Indigenous jobs: Compass Group to hire 1050 new workers

Food and support services company the Compass Group will employ 1050 indigenous job seekers over the next three years.

Compass Group's general manager of diversity and indigenous engagement Vanessa Davies.

Food and support services company the Compass Group will employ 1050 indigenous job seekers across the next three years with support from the federal government and the business community.

Compass employs about 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and will more than double that to 10 per cent of its business.

The agreement is part of the government’s employment parity initiative, which aims to increase the number of large Australian companies that have a workforce reflecting the size of the indigenous population.

The initiative aims to employ 20,000 more indigenous jobseekers by 2020 through private and government sectors.

“We know from our extensive experience in this area that mentoring — both in the pre-employment and early employment phases — has a direct influence on retention of new Aboriginal employees,” says Vanessa Davies who, as general manager of diversity and indigenous engagement, will oversee the program for Compass.

She says Compass Group’s commercial initiatives with Aboriginal business partners have directly contributed $43 million to traditional landowner groups.

Mining diversity

Women wanting to work in industries that value diversity could consider mining and resources after recruitment firm Hays found it came second to the public and not-for-profit sectors for implementing gender diversity strategies.

Hays found 50 per cent of not-for-profit sector companies had formal gender diversity strategies in place, followed by mining, with 37 per cent, and finance, with 36 per cent. The worst industry was advertising and media, where only 17 per cent of employers had implemented strategies.

Across a pool of 6000 workers in various industries, 49 per cent said their organisation did not have gender diversity policies and 19 per cent were unsure. When policies were in place, 19 per cent said they were not adhered to “at all”.

Hays Australia and New Zealand managing director Nick Deligiannis says while resources and mining came in second it is near the bottom in terms of adhering to them, with 22 per cent of employees saying formal gender diversity policies are not adhered to very well.

“The resources and mining sector has done a lot in terms of developing policies and practices that will enable it to attract and retain talented female employees,” Deligiannis says.

“But it seems the industry is failing at a practical level to implement these policies. Managers on the ground need to action these policies if they are to have any real impact.”

Active creatives

Using a standing desk may turn out to be a fad but business and creativity expert the Affectors Academy says people are more creative when standing or moving.

A survey of 55 people found 47 per cent were at their most creative when standing or moving, and 30 per cent of those specified a form of physical exercise as the most effective, with walking rating very highly.

For cafe lovers, only 16 per cent found drinking coffee helped bring on ideas, but close to 40 per cent found music helped.

The Affectors Academy founder Matt Jackson says the creative types are social as well, with only 25 per cent of artists stressing the importance of being alone in the creative phase of their work.

“These findings show that the creative process is not just about sitting around waiting for a great idea,” Jackson says.