Flexibility key to retaining women at work
The Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) has launched its Guide to Flexible Work to help mining, oil and gas and related construction sector employers increase their workforce gender diversity.
“In recent years the Australian resource industry has overhauled its recruitment and human resources practices to diversify the skills and talent mix of its workforce. However, putting flexible work into practice at their operations remains a challenge for many employers,” said AWRA spokesperson Tara Diamond.
For years male-dominated industries have sought the key to attracting and maintaining women in the workforce. AWRA believes the guide will provide a tool to implement greater flexible work arrangements in their workplaces and thus boost their ability to attract and retain more women within their ranks.
“Flexibility can be particularly challenging at resource industry workplaces that involve remote locations, projects operating on a 24-hour basis and often with health and safety rules restricting the practical ability to have multiple rosters or other options for flexible work,” Diamond noted.
The guide offers a “broad range of modern flexible work options that may suit their workplaces and appeal to a greater pool of employees—both female and male—to ultimately benefit organisational culture and performance,” she added.
It contains:
- Advice on how to make flexibility work in the resource industry
- 13 types of flexible work options such as job sharing, teleworking, flexible hours and expanded leave
- Example workplace policies and templates
- Useful legal tips
- Case studies of successful flexible work practices from across the resource industry
AWRA is an industry initiative facilitated by peak employer group the Australian Mines and Metals Association and since 2011 has worked to increase women’s participation in the resource industry.
