✅ A call to action for employers on pay transparency
The We Show the Salary activist campaign aims to address the inequality that arises from salary secrecy.
Last week, we highlighted that only one in ten job ads in the leading public relations agencies include salary information. It is even worse than the market average of one in four.
Salary information creates transparency for job seekers and employees. It attracts qualified candidates, promotes pay equity, sets clear expectations, and saves employers and job seekers time. Not including salary information suppresses all of these things.
This week, we’ve got a solution in the form of We Show the Salary, a not-for-profit Community Interest Company advocating for mandatory salary information on all UK job advertisements.
Founder Jo Tidball leads the activist initiative with nine founding partner organisations and an advisory panel. It aims to create fairer, more inclusive recruitment processes and help address pay gaps through complete salary transparency.
We Show the Salary has a straightforward objective. It is asking employers to pledge to show salaries in job ads. Please consider answering its call to action.
Have a good week ahead.
Management
🟰 AGENCY RELATIONSHIPS: A new study sets out three levels of communications consulting relationships. It addresses weak definitions, blurred boundaries, and a lack of standardised frameworks and workflow. Source: Wadds Inc.
🌍 DEI PERCEPTION: Onclusive's 2025 Global DEI Media Score reports significant gaps between brand influence and effective DEI communications. While Apple leads with exceptional DEI messaging, YouTube dominates influence rankings despite poor DEI and sustainability scores. Source: Onclusive.
Good and bad PR
🔍 PR DECEPTION: DeSmog claims that an Ireland-based public relations agency orchestrated a coordinated attack campaign against a climate-friendly diet report published in the Lancet. It successfully framed scientific research as "radical" and created a manufactured culture war that undermined legitimate climate science leading to the personal harassment of researchers. Source: DeSmog.
🌱 GREENWASH RULING: The ASA banned TotalEnergies' misleading green claims while clearing Shell and Barclays ads that provided proper context about their activities. The rulings highlight that regulatory compliance merely sets minimum disclosure standards. Businesses must embed sustainability into their core operations to achieve authentic environmental progress. Source: ASA.
AI and social media
🤖 AI INFLUENCERS: AI-generated influencers cost less than half of traditional campaigns and offer brands greater control and 24/7 global availability. Despite success stories from Hyundai and L'Oréal, consumer sentiment remains divided - 44% of UK adults reject AI personalities as "too fake" and 41% worry about audience deception despite disclosure. Source: Third City.
🕒 TIMING MATTERS: Sprout Social has analysed 2.5 billion engagements across 600,000 social media accounts to report optimal posting times for maximum social media engagement. The data shows that peak engagement occurs on weekdays between 10 am and 1 pm, with platform-specific variations. Facebook and Instagram perform best in the mornings, LinkedIn during midday, and TikTok from noon to early evening. Source: Sprout Social.
Pod of the week
🎙 FEATHURE FORWARD: The Thread & Fable podcast featuring Yas Devi, creator of RSPB's highly engaging TikTok channel, shows how effective communication transcends platform trends. The interview identifies three timeless public relations principles: building genuine community through conversation rather than broadcasting, creating platform-native content and being consistent. Must listen. Source: Thread & Fable.
Stephen Waddington is an ambassador for We Show the Salary.
Thanks to Slavina Dimitrova, Catherine Frankpitt, Mark Lowe, Rebecca Roberts, Darryl Sparey, Sarah Waddington CBE and everyone who shares and debates the stories in the newsletter via our Facebook and LinkedIn communities.
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