Why is it that some employers achieve gender balance through recruitment practices incredibly quickly while others take a lot longer? Of course, the industry sector and employer reputation plays a part however, after analysing tens of thousands of job advertisements, company policies and employer branding initiatives, DCC Jobs found some common themes.
1. Purpose driven organisations will always get the best talent
We’ve seen this first hand just recently when searching for a Client Engagement Manager to join DCC Jobs. From speaking with the candidates, the number one reason they’d applied for the role was because they believed in our mission and wanted to work with an organisation that is making a social impact. We’ve also seen this happen with multiple other DCC Endorsed Employers. One of the best examples coming from The Yield, who are an AgriTech start up, headquartered in Hobart. Their ethos “The world needs 60 per cent more food by 2050. We want to help meet this challenge without compromising the future” sums up why they’ve had great success with hiring talent women in a non-traditional field.
Even if your organisation doesn’t have a social mission at its core, it’s important to highlight how employees can get involved in supporting the community. It might be through volunteering, supporting charities, or any other activities which make a social impact and are facilitated by the employer.
2. Nothing beats social proof
The true measure of a company’s internal culture, is how the staff feel about it and what they would say when the boss isn’t in the room. These days, everyone is talking about how committed they are to diversity and inclusion. But, would their staff back it up? When Holcim, who operate and deliver construction materials across Australia joined DCC, their staff immediately jumped on board to share the news.
When employers saw Francheska’s post on LinkedIn, DCC were asked, “Did Holcim ask their staff to share the update?” The answer was while employers usually do send out internal announcements about working with DCC, Francheska shared the update well before she was aware of the partnership.
3.Your leaders need to be vocal about their actions to create an inclusive workplace
An example of this comes from Frontier Advisors, who recently hired an Associate via DCC. During the interview process, the candidate noted the company’s link with DCC was an important factor in considering the role, as it provided a positive indication of the support and culture she is likely to experience with the company.
Our Endorsed Employers are proud of their efforts to create better workplaces for all staff. A big part of that involves advocating for change and leading by example. Fiona Trafford-Walker, Director at Frontier Advisors recently did just that in her recent article, What Women Want in a Workplace in Money Matters. She wrote:
“We introduced unconscious bias training, we committed to the Panel Pledge, became an ‘Endorsed Employer for Women’ by DCC Jobs and we ensure women (and men) who work in part-time roles can have meaningful leadership positions. Now we have 32 per cent women in our practice, which is around double the average in financial services firms (the CFA reports less than 20 per cent of its members are women – we use this as a proxy for employment in the financial services sector) but short of where we would like it to be.”
In a press release, recently approved Endorsed Employer Laing O’Rourke’s Australia Hub Managing Director, Cathal O’Rourke said:
“To achieve this important industry endorsement we have demonstrated that we have the right policies in place to support women in the workplace. In 2016 we conducted a gender pay gap review across Australia and now have pay parity across the organisation and filters in place to ensure men and women’s salaries do not diverge, and earlier this year I was pleased to join the leaders of 100 of Australia’s largest organisations as a WGEA Pay Equity Ambassador.”
Conclusion
- Even if your organisation is not directly involved in making a social impact through its core business activities, there’s always opportunity to engage in corporate social responsibility activities.
- Engagement with your job ads will not happen unless your employer brand is authentic and supported by your employees.
- Your leaders cannot remain silent. Advocating for industry wide changes speaks volumes about your business to potential candidates and encourages buy in internally.
About DCC Jobs
DCC is a jobs board with a difference! DCC pre-screen employers on paid parental leave, pay equity, flexible working and much more. If they don’t meet the DCC criteria, they simply cannot advertise. This information is not publicly listed elsewhere and is an essential tool in your job search when assessing potential employers. Keep up to date via DCC’s newsletter, set up a job alert and follow DCC Jobs on social media.
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