Gender Equality
BG&E is committed to developing and nurturing a workforce that is inclusive and fair, and respects the diversity of our employees, clients and the communities we serve. We recognise that our current gender representation is below a level seen in other similar organisations in the market.
BG&E wants to attract more women to work for our business, and we want more of our current employees to reach their potential, to develop our next generation of female leaders.
The Business Case for a Gender Balanced Workforce
The business case for sustaining a gender balanced workforce goes beyond having a social licence to operate. Professional services firms including engineering consultants, have deployed initiatives to improve gender equality and as a result they have enjoyed the following benefits:
- Improved Board and leadership team performance via an egalitarian approach which elevates different voices, integrates contrasting opinions and welcomes conversations about change;
- Improved innovation and creativity for problem solving, as a heterogenous workforce contributes varied perspectives;
- Increased opportunities to win work from government agencies and others, that have thresholds in place for female participation on projects;
- Access to the best talent by leveraging the entire talent pool;
- Increased productivity as an engaged workforce is a productive workforce; and
- Enhanced employee engagement.
Our 2021 Engagement Survey tells us that in general males have a more positive experience working at BG&E than females. Further, females are underrepresented in promotions, while being over-represented in resignations. There is also a clear need for more women in senior project-related positions. Only 7% of our senior leadership in project related roles are female. Sections 2.2 and 2.3 outline some of the steps we are taking to move to improved gender balance in our workforce.
Family friendly workplace
BG&E has updated its Parental Leave Policy and Flexible Work Policy in line with our Gender Equality Strategy.
Parental Leave
In 2023 BG&E introduced an enhanced parental leave policy that is more supportive and inclusive for all parents. The policy change will enable any employee, regardless of gender to access the paid primary carers benefit of 16 weeks at 75% of salary if they are the primary carer at any time in the first 12 months after the birth or adoption of a child. Additionally, the updated policy introduces an extra weeks’ pay for secondary carers who will now have three weeks leave at full pay to use at any time in the first 12 months.
Flexible working arrangement
BG&E promotes a flexible work environment to allow employees to maintain a work/life balance.
Diversity and Inclusion
BG&E aims to continually improve inclusivity within the workplace and has recently established a Gender and Diversity Strategy.
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) Committee
Since the inception of BG&E Diversity, Equality & Inclusion (DEI) Committee in 2020, the Committee has been actively working alongside champions from Board and ELT, and the People & Culture team with the purpose of improving the DEI landscape within BG&E. The Committee believes in intentionally building and developing a diverse group of technical professionals to enhance our collective problem-solving skills, ultimately to deliver the best possible project outcome for clients and our communities.
The Committee has made some milestone progress in the past year, with continued effort to provide inputs into structuring the support policy and strategy framework, and work on initiatives towards long term cultural change, including:
- Established Gender Equality Strategy, including implementation of gender metrics targets by FY25.
- Set up of local level DEI sub-committees in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney to strengthen staff engagement.
- Broadening out initiatives into other aspect of diversity including a structured approach to celebrate cultural events throughout the year. Examples include Sydney WorldPride 2023, Harmony Day, Ramadan and Eid, and NAIDOC week.
- Conducted annual progress review of implemented initiatives against the target metrics
- Rolled out of 1st round of mentoring program for female project professionals sponsored by all ELT members.
- Inputs into the updated Parental Leave Policy and Flexible Work Policy in line with Gender Equality Strategy.
- Completed unconscious bias trainings across the organisation from Board and ELT to all employee.
- Scheduled delivery of Imposter Syndrome trainings and On-site behaviour training for second half of 2023.
STEM for Girls Engineering Career Day
A group of 10 female engineers in the Sydney office came together to deliver BG&E’s first School Engagement program for Year 9-12 girls. The day was structured with good balance of multi-disciplinary project delivery presentation through real life examples, and hands on interactive activities to put basic engineering principles to use. Through an “Engineering the Future” session we showcased some of our work in sustainability design and disaster management to deal with impact of climate change.
We have received very positive feedback from the program, with many expressing interest to return and consider becoming engineers. It was a tremendously valuable and rewarding experience for those involved.
Diversity and inclusion celebrations
Other events we have organised to celebrate diversity:
- A morning tea in celebration of the Lunar New year – staff were invited to share their experience with it, and a short speech was made by Annie Jiang.
- An activity for international Women’s Day on the theme of Embrace Equity and understand what that means.
- Lunch for Harmony Day, to celebrate the diversity in the office. People were invited to bring a dish of their choice representing their culture.
- We celebrated WorldPride, in celebration of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ Community, by hosting a Pride Picnic.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
We continue to focus on the wellbeing of our employees through creating a safe workplace for all.
- Externally Accredited Management System(s) framework for occupational health and safety.
- Industry Wellbeing Events and Awareness (e.g., R U Okay Day) celebrated within local regions of operation.
- Mental Health and Wellbeing mandated training for all staff - future initiative e.g., Mental Health First Aid, Resilience Training etc.
- Additional Compliance training for management of Psychosocial hazards within the workplace.
- Transition our Employee Assisted Program (EAP) to Lifeworks, which offers counselling services and a digital well-being platform with curated content. This is offered to employees and immediate family members.
Next
As we continue to put our employees' Health, Safety and Wellbeing first, we have committed to a Monthly Safety Initiative Reward and Recognition of local initiatives as part of the FY24 Plan.
