Diversity in the workplace has been a long-standing issue, but some organisations are making changes for the better, albeit slowly. In Australia, the government has a statutory agency called the Workplace Gender Equality Agency established to improve gender equality in the workplace. The agency released a fact sheet earlier this year containing gender workplace statistics. Data shows that while 47.2% of all employees are women, that same dataset also reports that the gender pay gap still exists, with women getting paid 13.4% less than men based on average weekly earnings.

The agency’s 2019-20 dataset results also show that women hold less than half of management and directorial positions across industries. There are still boards and governing bodies that have no female directors at all.

There’s still a long way to go to rid the workplace of gender biases. If your company sincerely wants to promote gender inclusivity in the workplace, one of the things you as a leader should do is take a step back and see how your company supports women in the workplace.

Number Of Women In The Company

This factor is more notably considered in organisations with a reasonably large workforce, one with hundreds of employees, to get a fair picture of them as a whole. After all, small teams do not necessarily indicate a company’s commitment to diversity. Digging deeper into it is to consider what kind of roles do the women have? For example, if you have a tech company, do the women hold tech-related positions or have administrative or support functions?

Gender Split Of The Leadership Team

Also, consider the gender split of your company’s leadership team or board of directors. Is it mostly comprised of men? Or is it an equal number of both men and women? Does your company give women equal opportunities when it comes to advancing their careers to a leadership position or climbing up the corporate ladder? If not, it’s time to start being more inclusive and giving the women in your workplace the same chances. Diversity in management can say a lot about the company’s current culture.

Instilling A Culture Of Inclusivity

As mentioned above, diversity in the workplace says a lot about the company’s culture. So how does your company establish a culture that advocates for women? This can include flexible working arrangements for mothers returning from maternity leave, mentoring and networking opportunities for women, and career planning that empowers women. On a day-to-day basis, this can also include letting women be heard, intolerance to sexism, treating women equally as professionals and acknowledging their successes.

Commitment To Diversity

Being gender-inclusive requires commitment. Touting your company as being supportive of women would mean nothing if the steps the management takes are merely performative or only following it for show. Efforts like compulsory diversity training for managers are a good step toward relearning biases and making the workplace a better environment for women and everyone. When employees see a conscious effort from the executive team to make the workplace a good atmosphere, it makes them more trustworthy leaders.

Does your company empower women? If it doesn’t then let us help you with your hiring strategy and if it already does then share your stories or views about how your organisation upholds gender diversity by starting a conversation with the best IT recruitment consultants in Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane by emailing office@redwolfrosch.com.au or calling 1300 544 652.

An internship is a great learning opportunity for a student to learn not only the industry skills needed for the career path you’re taking but also crucial soft skills that will give you an advantage over other fresh graduates who have no prior experience.

Gain Work Experience to Build Up Your Resume

An internship is a prime opportunity to learn skills not only related to your major but also invaluable workplace skills. You learn various skills that could help you in your future career that is aligned with what you are studying in college. But in case you do end up in a different career path than intended, then the workplace skills you have acquired through an internship still puts you at an advantage from an employers point of view. 

Your resume is proof of the knowledge you’ve gained. Listing down your internships as work experience strengthens it. It makes you attractive to future employers and shows your edge amongst the other applicants.

Inside Look at the Industry and Networking Opportunity

Being an intern gives you an introductory look at the industry you’re planning to get into. You get to see the inner workings and a taste of the work environment. No more culture shocks. You will spend less time adjusting and more time to get right into the work itself.

You’ll get to meet industry professionals and other important people in the career you’re planning to take. Networking is not an easy feat especially for a beginner but as an intern, you can start your first steps in building your network.

Possible Job Offer

With all the knowledge and experience you’ve gained while being an intern for a company, you are more likely to be offered a job at the same company once you graduate. 

It benefits both you and the company since you don’t have to spend too much time looking for a job and you can easily assimilate yourself. It also saves the company you’ll be working for time and resources they would have otherwise spent looking for new hires and training them.

A Win-win Situation

An internship is not only a one-sided deal. Yes, you gain a great deal as an intern, but you can bring a lot as well to the company.

As an intern, you bring a fresh new perspective. Since you are basically an outsider looking in,  your outside perspective could prove to be helpful. You can inspire new ideas to implement existing strategies and plans. As a student, you might have learned about recent developments relating to the company you’re an intern at that you can then share with your workplace mentors.

You also help increase productivity for the company. As an intern, you will be likely assigned to smaller tasks, lightening the workload of employees so they can do more important tasks. Not only does the company get to do more in a workday, but you also get to learn the basics at work and eventually master them. And once you venture out and get a job yourself, possibly at the same company or somewhere similar, you become an efficient worker right away.

And being an intern, it is likely that you’ll be mentored by an employee on what to do. You get to witness firsthand what kind of work you could be doing in the future from seasoned workers themselves. Additionally, your presence as an intern is an opportunity for these employees to be mentors and possibly inspire them to be better at their jobs and foster in them leadership skills that could help them move to the top.

Internship programs have numerous benefits for both students and companies alike. It prepares students for their future after they graduate, arming them with a set of skills that are invaluable for their career. Companies, in turn, benefit from the talented energy of the youth by helping them train to be a more capable all-around career person.

Need more advice on your internship goals? Start the conversation with the best IT recruitment consultants in Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane by emailing office@redwolfrosch.com.au or calling 1300 544 652.

We human beings are hardwired to be social. We first learn about socializing through our interactions with the first people we encounter, our family, and from there, we go through life meeting people who may have meaningful impacts on our lives. And that includes our workplace, where we encounter a good variety of people with different personalities on an almost daily basis. 

And unless you exclusively keep to yourself, interacting with your colleagues and forming a connection with them is something to be expected and highly encouraged. After all, work friendships promote collaboration and help the organization run smoothly like a well-oiled machine. 

Having positive work relationships brings many benefits to employees’ health and the future of a company. Here are some of them.

Builds Relationships

A workplace social event provides an opportunity to network and foster relationships among the employees. People can make new connections in a more relaxed environment. Social events like a party in the workplace give people a chance to build relationships, whether between co-workers or employers. It breaks down barriers between different departments and between the employees and the management and puts everyone on equal footing. This results in increased engagement as employees become more comfortable communicating with their team members and their colleagues from other departments, leading to better collaboration.

Develops Work Culture

One factor that attracts people to work for a company, especially the younger generation of the workforce, is the company culture. It determines how interested they are in working for a company and how long they see themselves working for them. And holding fun social events frequently can attract talent to your organisation. It shows that you as an employer places importance on a work-life balance and not just making profits. 

Improved Employee Experience

As mentioned above, developing a work culture that emphasizes a good work-life balance is a big plus for attracting new hires, but it also improves your existing employees’ experience. Good company culture makes the employees feel valued, improving their employee experience in the company. Feeling valued can boost their morale, making them want to do better when they feel that their hard work is being appreciated. A valued employee is also more likely to stay longer in the organization.

Increased Happiness and Productivity

Aside from benefiting the company, socializing through company social events can improve the employee’s mood by making them happier and reducing stress. Good relationships are the key to being happy, as proven by one study conducted by Harvard. And a more satisfied worker acquires less stress, which means less strain on their mental health. Less stress would then result in a boost in productivity.

Furthermore, a survey showed that employees who have a best friend at work made them more productive, made their jobs more enjoyable, and were more likely to produce higher quality work.

Healthier Life

Employees can also benefit physically by having strong social connections. They have a reduced risk of significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure, and an unhealthy body mass index or BMI. Research also showed that adults who have quality friendships are more likely to live a longer life. This is good for employers because, as mentioned above, healthy workers mean improved productivity, with fewer sick days and more energy in the workplace.

While workplace social events are highly encouraged, safety precautions should still be observed during this time. Public gatherings are still pretty risky. Before you and your team head out for an outdoor retreat, consider a safer alternative like a smaller lunch get-together or a virtual hangout.

Got any ideas to share about safe workplace social events? Start the conversation with the best IT recruitment consultants in Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane by emailing office@redwolfrosch.com.au or calling 1300 544 652.

These days, every business needs technology. It implies that there’s a huge demand for highly talented tech experts. With companies around industries embracing digitisation, virtual teams, and e-commerce, it gives skilled tech workers a range of industries, locations, and workplaces to choose from.

Direct Appliance Rentals CEO Karina Wolfin shares some realisations from her experience in recruiting top tech talent. According to her, “In looking for a career in the tech industry, applicants nowadays look past the big company names. Instead, qualities like diversity, flexibility and generosity, are what the majority of these applicants value. Thus, it’s important to consider such ideas if you want to bring the best applicants and hire skilled tech talent.”

So, what would make your company a desirable place to work for top tech talent? Here are some of the effective ways companies should try.

Put The Passion On

Attracting top tech talent is all about sharing your passion for everything that you do. When an applicant is motivated and thinks they should make the journey for the business rather than simply becoming another employee, they try and do their best for the company. When passion is in place, anything else becomes secondary.

Exemplify Opportunities For Growth

Technology expertise and talent are in demand with the increasing trend of businesses going online. Thus, companies should prioritise professional job advancement prospects and what their innovative culture can offer to tech talent. In addition, they should expand the capacity for the new employee to work with the top technology executives and exchange current client progress experiences that show authentic human influence.

Characterise How You’ll Satisfy The Applicant’s Needs

Hiring managers need to understand the applicants’ needs, desires, and motivators. In doing so, they’ll have a clear perspective on satisfying those needs and leveraging their motivations. In turn, when applicants recognise that you’re willing to meet their needs, then the chances of getting them to join your company would be steep.

Share What Drives Your Company To Success

Even top tech talent would prefer to be a part of a company with a collective purpose that inspires everyone over marginally higher pay or improved benefits. With that, tech company executives must share their own “why”—the motives they believe in and advocate for their company’s purpose. If your commitment is sincere, you can gain trustworthy colleagues rather than just “employees.”

Allow Flexible Working Conditions

For highly skilled tech professionals, flexibility is essential. It is projected that one of the most significant game-changers in the future of employment would be the flexibility to work for different times, places, and conditions. Given these arguments, for companies to attract top tech talent, it’s strongly recommended that they should be open to flexible working conditions. That is, shifting from a work-in-office to blended work culture and flexible work culture.

Make Use Of Client And Employee Testimonials

Finally, it’s good to note that the most influential factor would come from your employees and clients—not from you. Clients’ testimonials about your company’s effectiveness and your employees’ accounts on how they see value in their jobs are critical for attracting top tech talent. Thus, leverage these testimonials and feedback to hiring that next to tech talent to work for you.

Work With Top Tech Talent Through Redwolf + Rosch

Hiring and retaining top tech talent to be assets for your company can be a challenge. However, given the right strategies, nothing is impossible. Put into play the recommendations mentioned above—these are the keys to how your company becomes attractive to top tech talent.

Redwolf + Rosch is a recruiting agency that works with industry leaders, start-ups, and companies to attract talented people who want to do exceptional jobs. We partner with highly skilled professionals all over Australia and the world to find the best permanent, temporary, and freelance talent for your company.

Start the conversation with the best IT recruitment consultants in Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane by emailing office@redwolfrosch.com.au or calling 1300 544 652.

Author: Jett Hayes

Jett Hayes is a freelance writer based in Sydney with a special interest in content marketing.