Changing the pictire of diversity and inclusion in Australian businesses

Interested in improving diversity and inclusion at work?

CoAct are creating an innovative solution to change how employers approach diversity and inclusion. Our goal is to help employers benefit from a more diverse workforce while creating positive outcomes for disadvantaged jobseekers.

We’re looking to have 50 conversations with industry leaders, thinkers, and do-ers to understand, find and test better solutions to improve diversity employment. We started talking to 20 large employers in November 21 (including BHP, the Body Shop, ISS World, Bonds, IAG Insurance and John Holland) to understand what’s working and what’s not in building and sustaining their diverse workforces.

We have then taken the findings from these conversations to inform a co-design workshop to shape possible solutions and services to help better support diversity employment. Now we would like to talk to 30 more employers to test these solutions to see if they would be of benefit to organisations like yours.

Particpate in our research project

If you are interested in being a part of this research and receive copies of our findings, please book in for your 45–60-minute Zoom interview held at a time that suits you between 31 January and 4 February 2022.

Findings so far

So far, we’ve spoken with 27 large employers representing thousands of employees across Australia. They range from companies with a high level of diversity sophistication to those that are just starting out. These conversations have helped us uncover 38 ideas for possible diversity initiatives.

Some of our early findings show employers can be grouped into three main categories of diversity maturity:

Getting started
Maintaining or maturing
Mature and thinking bigger.

The common areas of support all three groups need include:

advice and stories to help build their business case, learn from others and understand proven models.
guidance on how to overcome inertia and gain buy-in through the sharing of success
an understanding of how to create conditions for inclusion and belonging so diversity can thrive.

Why be involved?

Organisations have been talking about diverse workforces since the 1960s, yet the rate of change has been glacial. For example, the employment rate for people with disabilities is about 53%, compared to about 80% for those without disability. Those rates have not moved for 20 years. Many other disadvantaged groups also struggle with connecting with employment opportunities. On the flipside, organisations face growing labour shortages and the need for diverse workforces.

We want to better connect the two groups to improve employment opportunities for those who need it most while unlocking business benefits of workplace diversity and inclusion for organisations. Sharing your time and views can help shape future services which can make this a reality.

Who are we speaking with?

We want to talk to people who work in enterprise workforce development and diversity and inclusion. We’re aiming to speak to a range of industries including (but not limited to) health and social assistance, financial, retail, manufacturing, hospitality, not-for-profit and public/government administration. The companies should have an internal HR team and employ over 400 staff.

What is the format for the interview?

A 45–60-minute Zoom interview held at a time that suits you between 31 January and 4 February 2022.

Questions or more information please email Kirsten Ibbotson