09 December 2016 - “As the pace of change accelerates globally across the engineering, property and construction sectors, successful firms will be those able to harness the creativity of a diverse workforce in order to deliver competitive advantage,” says William Cox, Managing Director ANZ for global engineering and infrastructure advisory firm Aurecon.

In line with this, the company has been recognised by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) for being an employer who is committed to promoting gender equality in Australian workplaces at the WGEA Recognising 2016 Employers of Choice for Gender Equality in the Workplace event where it was granted an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation.

“Leading designs will never come from a group who think the same. It’s diversity of thought that drives innovation,” emphasises Cox.

He adds that over the past two years, Aurecon had focused on driving culture change and putting programmes in place to facilitate the business becoming an employer of choice for women across the industry.

Aurecon’s People and Diversity strategy sets out to create an environment where high performing and high potential females could flourish and grow. In addition, the regional leadership remained focused on creating an environment where Aurecon females continued to overcome barriers through its ANZ gender equality strategy and targets.

“We are deeply committed to both supporting and promoting females within our business. In 2014, we looked at the experiences of females working at Aurecon in order to benchmark our performance against other top employers,” said Cox.

“We recognised that while we had made inroads, there was an opportunity to go even further. To take the journey to the point where we were recognised through this WGEA citation required commitment, self-examination and an understanding what we needed to change,” believes Cox.

“Aurecon is committed to becoming a more innovative organisation that provides unique solutions to its clients’ challenges. This can only be achieved in a work environment where everyone feels respected, has a sense of value and is willing to contribute. The diversity of thought which results from inclusive leadership is a direct driver of award winning innovation,” concludes Louise Adams, Aurecon's Regional Director for Victoria, South Australia and the ACT where she leads approximately 730 staff.