NABS President Comes to End of Tenure and Reflects on NABS’ Latest Survey Findings

Kerry Glazer, president of NABS, has come to the end of her tenure and will pass the baton to NABS’ Board of Trustees at the end of 2020. Kerry is known throughout the industry not just as NABS’ president but also as chair of AAR and Untold Studios, having built an illustrious career in advertising spanning more than 30 years.

Kerry became president in April 2018 and her term, due to end in March 2020, now closes after an extension because of the pandemic and its huge impact on NABS. From 2021, Simon Daglish, NABS chairman, and his team of trustees will provide support to Diana Tickell, CEO, NABS and her staff. They will also act as ambassadors for the charity, ensuring that the industry continues to donate to and support its vital work. Kerry will remain, in her own words, “a huge supporter and friend to NABS”.

NABS’ successes, driven by Diana during Kerry’s tenure, include the launch of NABS’ pioneering wellbeing festival WellFest in November 2019; NABS’ new strategy, featuring the first NABS Tracker survey to gather key industry insight to help transform its provision and operations; and the launch of 'timeTo', the campaign to eradicate sexual harassment in advertising and marketing. NABS is one of three founding partners of the initiative, alongside the Advertising Association and WACL, and Kerry is chair of its steering committee.

Reflecting on her personal highlights as NABS president, Kerry said: “One of the things I am most proud of is the total of £41,000 that has been raised for NABS across 2019 and 2020, made possible by AAR and more than 60 agencies who signed up in both years to participate in AAR’s annual Agency Quiz for the benefit of NABS.”

Kerry became president after years of involvement with NABS, starting as an individual donor as a graduate trainee at JWT in the 80s and ending up as a Support Committee member before, in 2017, being asked by Diana Tickell, CEO, NABS, to become president. The start and end of Kerry’s tenure marked worrying times for industry wellbeing. While many in 2018 were suffering the fallout of a long recession, worries brought on and exacerbated by the pandemic are now rife.

NABS latest wellbeing survey (conducted November 2020) reveals that anxiety, depression and worries about work and the economy are impacting people’s wellbeing. More than 40% of respondents report feeling overloaded with work 73% are feeling disconnected from colleagues and 58% are feeling anxious – up by six points from May 2020.

Kerry commented: “The pandemic has had a profound impact on people’s wellbeing. The increasing responsibility for team wellbeing that is falling on leaders is very real. It’s never been more important for leaders in our industry to be empathetic, emotionally intelligent role models who can work to build resilient teams, particularly with a hybrid style of working. The help from NABS for leadership to support their colleagues, line managers and teams themselves is immeasurable.”

On her hopes for the industry’s wellbeing, Kerry added: “My fervent hope is that the industry will continue to support NABS as actively as they can. It’s difficult, money is tight, but donate if you can. The pandemic has given more evidence of how important NABS’ expertise is. People’s wellbeing will continue to be a key factor in our industry’s ability to deliver at its best, and when it’s at its best, it can genuinely support the economic recovery of the UK. If anybody needs an economic reason to support NABS, that’s the one. If wellbeing is good, people will be more productive and companies more successful.”

“Kerry has been an extraordinary president." said Diana Tickell, CEO, NABS. "She’s passionate about wellbeing and has helped to drive forward our work as we’ve expanded our service delivery and served thousands of industry employees each year. Kerry has been so generous with her time, despite her busy roles at AAR and Untold Studios, and the NABS team have loved working with her due to her warm and empathetic nature. We will miss her in this role, although we will always have her as a close friend and supporter.”

- 43% of respondents are feeling overloaded with work and very high numbers are missing their colleagues (73%), with half of respondents feeling completely disconnected

- 70% of respondents are spending more time reflecting on what is important to them in life

- Spontaneous work-related conversations (83%) and the social aspect (78%) are the most-missed factors of office life

- 69% of respondents agree that their organisations have ramped up their D&I activity following the BLM movement and are authentic in their approach, but only 9% are confident that their organisations will meet their D&I goals