News center | Australia

February 21, 2018

Philips recognised as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the WGEA

Caroline Clarke, CEO Philips Asean Pacific and Ryan Atkins, HR Director, Philips ANZ

Today, we are especially proud to be a part of Philips. Today, our vision in Australia and New Zealand to be an employer who strives for gender equality was publicly recognised. Today, we received the official citation as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).

 

This Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation is a leading practice recognition program that aims to encourage, recognise and promote active commitment to achieving gender equality in Australian workplaces.1 The criteria for the citation includes leadership, learning and development, gender remuneration gaps, flexible working and other initiatives to support family responsibilities, employee consultation, preventing gender-based harassment and discrimination, and targets for improving gender equality outcomes.

wgea logo

Gender equality is about businesses and individuals making a commitment to diversity and inclusion, equal opportunity, workplace support and flexibility and fair remuneration for all employees.

 

At Philips, we have worked hard to make changes to take a stand against this disparity. We believe a more diverse and inclusive workplace makes good business sense, it makes us more competitive and more innovative, and is a key driver for making Philips a great place to work for people who share our passion.

 

There is sufficient research and evidence to indicate that increasing female presence in the workplace boosts diversity – enriching culture and broadening the opportunities of a business. According to the Grattan Institute, a 6% increase in the female workforce participation rate would boost the level of Australia’s GDP by 11%, equating to $25 billion per year.2

 

This citation is an extremely positive reflection of our achievements at Philips, particularly over the last three years, where we as management team we have prioritised workplace gender equality on all levels and recognises us for moving in the right direction.

 

Integrating a flexible, personalised working culture is a vital step to achieving gender equality at work, which is why we’ve made flexible working part of our culture in ANZ. We have for instance developed and implemented industry-leading leave policies, including parental leave, grandparent leave, purchased leave and domestic violence leave available to all employees.

 

Since 2015, we have invested in measuring and correcting pay gaps at key points in the employment life cycle, interrogating our data at every stage and tracking progress on key KPIs. We also ensured the inclusion of employees on parental leave in our annual salary reviews. We have significantly increased conversations around pay decisions, whether at hire, promotion or at annual review, ensuring that gender bias never impacts our choices.  

 

With many of our roles falling in traditionally male-dominant areas, gender-balancing our talent is critical to us. That is why we have worked even harder to find female talent. Over the past three years the number of females in leadership roles steadily rose from 21% to 32%, and particularly in our Health Systems business from 16% to 29% – a fantastic improvement to date, and we will continue our efforts to increase female talent.

 

At Philips, we’re always looking for ways to make life better. By being inclusive and acknowledging each other’s uniqueness to bring about progress in workplace equality. To us, it is not about waiting for change; it’s about leading the change, establishing initiatives and having the crucial conversations to bring about this vital shift.

 

Inclusion requires intentional actions; a mindset and workplace where every employee’s knowledge, perspectives, experiences, and styles are valued to bring about this vital shift.

 

Connect with us, share bright ideas and have a dialogue on the importance of Inclusion and Diversity in Australian workplaces where as a nation we all benefit from.

 

1 https://www.wgea.gov.au/lead/employer-choice-gender-equality-0

2 The Grattan Institute (2012), Game-changers: Economic reform priorities for Australia, viewed 1 September 2016, http://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Game_Changers_Web.pdf

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 73,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

Click here to read moreClick here to read less

Topics

Contacts

Albertine Schor

Albertine Schor

Brand and Communications Manager

Tel: +61 (02) 9947 0040

You are about to visit a Philips global content page

Continue

Media assets

Share on social media

You are about to visit a Philips global content page

Continue

Our site can best be viewed with the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Firefox.