Australian workers value diversity: survey

Australian workers value diversity: survey

A new study commissioned by COS surveyed more than 1,000 Australian workers and found that more than two thirds of people say it’s important to them that their workplace has a diversity policy. Respondents felt that this need was not being catered to by businesses, with only 47 percent of respondents saying their company does have a policy, while a further 35 percent are unsure.  

The main reasons people said having a policy in place was important to them was: ‘Inclusion of everyone is important to me’ (33 percent), ‘I value diversity in every part of my life (28 pecent), ‘it makes me/would make me proud to work for a company’ (17 percent), and ‘diversity makes companies more successful’ (17 percent). 

Eighty Five percent of respondents feel their current workplace is diverse. The main ways they feel their company is diverse are: Race and ethnicity (72 percent), age (69 percent) and gender (67 percent). The HR (94 percent), IT and Telecommunications (94 percent) and Architecture, Engineering, & Building (92 percent) sectors had the highest levels of staff who felt their company was diverse, as did employees from the Northern Territory (100 percent), Victoria (87 percent) and South Australia (87 percent).  

Amie Lyone is Co-CEO of COS. 

“There’s a significant amount of research that reflects that diverse companies are more likely to outperform non-diverse businesses, so it’s truly in everyone’s best interest to ensure this is a priority within the workplace,” she said. 
 
“It’s apparent that while leaders may want to improve this area of the business, they simply don’t know how or where to find the time.” 

“Often tasks like creating and implementing policies takes a back seat to more time sensitive items that need urgent attention, but it’s clear that employees are looking for more businesses to implement diversity policies so it’s important to take action,” Ms Lyone said. 

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