than the 50:50 split, is the fact that most of those women are in key positions

Iñaki Soria–Senior Designer

As designers with a passion for understanding users and developing products with mass appeal, we cherish it and believe it has a remarkably positive effect on the work we do.

Not yet the industry norm

The balanced nature of our team is also notable at a time when gender equality is at the front of public consciousness.

A spotlight has been shone on the issue across society, with the creative industry identified as one of many where equality is still lacking. WPP, the global advertising giant, revealed earlier this year that there was 14.6% gender pay gap across its agencies. Significantly for those of us working in digital, one of the group’s biggest digital brands, AKQA, revealed a gap of over 30%.

It's the only agency I've ever worked at that has as many women as there are men.

Kate Greenstock–Design Director

It would be unfair to say that bigger agencies are the problem, as another large agency within the WPP group, Kantar Media, has a 12.7% gap in favour of women. However, the anecdotal evidence from our team’s experience does suggest that smaller, more progressive agencies are more balanced than the bigger ones.

Gender diversity strengthens the work we do

As a design agency that helps clients to innovate, bringing a range of opinions and perspectives to the table is very important. We need to be able to freely and openly discuss issues from different perspectives if we’re going to unlock a lot of varied ideas.

At Maido, we have found that diverse opinions and empathies are invaluable to our UX and problem solving processes. They enable us to design products and services that meet the needs of a range of user types. While that means different things to different projects, the more creative aspects of design are subjective and a range of perspectives can help ensure these always hit the mark with our target audience.

Every different perspective unlocks a whole host of potential ideas

Harriet Fenton–Digital Project Manager

It is an approach we regularly see having a positive effect on the projects we do, as well as the types of clients who choose to work with us. Girl Effect was a project with a specific need to understand what girls in the developing world really think, so they could help them change their lives for the better. Together, we created a peer—to—peer research tool that enabled them to gather authentic research in a way that was safer and faster than ever before.

As Girl Effect shows, our gender diversity is not only something that we’re proud of but also something that is helping us to do great work. So, if Maido sounds like the sort of place you’d like to fit in, come join us.