ACTIONS: Reviewing and promoting workplace practices

Team structures are inclusive, accommodating and flexible for all employees.

Flexible working arrangements include job-sharing, compressed working hours, teleworking, flexible working hours and flexible rostering.

Where to find information:

• Workplace Gender Equity Agency: Flexible work | WGEA
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Flexible working arrangements - Best practice guides - Fair Work Ombudsman
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Requests for flexible working arrangements - Fact sheets - Fair Work Ombudsman

What immediate actions you can implement:

• Review current HR practices, rituals and communication to ensure they are updated for continued relevance.
• Promote and raise awareness of the importance appropriate workplace practices that promote the benefits of women in your organisation. This could include regular and consistent communications through:
  • Organisation wide emails
  • Team meetings
  • Posters
  • Communications to clients and stakeholders
  • Website

What longer term actions you can implement:

• Design and introduce flexible work that meets your overall business need using the Workplace Flexibility resource.

Scenario:

Sandvik participated in Career Revive, as part of the 2019 intake, to continue their focus and achievements on diversity and inclusion.

The executive at Sandvik displayed a strong commitment to improving workforce diversity. Their buy in and support ensured there was momentum for project activities.

The primary focus of activities for Sandvik, was increasing adoption of workplace flexibility. The Career Revive Mentor engaged managers in ongoing discussion about their role in defining the expectations around flexible work.

A Flexibility Toolkit was also developed to support managers to bridge the gap between flexible policy and practice.

The program sponsor from Sandvik also identified positions that could be done flexibly, with the goal of making this the default option in future.

Scenario:

Icelab is a digital design studio that opened in 2006. After two years of operation, Icelab Director Michael Honey wasn’t content with his employees’ or his own work life balance and wanted to try a new approach.

The business employed the following flexibility strategies:

• Short working week (all staff) - only operate during standard business hours Monday to Thursday, and did away with standard working hours altogether.
• Work from anywhere - the changed approach was supported by a ‘work from anywhere’ policy with the right communication and working tools to ensure it was successful.
• Distributed workforce - Icelab’s innovative policies have helped it attract a range of talent with potential recruits coming from a wider pool including: working parents; those with family/caring responsibilities; those residing outside of Icelab’s two physical locations – including one staff member that resides permanently in Poland; other small business owners – including one staff member who owns a tea company.
• Online communications and working platforms.
• Flexible hiring.