Deputy CEO Kristy Macfarlane highlights how small, practical changes to policies can help make workplaces more inclusive, from updating policy language to strengthening conduct expectations and broadening leave provisions. In this Q&A about her recent work, Kristy says leaders continue to value safe, open spaces to build their capability around leading diverse teams and challenging bias.
Q. You’ve just completed a review of HR policies for a major airport to help them consider inclusion and diversity in recruitment, performance review and promotion, and leave policies. What stood out for you from this review?
Kristy: “What struck me was the breadth of opportunities to strengthen policies and practices to promote fairness and equity that don’t require any budget. Small, intentional changes can have a meaningful impact, helping to create a more inclusive and accessible experience for everyone. Some examples include:
- Referring to ‘Workplace Adjustments’ as opposed to ‘Reasonable Adjustments’, to remove the notion that the support must be judged, justified or deemed ‘reasonable’ by the employer.
- The Code of Conduct presents an important opportunity to reinforce a zero-tolerance stance on sexual harassment, racism and any form of religious hatred.
- Parental Leave policies offer a valuable opportunity to recognise and support all family structures. Increasingly, organisations are adopting the term ‘Family Pathways Leave’ to encompass fertility treatment, adoption, fostering and surrogacy, reflecting a more inclusive approach to building a family.
“These types of changes can strengthen fairness and equity, enhance employee engagement, attract more diverse talent, and ultimately support stronger business performance.”
Q: You’ve been facilitating Inclusive Leadership workshops for a range of organisations this year. What do leaders value most from the conversations you have?
Kristy: “We find many leaders today worry about saying the wrong thing or causing offence. That’s why creating a safe space to learn, ask questions and build understanding without fear of judgement is so important.
“In our workshops we actively encourage curiosity and open dialogue, even when people are unsure how to phrase a question. By acknowledging that we can all get it wrong at times and modelling vulnerability ourselves, we help leaders move beyond that fear. As we often remind participants, in the words of Ted Lasso: ‘Be curious, not judgemental’.”
Q: Over the past year you’ve led several diagnostics that identified diversity challenges and opportunities and informed the development of diversity and inclusion strategies for organisations in the media, property management, security, and aviation sectors. Across those diverse sectors are there any common insights you’ve noticed?
Kristy: “A common theme across sectors is the need to prioritise initiatives over a three-year horizon, with high-impact actions early in the roadmap. To make considered recommendations, we draw on our experience of working with hundreds of organisations to develop and implement D&I strategies.
“Among larger organisations with more than 500 employees we’re also seeing a growing focus on proactively developing Gender Equality Action Plans as a core part of their inclusion strategy. These plans are helping build momentum towards achieving the targets the organisations have submitted to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
Q: What do you most enjoy about the work you do?
Kristy: “What I enjoy most about my work is the variety of clients and the opportunity to create meaningful impact. It’s incredibly rewarding to help foster fairer, more respectful workplaces and ultimately improve the day-to-day experiences of people from marginalised and under-represented groups.”
