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Writer's pictureMatthew Cossens

#BalanceforBetter - International Women's Day 2019



Today we celebrate International Women’s Day for 2019. Last year the world “Pressed for Progress”. We saw large corporates in Australia (such as Energy Australia) bridge the pay gap immediately, and others begin to make change quicker than ever before . This year the theme for IWD2019 is #BalanceforBetter.


As a leader at Aurec Group I committed to a range of initiatives (https://www.matthewcossens.com/blog/i-press-for-progress-iwd2018) both internally for our team,  externally through our customers (clients and candidates) and my circle of influence. As a father/husband I committed to be a role model.


International Women’s Day is not a day, it is not a year, it is an ongoing commitment to achieving balance worldwide.


So what have done in 2018? Internally, we have rolled out the following initiatives and programs:

  • Provided education across the business on gender equality. Most of our staff initially (regardless of gender) did not appreciate the challenge, the history or need for change both locally and globally. This education has set up the building blocks for us to collaborate as a team to drive further initiatives.

  • Raised awareness around inclusive language, inclusive alternatives, challenging assumptions about women and not been afraid to challenge statements that limit women. This awareness was led by our leadership team. This is an ongoing commitment including correcting statements of bias or finding inclusive alternatives for our team to celebrate.

  • Provided mentoring, growth and leadership pathways for aspiring women in our workplace. (and encouraged women to apply). Our current leadership program has 50% representation by women.

  • Engaged men and women within our business to become champions of equality. Champions of equality are tasked with delivering key issues to staff, keeping equality and diversity front and centre, drive positive change and work with our leadership team to ensure accountability and track results. Ensured women have positive role models that inspire them, (both female and male) that model equality and can be seen actively changing the status quo. This has been driven by our leadership team down.

  • A clear and comprehensive Diversity and Inclusion policy outlining what Diversity means to our business, how we promote diversity and inclusion, areas of focus (updated bi-annually) and implementation and measurable objectives.

  • This policy is further supported by our Employee Code of Conduct, Equal Opportunity, Flexible Workplace Arrangements, Leave, Bullying/Harassment and Discrimination and Learning & Development policies.


Externally, our commitment to diversity and inclusion is further re-enforced through our impact on customers and the community we both serve and influence. We are in a privileged position to challenge the status quo, educate and deliver change. We have delivered the following programs for our clients:

  • Discussion on inclusive language (advertising, position descriptions, interview techniques)

  • Implementation of bias language proofing tools ensuring gender neutral and inclusive terms.

  • Blind CV Assessment (without names) to eliminate potential unconscious bias or discrimination.

  • Ensuring multiple stakeholders are involved in the candidate selection process.

  • Education on the value and impact of diverse teams This was achieved through formal discussions/meetings, shared whitepapers by thought leaders and connecting our clients with various industry groups and inviting them to seminars on diversity.

  • Mandatory shortlisting for all executive roles – Aurec has driven mandatory gender shortlisting 50/50 representation at shortlist and 50/50 representation at final interview. This has contributed to significant uplift of executive women placed. The additional benefit was an increase in the number of executive/senior retainers secured by Aurec due to our unique sourcing and approach to diversity.

  • Increased shortlisting of gender diverse talent for all IT roles. We have driven internal targets to ensure that a gender diverse shortlist is provided for all roles.

  • As a recruitment business we have had the ability to influence our clients in IT, particularly at the executive level increasing the placement of leading females from 9% in 2008 to above 39% in 2019. A metric that we are committed to increasing in partnership with our clients.


Today our team will sit down at lunch to run a workshop on “50 Ways To Fight Bias” thanks to the resourcers from the team at Lean In (https://leanin.org/iwd?utm_source=IWDcom) to facilitate real conversations about bias, challenge mindsets and consider research backed recommendations for what to do. The is an issue for us all and we all need to take tangible action. If we all strive together we will see change!


We will also celebrate the women in our office, our lives, and those who have influenced us all on our journey. We understand a balanced world is a better world! I expect balance, we expect balance, our customers expect balance, the world expects balance! #BalanceforBetter


What are you doing to do for the #BalanceforBetter campaign? Share your initiatives, impact or changes you have made this year or will commit to through 2019 and beyond.





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