At Telstra, diversity includes differences that relate to gender, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and cultural background. It also includes differences in background and life experience, communication styles, interpersonal skills, education, functional expertise and problem solving skills.
Having a diverse range of employees better enables Telstra to provide the best in service to its customers. It enables Telstra to foster greater innovation, stronger problem solving capability, greater customer connection, increased morale, motivation and engagement.
Diversity and inclusion at Telstra are business imperatives. Telstra’s approach is based on three strategic pillars:
- our customers – to leverage diversity as a business driver;
- our communities – to be a leader in diversity and inclusion in the broader community;
- our people – to attract, recruit, engage and retain diverse talent, and embed inclusive practices within each part of our employee life-cycle.
Telstra’s diversity and inclusion framework has five core principles – meritocracy, fairness and equality, contribution to commercial success, that it’s everyone’s business, and that, at Telstra, it’s a part of who we are.
Diversity and inclusion at Telstra is led by Telstra's Diversity Council, which is chaired by the CEO and has been in place since 2006.
On 30 June 2010, the ASX Corporate Governance Council released the Amended ASX Principles and Recommendations which included amendments in relation to diversity. While the changes do not take effect until the first financial year beginning on or after 1 January 2011 (in Telstra’s case the financial year commencing 1 July 2011), Telstra has over the past year already taken steps to adopt key provisions of the Amended ASX Principles and Recommendations. Telstra continues to be an early-adopter of best practice corporate governance standards.
As disclosed in last year’s 2010 Annual Report, these steps include:
- responsibility for diversity has been included in the Board Charter, the Nomination Committee Charter (Board diversity) and the Remuneration Committee Charter (diversity at all levels of the Company below Board level); and
- the Board has formally adopted policies in relation to diversity at Board level and at all levels below the Board, reflecting the principles and practices Telstra has had in place for a number of years – this provides the framework for measurable objectives to be set by the Board.
The Board has also now established measurable objectives for achieving diversity at all levels of the Company, as outlined below.
FY12 Measurable Objectives
The Board has established the following measurable objectives for achieving diversity at all levels of the Company in respect of fiscal 2012:
- that by the end of FY13, there will be 3 women on the Board, representing a female gender representation among non-executive Directors of at least 30%;
- 50% female representation in 2013 graduate intake;
- promotion rates for women to exceed their representation at Business Unit level;
- engagement of identified groups* equal to or greater than national benchmarks; and
- female representation for 30 June 2012 at 32% (Telstra) and 25% (Executive Management).
*Identified Groups are female employees, Indigenous employees, other culturally and linguistically diverse employees, employees with a disability, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex employees.
Telstra has in place a range of initiatives to achieve these measurable objectives, and diversity and inclusion at Telstra in general, including in the areas of Board diversity, gender diversity, flexible work practices, Indigenous, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Board diversity
As noted above, the Board has set a measurable objective that by the end of FY13, there will be 3 women on the Board, representing a female gender representation among non-executive Directors of at least 30%.
As at 30 June 2011, there were 2 women on the Board (including the Chairman of the Board), representing a female gender representation among non-executive Directors of 22% (being 2 of 9 members). As noted earlier, Dr Nora Scheinkestel was appointed to the Board effective 12 August 2010.
There are a number of initiatives the Board has in place to meet its strategic imperative of ensuring the Company has a diverse Board and to achieve its measurable objective regarding Board diversity. These include:
- ensuring a diverse range of qualified candidates is considered for Board appointments;
- developing a pipeline of potential Board candidates;
- evolving a Board skills matrix and using the matrix to identify any gaps in the experience, skills and background, including gender and diversity generally, of Directors on the Board;
- participating in programs to assist in the development of a broader pool of skilled and experienced Board candidates, including support for the AICD ASX 200 Chairmen’s Mentoring Program;
- including diversity as a regular agenda item for Nomination Committee meetings; and
- reporting on the use of professional intermediaries (such as external search firms) to identify and assess qualified candidates (as disclosed earlier in the section entitled “Board composition”).
Gender diversity
At Telstra, it is critical that gender is not a barrier to participation. Telstra’s approach to gender diversity is to involve both women and men in creating an inclusive environment. The achievements of Telstra Corporation Limited in fiscal 2011 include:
- development and launch of a segmented employment brand and website to increase the attraction of women into roles at Telstra;
- further closure of the gender pay equity gap through close analysis and deliberate action to correct differences in pay that cannot be explained by differences in length of service or levels of performance when comparing people doing the same jobs;
- piloting of a targeted sponsorship experience for identified high potential women in the Network Construction area;
- embedding of inclusive practice across the employee life-cycle, into the responsibilities of middle and senior managers;
- participation by more than 450 Telstra women in My Mentor, a 12-week multimedia program that aims to improve strategic business skills, with modules covering personal branding, taking risks, career planning, increasing visibility and profile, influencing and negotiation, and integrating work and life;
- Telstra’s continued support of its women participating in women’s development events and programs, and partnering with organisations such as Catalyst, Sustaining Women in Business, Business Chicks, Women in Engineering, One Million Women, Chief Executive Women and Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications;
- Telstra men, including the CEO, continued as ambassadors and supporters of the White Ribbon Foundation campaign to eliminate violence against women;
- the expansion of Telstra's Women's Network, which now has more than 2,000 members across the Company, to become the Telstra Gender Equality Network (GEN) - the GEN now includes men so that they can actively participate as people who also champion gender equality at Telstra; and
- Telstra was a finalist in the 2010 Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency’s Business Achievement Awards for its Next Generation Gender Diversity program.
Women in management roles at Telstra*– as at 30 June 2011
| As at 30 June 2011 | As at 30 June 2010 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Role | By Number | By Percentage | By Number | By Percentage |
| Executive Management | 56 | 22.7% | 65 | 22.4% |
| Middle Management | 2,064 | 27.3% | 2,120 | 27.6% |
| Operational | 8,256 | 32.6% | 8,437 | 32.5% |
| TOTAL | 10,385 | 31.3% | 10,622 | 31.3% |
Work-life flexibility
Telstra’s approach to flexible work practices exceeds legislative requirements, and is underpinned by progressive leave policies including access to paid parental leave (which is additional to the Commonwealth funded scheme), personal (including carer's) leave, cultural leave, career break leave and the ability to purchase additional leave to enable employees to balance their work and personal commitments. Its approach is designed to facilitate the maintenance by its people of a healthy balance between work and other activities and interests.
In fiscal 2011, Telstra continued to implement its leading policies on flexible work, requiring managers to consider all requests for flexible work, respond within a specified period and provide written advice of a refusal with clear reasons. Telstra’s policy states that it will support flexible working arrangements unless the manager can show that a significant negative business impact will result from the arrangement. These amendments extend beyond the minimum requirements of the National Employment Standards to include all types of requests for flexible work arrangements.
Other Initiatives
Telstra’s commitment to, and work in, other areas of Diversity and Inclusion during fiscal 2011 has also resulted in achievements in each of the following areas:
Indigenous – distribution of laptops to Indigenous children in remote communities through its partnership with One Laptop Per Child Australia; provision of $3.5 million through the Telstra Foundation to fund projects that will make a positive difference to the education outcomes of Indigenous students; continued connection of Indigenous customers with Telstra’s Indigenous Hotline service to further promote appropriate, targeted and affordable telecommunications services; hosting of 14 new Indigenous trainees; launch of Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country protocols for use at Telstra’s corporate events and gatherings; and incorporation of suppliers accredited by the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council into its procurement processes.
Disability – launch of Telstra’s 5th Disability Action Plan, consolidating its commitment to customers and employees with a disability; commencement of Telstra’s partnership with the National Disability Recruitment Co-ordinator and implementation of audit recommendations to ensure accessible and inclusive recruitment processes for applicants and new starters with a disability.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – Telstra ranked 5th in the Top 10 employers for the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees in the inaugural Australian Workplace Equality Index; continued community support through Midsumma, Sydney Mardi Gras, Aids Trust of Australia community activities.
Further information regarding Telstra’s customer and community diversity and inclusion initiatives can be found in Telstra’s Corporate Citizenship & Sustainability Report, which is available on its website at www.telstra.com.au/cr.
