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Diversity - Corporate Responsibility

Diversity

Our approach

Building a diverse workplace

ANZ supports an inclusive workplace where employee differences in areas like gender, age, culture, disability and lifestyle choice are valued.

Workplace diversity is not just about doing the right thing; it's about valuing and leveraging people's unique attributes. We want to create a level playing field so that every employee can fully contribute and achieve.

Driving diversity

The ANZ Diversity Council was established in 2004 to introduce policies and sponsor initiatives to create a more inclusive culture at ANZ. The Council is chaired by our CEO, Mike Smith, and has 13 staff members. It also has a Management Board mandate and a budget of $1 million to fund diversity and inclusion projects.

ANZ's diversity agenda focuses on the following issues:

  • Gender: women in management
  • Age: mature age recruitment and retention
  • Culture/Ethnicity: cultural diversity of managers
  • Disability: recruitment and retention of people with disabilities
  • Flexibility: employee access to flexible working arrangements
  • Indigenous: Indigenous employment and retention

2009 results

In 2009 our Corporate Responsibility goals contained specific targets to:

  • achieve a 2-3% increase in women in management positions in all major geographies
  • employ an additional 35 people with a disability globally, including 30 people in Australia
  • employ an additional 100 indigenous trainees.

Women in management

Our total percentage of women in management positions has remained steady at 36.7%. Women at Senior Manager level showed small improvement (1.6%) while numbers at Executive and Manager level declined slightly. ANZ now has three women on its Management Board with a fourth (Anne Weatherston – Chief Information Officer) joining in January 2010.

Diversity of selected ANZ boards and committees (30 September 2009)

  Male Female <30 years 30-50 years >50 years Age not recorded
Group Board of Directors 90% 10% 0% 10% 80% 10%
Group Management Board 72.7% 27.3% 0% 54.5% 45.5% 0%
Group CR Committee 66.7% 33.3% 0% 77.8% 22.2% 0%
Group Diversity Council 60% 40% 0% 90% 10% 0%
NZ Board of Directors 87.5% 12.5% 0% 25% 50% 25%
NZ Management Board / EXCO 66.7% 33.3% 0% 75% 25% 0%
NZ Diversity Council 55.6% 44.4% 0% 77.8% 11.1% 11.1%
NZ CR Council 60% 40% 0% 90% 10% 0%

People with a disability

An additional 39 people who self-nominated as having a disability joined ANZ in 2009. Twenty-nine of these new recruits were employed in Australia, eight in New Zealand, one in India and one in our Asia Pacific Division.

Through our pilot partnership with specialist employment agencies and our first hand experience we have identified improvements that we can make to ANZ's support of employees with a disability. We will provide greater education and support for line managers recruiting people with disability and offer more flexible options for employees who need modifications to their workspace.

Indigenous trainees

ANZ recruited 102 indigenous trainees in 2009. An important focus has been improving the recruitment process to ensure candidates have the support they need to successfully complete their traineeship. Retention rates for this year are at 83% compared to 78% the same time last year, improving the sustainability of the program.

The future

Our 2010 Corporate Responsibility goals contain specific targets to:

  • increase the percentage of women in management across all levels of our business
  • employ an additional 35 people with a disability across our global business
  • employ 180 indigenous trainees.

2008 results

In January 2008 the Diversity Council's charter was expanded to include leveraging employee diversity to increase business success. The Council also implemented a global Diversity scorecard that sets Divisional diversity targets in the areas of gender, cultural/ethnic diversity, disability, indigenous and mature age.

The scorecard aims to increase management accountability and deliver improved diversity outcomes in the coming years.

Diversity of selected ANZ boards and committees (30 September 2008)

  Male Female <30 years 30-50 years >50 years
Group Board of Directors 87% 13% 0% 0% 100%
Group Management Board 89% 11% 0% 44% 56%
Group CR Council 54.5% 45.5% 0% 72.7% 27.3%
Group Diversity Council 31.25% 68.75% 0% 87.5% 12.5%
NZ Board of Directors 100% 0% 0% 0% 100%
NZ Management Board/EXCO 66.7% 33.3% 0% 41.7% 33.3%
NZ Diversity Council 46.2% 53.8% 0% 84.6% 7.7%
NZ CR Council 54.5% 45.5% 0% 81.8% 18.2%

In November 2007, more than 13,500 employees globally responded to ANZ's My Difference Survey - a follow-up to the 2005 Survey.

The Survey provides us with a demographic snapshot of our global workforce, feedback on how our people perceive diversity and inclusion, together with a measure of the progress we have made in building a diverse and inclusive workplace at ANZ.

Some of the key findings were:

  • employees identify with 134 cultural backgrounds and speak 91 languages with 34% speaking a language other than English
  • most employees understand the importance of diversity and are aware of our diversity policies - however, a gap still exists between policy and practice
  • there were only minor differences between male and female perceptions of gender equality - career progression and inclusion remain areas for action.

The future

Our 2009 Corporate Responsibility goals contain specific targets to:

  • achieve a 2-3% increase in women in management positions in all major geographies
  • employ an additional 35 people with a disability globally, including 30 people in Australia
  • employ an additional 100 indigenous trainees.