Australia’s top 101 workplaces for women

Not only do leadership teams have the ultimate decision-making power, but they can also inspire those in and outside of the organization. So while achieving diversity will have a positive impact at any level, an increased focus on achieving diversity in leadership will have the greatest impact, in both the short and long term.

That’s why we benchmark progress on balanced leadership in all its forms, whether it’s achieved through targets and quotas, internal succession planning, or other initiatives.

From remote work to adjusted hours, flexibility is one of the most powerful ways in which companies can help every employee overcome workplace barriers and thrive. 

This isn’t just in a practical sense, such as opening up opportunities for those with disabilities or helping employees manage the domestic load (which disproportionately impacts many women); by normalizing flexibility for every employee, these approaches reduce the stigma attached to the practice for those that need it. This promotes shared responsibility of unpaid care, which is crucial in the fight for gender equity.

While equal pay for equal value of work is a legal requirement, unequal access to opportunities continues to result in pay gaps between genders, races, and ethnicities. For example, many women around the world receive no pension, superannuation, or equivalent during their parental leave. Due to the intersection of systemic discrimination, these pay gaps are combined and compounded for women from underrepresented groups.

We focus on helping employers introduce policies and practices that help them work towards true pay equity. And we help them track, measure, and prove their progress through transparency and benchmarking.

Creating a culture that promotes and supports equal and shared responsibility for parents and carers — regardless of gender — is critical to enabling women to thrive in the workplace.

From gender-neutral parental policies through to return-to-work programs, employers can support their all-important workforce while removing damaging stereotypes. WORK180 amplifies the impact of such policies by displaying them on our transparent platform, ultimately showing women what a supportive workplace looks like.

Employee voice is a key part of building an equitable and inclusive organization. This means creating a culture that empowers employees, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to share their experiences, insights, and ideas.

We encourage our employers to find ways to ensure that a wide range of employee voices are listened to, learned from, and used to make lasting change. This can be achieved through initiatives such as Employee Resource Groups, regular staff engagement exercises, or ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions.

To address the current underrepresentation of women in leadership and in industries, such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM), companies can’t afford to just focus on hiring alone. It is equally important to nurture and retain the women within their organizations through career development support that builds confidence, skills, networks and direction.

Whether it comes in the form of coaching and mentoring programs, education and training opportunities, return to work initiatives, or formalized growth and succession planning, this is an area that women from all backgrounds tell us they are seeking from employers.

We encourage and celebrate employers who proactively work to build inclusive and anti-discriminatory cultures in which a wide range of people can come together and thrive. This involves removing any social, physical, or mental barriers that may prevent individuals from feeling safe, comfortable, confident, or able to fully contribute in the workplace.

This can take many forms: policies related to work attire, personal grooming and acceptable workplace behaviour, initiatives that raise awareness of different cultures and communities, or even the provision of dedicated spaces, like private pumping rooms for working mothers or accessibility options for individuals with disabilities.

From domestic violence to ageism and ableism, women and underrepresented groups often face a multitude of workplace barriers. We encourage employers to recognize the role they must play in the systemic removal of such barriers while offering robust (often external) support for those impacted.

Examples include Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) policies, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) that provide independent and anonymous support, and health and wellbeing programs.

Ultimately, organizational change needs to be led from the top. Whether it’s at the board, shareholder or C-suite level, formalizing an organization’s ambition to build and maintain a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization through strategic commitments can be one of the most important drivers of positive change.

Through our work, we help organizations to identify the actions that will best deliver on these commitments. We also keep them accountable by publicizing their commitments and progress on our platform, which is a trusted source of career information for women around the world.