Fiona Vines is the Head of Inclusion & Diversity and Workforce Transition at BHP. With 25 years’ experience she is a wealth of knowledge about all things Diversity & Inclusion. A passionate feminist with practical ideas for achieving gender balance and workforce equity, Fiona is inspirational. We talk about what businesses need to reach 50-50, men’s role in inclusion and why women leave the workforce at greater rates than men. Truly inspiring and informative, this is an episode to listen to.
In this episode we talk about:- BHP’s goal to achieve a gender balanced workforce by 2025 in an industry with 17% women.
- How the equipment, uniforms and culture all impact the retention of women.
- The game-changing book Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez.
- BHP’s research into the true barriers to retaining and progressing women.
- The impact of lack of support for unpaid caring work, lack of true flexibility, barriers to managing everything and microaggressions.
- The myth of the meritocracy.
- Changing the way BHP hired by deconstructing the skills required, to rewrite job descriptions and find people with those capabilities.
- The book The Wife Drought by Annabell Crabb helped Fiona discover her inner feminist.
- The importance of having a leader who deeply understands the benefits of having a more diverse and inclusive workforce and believes personally that it’s the right thing to do.
- The value of reverse mentors, being taught by the minorities you want to champion.
- An example of Indigenous experience of bias and everyday racism.
- The work BHP has done to increase and broaden flexible work options.