Independent Review of Workplace Culture for Weta Digital
Overview
Weta Digital stands in the top league of the world’s digital effects companies. It is hard to conceive that several decades ago it was a little-known company making one movie at a time with a few hundred people and now it makes 15 or more movies simultaneously using a workforce of 1,500. The problem with this visual effects adult is that its core people processes are those of an “awkward teenager going through growing pains”, to borrow the words of one interviewee. At heart, it remains the start-up that opened its doors all those years ago – energetic, fluid, focused on excellence, but also undisciplined, overstretched, reactive and cliquish. Its HR and management practices, policies and processes are immature for an organisation of its size and success, and it needs to scale up and formalise these systems if it is to continue making the dazzling magic so many expect of it.
This is both the backdrop to, and a prime cause of, the complaints I investigated during the course of my independent and confidential 11-week review. In that time, I interviewed more than 200 current and former crew members, managers, executives and owners and considered feedback from a survey about the company’s workplace culture, in which 65 per cent of crew took part. I also considered written statements from 35 crew. Many interviewees shared sensitive and personal material with me and I appreciate their courage in voicing their concerns.
The company’s workforce culture is not “toxic”, as media reports have suggested. But as my interviews and the survey results revealed, there is a problem in pockets of the organisation, and it has manifested in the complaints I was asked to examine. The company’s culture needs significant improvement, some departments and realms more so than others. To be fair, I was told some of the same problems with its culture can be found in other visual effects companies and in the screen industry more generally. And indeed, organisations as varied as Parliament, the Civil Aviation Authority, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, law firms, sporting codes and even political parties have been subjected to the same scrutiny as Weta Digital during this review. This is not, of course, to excuse the behaviour I uncovered. Weta Digital’s crew love their work and the people there, but they do not all love the culture. The company often asks too much of them, it does not consult them, it does not always treat them – or promote them – fairly and it does not always protect them against poor (sometimes even bad) behaviour by others.
Turning around the ship need not be a difficult or lengthy task. Far from it. Many of my recommendations can be acted on quickly and will produce immediate results. Others will take a little longer to bear fruit. The result, I have no doubt, will eventually be a grown-up organisation that is likely to attract more work, be more cost-efficient and have crew who feel safe, trusted and respected. The company has a great store of loyalty among crew. It must work hard to protect this precious commodity through good leadership, a corporate vision and values, people management training and other recommendations detailed below.
Workplace culture
I found Weta Digital lacked a single, company-wide culture. Rather, it has realm (or group) cultures, departmental cultures, and even team cultures. It’s not inaccurate to say Weta Digital has as many as 56 distinct workplace cultures, some starkly different from others.
The result is a “siloed”, “fractured” and “pigeonholed” culture in which crew are often unaware of what other departments are doing. Collaboration is at best patchy. There are tensions between various “fiefdoms”. That said, many crew found the workplace fun, friendly and exciting, full of smart, passionate colleagues. They enjoyed considerable perks and were trusted to get the job done.
Offsetting that, crew said the organisation was extremely hierarchical; real leadership was scarce; few wanted to rock the boat by speaking up about bad behaviour or heavy workloads because their contracts might not be renewed; and shifting blame to others was common. Favouritism was rife, so promotions were often less about merit than connections; the company reacted rather than acted; strategic planning was lacking, resulting in often chaotic implementation; stress was high because of the heavy workloads and long hours; communication was poor; and technical or artistic excellence (“getting the shot”) trumped all other considerations. Last, but far from least, women were at a disadvantage in a workplace where three-quarters of the workforce were men, resulting in few women in top-level positions, especially more artistic and technical ones. (Production is female-dominated, but even here, at the very top, men significantly outnumber women in VFX producer roles). Flexible hours or job-sharing were not always options available for new mothers.
Finally, more than a few crew questioned whether Weta Digital was a homegrown or international company. There is no reason why the company cannot be globally based and honour Māori traditions, including tikanga Māori.
Systems, policies and processes
Despite improvements in recent years, the company's management systems, policies and processes (including their documentation) are not adequate in fully safeguarding crew from bullying, sexual harassment, sex discrimination and other inappropriate conduct.
Few detailed written policies exist to guide crew, managers and even HR advisors in all aspects of preventing and responding to such conduct (although HR made two useful training videos on bullying and harassment in 2016). Nor are there well-designed, documented and accessible processes about how to handle complaints from start to finish. Managers are not trained in complaint-handling, and it is not uncommon for some to try to placate crew rather than investigate the substance of their complaints. They don't always know when to involve HR – at the outset or as a last resort – and what to tell complainants during and after an investigation. Only about a half of crew considered HR would respond fairly, promptly and appropriately to a complaint. The HR complaints register was both incomplete and inconsistent in the way it documented complaints.
More generally, the company has no written statement of its values, no code of conduct against which individuals can be held to account, and inadequate health and safety reporting as it relates to wellbeing risks. That said, a draft of a code of conduct is in development, as is a separate and more detailed policy on bullying and other inappropriate behaviour.
I discerned a dislike at senior levels of processes and policies, which are regarded as stifling creativity, and this has led to HR receiving insufficient management support to perform effectively. HR also faces an uphill battle (despite many commendable achievements since its establishment in 2015) because many crew distrust the department, regarding it as serving only the company's interests – a viewpoint that came through strongly in the survey.
Complaints
I found the practice of some crew distributing pornographic material via Weta Digital’s internal systems probably ceased in 2014 and definitely ceased by 2018 at the latest. I consider it a problem of the past.
I received 80 complaints from crew about incidents they regarded as bullying, as well as another 120 complaints of inappropriate conduct, either experienced or witnessed by interviewees. Many complaints went back many years. It is difficult to draw a line between bullying and inappropriate conduct – a fact crew themselves admitted. Such behaviour took various forms: aggression (screaming and yelling, throwing temper tantrums); passive-aggressive behaviour (sarcasm, belittling comments, cold-shoulder treatment); withholding relevant workplace information (“hoarding information” so a colleague didn’t excel); overloading with work (setting unrealistic deadlines); and hazing (testing new crew to put them in their place). To put these numbers in perspective, I did not hear complaints of such behaviour from the company’s 1,300 other crew. And some interviewees said they had never experienced or witnessed such behaviour, confirming the siloed nature of the company and the markedly different culture of its parts. I must add, however, that I consider this behaviour is under-reported because crew fear that making complaints may jeopardise the renewal of their contracts – especially when, as so many crew said, bullying is “done more by people in power”. Exacerbating their reluctance to come forward is their distrust of HR (although I should add many crew praised the efforts of individual HR advisors).
I also received 19 complaints of sexual harassment ranging from inappropriate comments, such as sexual jokes or intrusive remarks about individuals’ sex lives, through to unwelcome touching and attention. These incidents went as far back as 2001. Some women were clearly affected by these incidents, while others were matter of fact. Most lamented that the company tolerated this behaviour if the men concerned had been with the company long enough, were needed enough or were well-connected enough.
Sex discrimination is not overt, but an undercurrent of sexism is prevalent in some parts of the company. Many interviewees – men included – described it as an “old boys’ club” with its unconscious bias and sexist banter. They also said women in Production were treated as “second-class citizens”. To combat this, woman have to be better than men to keep their jobs, let alone be promoted. Nor does Weta Digital make it easy for women to work for the company and be mothers. Less demanding – and lower-paid – roles are often the only option for women returning to the company after childbirth. The gender pay gap is real.
Finally, there is an undercurrent, too, of other forms of discrimination (such as in relation to sexual orientation and ethnicity) in some parts of the company. The survey revealed a handful of gender-diverse crew clearly feel discriminated against.
Management’s response to complaints
Managers’ responses were variable: they sometimes handled complaints well, but at other times failed to acknowledge the substance of complaints or take corrective action. I put this down to a lack of clear workplace policies and procedures, a lack of appreciation of their health and safety obligations, a tolerance of such behaviour, and the need to retain the technical or artistic skills of the individuals against whom complaints were made. HR was more consistent in its responses, but it, too, sometimes failed in its responsibilities to handle complaints well and guarantee the right outcome for complainants. Only half of crew feel the company applies policies and procedures fairly and appropriately at all levels of the organisation.
Recommendations
I have made 17 recommendations, all pragmatic, that will fix these shortcomings. Implementing some will benefit from external expertise. Some, pleasingly, are already under way.
Overhaul the workplace culture: The chief executive officer should be empowered to carry out and lead a top-to-bottom overhaul of the company’s workplace culture, which must be done with the involvement of crew so they feel they have a say in shaping the new culture.
Develop a code of conduct: This should be a priority, and compliance with it should be a condition in the contract of everyone working at Weta Digital so it is clear what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.
Develop a strategic plan: The company should draft a strategic plan that clearly states its vision, purpose, values, goals and desired outcomes so crew fully understand the corporate strategy and their role in its delivery.
Make the board of directors stronger and more effective: More effective leadership at this level should take the shape of formal board meetings, formal reporting to the board, formal minute-taking and active monitoring of compliance with health and safety obligations.
Restructure the executive team: The company should restructure its executive management team so it can perform its core role of leading more effectively, recognising that its role is not just to produce visual effects but to run a company of 1,500 people.
Implement a wider organisational restructure: The company should consider restructuring the organisation to transform its culture from a siloed and hierarchical one into a more open and collaborative one, paying particular attention to its management structure and the way it appoints and trains managers. The company should clearly spell out all managers’ roles, responsibilities and reporting liness. Managers’ accountabilities, including for a safe and healthy culture in their realms, departments or teams, should also be clear as well as measurable.
Restructure the HR department: A restructured HR department, retitled more fittingly People and Culture or something similar, should implement a programme to regain crew’s trust in HR and restore Weta Digital’s pride as a leading place to work. Contract-related functions should be completely separated from HR; there should be more comprehensive documentation of policies, processes and the complaints register; HR personnel should have a visible presence (“walking the floors”); and peer advocates should receive more support.
Conduct a health and safety audit: An externally commissioned health and safety practitioner should, as a matter of best practice, conduct a further audit (the last one being done three years ago), this time with a focus on mental, as well as physical, health and safety.
Expand training: Behavioural, skills-related and people management training should be boosted to help bring about the change in workplace culture. The first should be an immediate priority. A small, dedicated group – drawing on the skills of those already involved in training in some way – should be established as part of the HR team to co-ordinate a carefully designed programme to provide this training.
Overhaul feedback and performance management: Weta Digital should redesign its performance feedback processes for crew and also enable crew to give feedback upwards.
Expand the diversity and inclusion programme: The company should expand and take a more cohesive approach to its diversity and inclusion programme, which a restructured HR should manage, drawing on input and support from the executive team and the company’s diversity-related committees.
Start a women in leadership programme: The company should commit to a tangible programme to combat its male-dominated culture, particularly in more senior roles. Good parental leave and flexible working policies are necessary. Drafts of these policies, I am glad to say, are already in progress. A mentoring programme would be of benefit.
Introduce transparency in promotions and begin career progression: The company should introduce a transparent process for all promotions to remove any unintended bias. It must also put in place programmes for crew for career progression.
Review the pay structure: The company should review its pay structure, giving particular attention to the gender pay gap and any apparent pay disparity between local and foreign crews, and also consider disclosing pay bands to crew.
Employ an in-house lawyer: The company would benefit from employing a lawyer to advise on health and safety obligations, handle new obligations when the Screen Industry Workers Bill is passed, and deal with contract-related legal issues.
Boost communications: The company should step up its communications with crew so they are kept abreast of its plans and decisions, especially those affecting them.
Improve reporting: The company must improve its reporting, monitoring and auditing at all levels – from crew to management, management to the executive team, and the executive team to the board. This includes more detailed reporting of health and safety incidents, issues, trends and other matters, including bullying and the like.
This review is a watershed moment for Weta Digital. I have little doubt the company is assured of a prosperous future if it commits to these improvements, which will create the strong, healthy culture it needs to continue being a world-class visual effects company. Doing so will also unleash the full potential of its loyal crew, who will, to use one interviewee’s words, “kick the company into high gear”. In short, it is time for the company to grow up.
Miriam Dean CNZM QC
22 December 2020
SHARE ME