Inside Konica Minolta's D&I initiatives

Technology supplier Konica Minolta has been awarded a Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation in recognition of its commitment to gender equality in the workplace.

Dr David Cooke, chairman and managing director, Konica Minolta Australia, said the citation is “testament to the culture” at Konica Minolta Australia that encourages and promotes gender equality in the workplace.

“We do this because it is aligned with our core values as a company, but also because we understand what it means for employees to work for a company that values gender equality in today’s society.” Trends among this year’s recipients include entrenching organisation-wide flexible work practices, tailored parental leave policies to support use by women and men, programs to increase women in leadership, initiatives to support women to return to work, and robust analysis and correction of gender pay gap, according to WGEA. Indeed, Konica Minolta has a number of programs to support its commitment to gender equality in the workforce, including:

Flexible work
Konica Minolta is committed to encouraging engagement in flexible work for all possible roles, helping employees strike a better balance between their work and outside commitments and interests.

Job-sharing, gradual return to work programs, and career breaks are also used to optimise flexibility for as many roles as possible. Moreover, 51% of managers work flexible hours, and 42% work remotely at least one day per fortnight.

Parental leave
12 weeks of paid leave is offered to primary carers and 10 days to secondary carers. Keep In Touch Days are well-used to ensure that new parents remain in touch with their workplace, and can continue to feel a part of the team while on leave.

Konica Minolta actively encourages men to take up parental leave, removing gendered language from policies and creating active support networks for new parents. In 2017, the number of men who took some form of parental leave doubled from 2016.

Pay parity
Konica Minolta has put in place formal procedures to achieve gender pay equity, by monitoring like-for-like and organisation-wide remuneration and ensuring that no gender bias occurs at any part of the remuneration review process.

In the most recent review of all employees’ remuneration, the pay equity strategy was tightened, any identified gaps were corrected, and pay-equity metrics were reported to the governing body and the executive.

This process is repeated yearly, and ensures that Konica Minolta continues to demonstrate its commitment to pay parity across the workforce.

Women in management and women in underrepresented roles
Where the representation of women is less than 40%, targets have been set to rectify this discrepancy, and developments are reported back to the governing body and all personnel.

Due consideration is also given as to why this discrepancy has arisen, including consideration of the total gender breakdown of applicants for roles, monitoring for unconscious bias, and ensuring gender balance of interview committees.

This attention to equality at each step of the hiring and promotion process has ensured that Konica Minolta is on track to meeting these targets, and has maintained its commitment to finding the best people for the job at every juncture.