THE Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has accepted the 2016 AREEA / Australian Women in Resources Alliance Award, presented annually to an employer for its success in increasing women’s participation in their workforce and enhancing organisational performance.
After regrettably being unable to attend the 2016 AREEA Gala Dinner and Industry Award Ceremony in August due to pressing operational priorities, the ARTC proudly accepted their award from AREEA head of membership Samantha Edmunds last week.
As part of an organisational transformation program, the ARTC aimed to improve a female workforce participation rate that had stagnated at 17 per cent in 2015. As part of this strategy, the company gained permission from the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board to allocate 14 entry level positions to females.
A new comprehensive recruitment campaign involving print, online media and social media led to 200 women attending an information session and over 900 job applications. In just over a year, the ARTC has increased female workforce participation to 19 per cent.
Furthermore, women’s participation in non-traditional roles based in the Hunter Valley have increased from just over one per cent to almost 10 per cent.
The company’s culture now also supports diversity, with the introduction of unconscious bias training, female uniforms and flexible work options.
Keep an eye out for a feature story on how the ARTC transformed its female workforce participation strategies in the next edition of AREEA’s magazine, Resource People – hitting your desks later this month.
