Room for improvement: What could be done better?

The 17 companies on our list have demonstrated their strengths in a number of areas, but the employee questionnaires offer them a valuable insight into what their staff think. Many, of course, will get some indications from internal appraisals and informal discussions, but one aim of the survey is to spell out which areas might need further attention.

As we have seen, most of the lowest scores are in benefits. The question, for companies in an industry reliant on casual and freelance work, is how much they want to improve this. Is there a benefit to them in investing in such schemes to retain staff if a) internal jobs are not frequently forthcoming and b) staff are likely to move on anyway?

As ever, small indies are in a double bind: wanting to compete with bigger companies’ deeper pockets, while maintaining a pipeline of commissions and developments.

Keo Films head of operations Rachael Dudley says that TV fares worse than other industries in terms of funded training: “It probably ties in with the more informal nature of the industry, but this is still a business, and certainly doesn’t seem to be given as much importance even when it’s needed.” Small margins in production budgets make this hard, she acknowledges, but indies need more support to address skills shortages.

Staying ahead of the game
Storyvault managing director Stuart Prebble says his focus is simple: “It’s about providing ourselves with satisfying work for creative people that will pay the bills and hopefully keep us ahead of the game.” This is no easy matter when, as he puts it, “the balance of power is distorted in favour of the buyer”. Likening indies’ position to that of supermarket suppliers, he says there remains a degree to which indies need to be “willing to work for little or no financial reward in order to remain in the business” – a position that inevitably has a knock-on effect for employees.

“Our aim is to build on the relationships we have with commissioning editors and channel heads who have professional integrity and treat us decently, and to avoid the larger number who have forgotten (if they ever knew) what it is like to be a producer.”

Outside of pay and benefits, providing information about what is going on at the top level is one of employers’ weaker areas – just 62% of employees at our best companies said they “had a good understanding of how this organisation is doing financially”, for example.

One indie said they want to have more formal communication to build up more of a “team” mentality and, in turn, seek out ways to help staff progress: “Given the freelance nature of the business and the number of those on fairly short contracts, promotion from within can prove tricky with such a small window, but we are actively working on a strategy to do this.”

Another echoed this with a pledge to build its “brand” as an employer – “by making sure we communicate in a joined-up way our values, and the qualities we seek in staff, and the balance we strive for as employers”.

Others are looking externally. MG Alba chief executive Murdo Morrison, for example, is exploring ways of engaging with the local community in Stornaway. “Giving more opportunities to staff to volunteer locally, for example as mentors, can be rewarding, fulfilling, and enable learning, while giving back to our local community, and raising our profile within it.”

Above all, diversity is occupying most people’s attention. Just as broadcasters are making noise about improving matters, so too are these companies putting the issue at the forefront of their minds.

Changing the picture
There are already tangible improvements: The Garden points out that 21 of the 120-strong production team on its flagship show 24 Hours In A&E are “diverse” (that’s 17.5%) while on some other shows, it is close to parity. Its engagement with Creative Access, the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival Network and Channel 4’s Diversity Department all point to a long-term commitment to change the picture on diversity. “But we want to do more, and we’re going to,” it said in a statement.

Internal quotas largely remain confidential, but as one boss put it: “We’re all doing better – but we still have a long way to go.”