AUSTRALIA / AGILITYPR.NEWS / February 04, 2020 / International engineering, design and advisory company Aurecon has been named as one of only 35 organisations deemed an Inclusive Employer for 2019-2020 by the Diversity Council Australia.

Aurecon received the accolade based on data from the Council’s 2019 Inclusion Index Survey designed to map and track the state of inclusion in the Australian workforce.

Aurecon outperformed scores for the national average and average of Diversity Council Australia member organisations, with the survey reporting 64% of Aurecon employees operated in inclusive teams compared to 62% of DCA member organisations and 51% of companies across Australia.

Aurecon Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand Louise Adams said the results were incredibly meaningful given the data provides the first evidence that inclusive teams positively impact both performance and wellbeing.

The survey results demonstrated that workers in inclusive teams work together more effectively, look for new ideas and ways to solve problems and undertake greater effort to achieve success than workers in somewhat inclusive or non-inclusive teams.

Results also demonstrated a significant portion of workers in inclusive teams (61%) were more satisfied with their job compared to workers in somewhat inclusive or non-inclusive teams (26). Only 5% of workers in inclusive teams were likely to look for another job in the next 12 months compared to 65% of workers in somewhat inclusive and non-inclusive teams.

“At Aurecon, we have long championed the importance of inclusive teams. It’s not just about building diverse teams full of people who think differently which optimises innovative solutions; you also need to create a culture where people can be themselves and have their unique contribution heard and valued,” Ms Adams said.

“Aurecon supports inclusive leadership through its Beyond Management – Leading Inclusively line manager training programme that supports line managers to get the best from their teams by embracing the different experiences that each team member brings. 

“Increasing diversity and inclusivity within teams has direct impacts on business performance and delivers an unbeatable competitive edge so it’s fantastic to see concrete data supporting this,” she said.

More than 1200 Aurecon employees across Australia and New Zealand participated in the Inclusion@YourWork Index survey. Aurecon achieved Inclusive Employer status by achieving results that exceeded the National Index Benchmark in six out of six of the following measures: (1) Awareness; (2) Engagement; (3) Inclusive Organisational Climate; (4) Inclusive Leadership; (5) Inclusive Team; (6) Exclusion.