Diversity within our industry: Australia Post
During the first few weeks of my ongoing tenure as editor of Post&Parcel, I was, quite rightly, nagged for my use of the word ‘postmen’. It is, of course, the 21st century, and I’m sure there are also armies of female postal workers who would be quick to pour scorn on my use of the word too. Now, having learnt my lesson, I have referred to using ‘postal workers’. With that crisis averted, I felt it would be interesting to explore diversity within the mail and express sectors; examining employment programmes; looking at statistics; and investigating differing strategies throughout the industry. I will investigate the policies of several companies over the coming months, whilst searching for trends and differences from one organisation to the next.
My first case study involved heading to the southern hemisphere to explore the human resource strategies employed by Australia Post. This was a particularly interesting case study considering Indigenous Australians make up approximately 2.7% of Australia’s population.
For more than 20 years, Australia Post has employed an Indigenous Employment and Business Strategy. Constantly evolving throughout the last two decades, it was strongly supported by former Australia Post managing director Graeme John. John maintained: “At Australia Post, the employment of Indigenous Australians is a tangible and practical expression of reconciliation. The relationship and respect built between Australia Post and Indigenous Australians has been the cornerstone of our long term commitment to provide real jobs and real opportunities for Indigenous Australians.
“I acknowledge the dedication of our people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, in achieving significant milestones for our Indigenous Employment Strategies. Australia Post made a commitment to provide employment opportunities to Indigenous Australians. It gives me great pride that our programme has been a success in not only providing employment but important skills development and business opportunity to Indigenous Australians. This has been a rewarding experience for all concerned.”
An Executive Steering Committee was introduced to ensure the Indigenous Employment and Business Strategy provided “genuine employment opportunities to; increasing retention and development opportunities for; and examining business opportunities in Australia Post business with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.
As part of the strategy, Australia Post has committed to maintaining the national representation of Indigenous employees at 1.5% of Australia Post’s workforce, while seeking to increase representation to 2%; and to maintain the national representation of Indigenous employees in above base grade positions at 1.2% while seeking to increase representation to 1.5%.
Drawing on the importance of diversity within the organisation, John was quoted in Australia Post’s Diversity Business Strategy 2008-2011, as saying: “Australia Post is a large, diverse organisation with people from all different walks of life, different backgrounds and varied interests. This diversity is a great strength – especially for an organisation like ours, which serves the whole Australian community. The variety of personal histories, experiences, outlooks and talents is what gives our team depth and a broad range of skills to enhance our business.
“By managing our people as individuals and valuing and utilising their wide range of skills, experience and abilities, our diverse workforce will continue to assist Australia Post to meet future business challenges both here in Australia and in our new global ventures.”
And the proof is in the pudding, it seems. Australia Post currently has more than 35,000 employees from 135 countries who speak over 70 languages. Furthermore, the company has Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) regarding the representation of women and ensuring women are represented in both management and executive positions within Australia Post.
The company’s national manager of diversity, Debra Dodgson, also noted Australia Post’s history of nurturing diversity saying, we have “a long history of managing Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity. Our first Indigenous employee was Mary Ellen Cuper 1873 (Post mistress). Australia Post has had EEO/diversity strategies continuously since 1977 and dedicated strategies to deal with Indigenous employment since 1988.”
Australia Post won the 2008 Diversity @ Work Diversity and Inclusion Award for Indigenous Employment and the 2009 Diversity @ Work Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award 2009.
Dodgson added: “We have dedicated programmes for the advancement of women, the employment and development of Indigenous Australians and for people with a disability and people from non-English speaking backgrounds. We also have an Age Management Strategy and dedicated talent management and succession planning programmes.”
Australia Post has set a high standard for the strategies it uses to maintain diversity and equality in its workforce; a vital component of any large organisation in such a multi-cultural country.
Chris Dolan, editor, Post&Parcel
I am looking to undertake further investigation on the subject of diversity and equal employment opportunity in the mail and express sectors, in both first and third world countries. Please feel free to suggest a region for me to explore, or make a comment, below.
