Case study: How Sydney Airport promotes workplace diversity and inclusion
As Australia’s primary gateway, connecting to more than 90 destinations around the world, Sydney Airport recognises its people are fundamental to its continuing success and is, accordingly, committed to building and maintaining a supportive and collaborative work environment Tweet This! that celebrates diversity and recognises the value of differing ideas and perspectives.
This case study is based on the 2017 Sustainability Report by Sydney Airport published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Abstract
Supporting a diverse workforce to drive creativity and innovation, raising awareness on diversity and inclusion and making its workplace more flexible, inclusive and free from bullying and harassment, are top priorities for Sydney Airport. In order to promote workplace diversity and inclusion Sydney Airport took action to:
- promote flexibility
- support gender equality
- foster cultural diversity
- support Indigenous Australians
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Sydney Airport has identified;
- How Sydney Airport proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Sydney Airport to promote workplace diversity and inclusion
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2017 Sustainability Report Sydney Airport identified a range of material issues, such as access to and from the airport, customer privacy, cyber security, community engagement and investment, environmental management, sustainable procurement. Among these, promoting workplace diversity and inclusion stands out as a key material issue for Sydney Airport.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Sydney Airport engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics Sydney Airport engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
Passengers
| · Monthly passenger satisfaction surveys · Quarterly internationally benchmarked passenger satisfaction surveys · Ongoing tracking and analysis of customer feedback through all channels, including social media platforms and website · Competitions requesting ideas for improvement · Real-time reportable notification system for service requests · Radio and print advertising · Connections newsletter (quarterly) · Digital engagement including website, app and messaging platforms |
Airlines
| · Monthly Airline Operators’ Committee · Quarterly Industry Consultative Forum · Ongoing airline satisfaction surveys · Quarterly Common Use Terminal Equipment User Board · Quarterly Airport Emergency Committee · Daily communications as part of operational management · Real-time reportable notification system for service requests · Ramp Safety Committee · Baggage Handling Forum · Frequent operations bulletins |
Border agencies
| · Daily communications as part of operational management · Weekly planning and facilitation management review · Bi-annual border agency operational and customer focus area review · Ongoing strategic airport management meetings · Bi-annual National Passenger Facilitation Committee meetings |
Retail business partners | · Daily communication as part of retail operations management · Regular retailer meetings and reviews on a regular basis at store level and with senior management · Quarterly food safety testing for all food and beverage retailers · Quarterly price comparison audits against key Sydney CBD retailers and dining precincts · Retailer forum four times per year · Monthly retail customer experience scorecard prepared for each terminal · Ongoing tracking and analysis of customer feedback through all channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, WeChat and website |
Employees | · Consultative groups as required · Six-weekly Safety Committee · Monthly staff newsletter · Quarterly staff briefings · Rebranded user-friendly intranet · Monthly Service Star programme · Employee recognition programme · Half-yearly performance reviews · Ongoing staff bulletins and emails · Ongoing team meetings · Cross functional team social interactions · Diversity and inclusion working group · Learning and development working group · Leadership and management development programme |
Community and local government | · Quarterly Sydney Airport Community Forum · Half-yearly Planning Coordination Forum · Annual community update in local newspapers · Regular website updates · Letterbox flyers · Ongoing local council briefings · Consultation processes as part of major development plans and master planning · Sentiment survey · Partnerships with local councils · Master plan consultation · Major Development Plan (MDP) consultation · Connections newsletter (quarterly) |
Investors | · Annual General Meeting · Bi-annual financial results announcements · Investor roadshows, meetings and conferences · ASX releases including monthly traffic statistics · Website (with a specific section for investors) · Investor days · Stakeholder/investor emails and webcasts · Investor presentations and fact sheets |
Tourism bodies, industry associations and advocates | · Attendance at relevant overseas delegations · Ongoing participation in tourism events and partnerships as part of a collaborative effort to attract airline services and visitors to Sydney · Regular meetings |
NSW and Commonwealth governments and agencies | · Regular meetings and briefing with relevant agencies and elected representatives including: – the National Passenger Facilitation Committee; – International Air Services Negotiation meetings; – government meetings regarding the Future Freight Policy; and – Tourism Access Working Group · Daily communication with Airservices Australia |
Media | · Airport tours · Media releases · Proactive outreach · Responses to specific requests · Airport access and 24-hour on-call media phone · Media events and press conferences |
Industry bodies | · Regular and ongoing meetings with relevant organisations, including the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Airport Coordination Australia, WorkCover, Office of Transport Security, Productivity Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission |
In its 2017 Sustainability Report Sydney Airport reports that it took the following actions for promoting workplace diversity and inclusion:
- Promoting flexibility
- Sydney Airport’s current flexibility policies and programmes include:
- Sydney Airport’s Flexible Work Policy, which has four types of flexibility available: flexible start and finish times, part-time work, job sharing and working from home when appropriate;
- A variety of leave options, including a parental leave programme and the option to purchase an additional two weeks of leave per year;
- Access to technology that allows employees to work remotely across the airport and at home, as appropriate.
- Sydney Airport also has a policy to support employees experiencing domestic and family violence, offering them access to additional leave to manage legal matters, moving house or other associated appointments without using annual leave.
- Supporting gender equality
- As a signatory of the Australian Institute of Company Directors “30% club”, Sydney Airport has set a goal of 30% female representation for its Board and management, and continues to work to increase female representation both in terms of overall staff numbers and within its Generation Y population. In 2017, Sydney Airport’s female representation increased 1.5% to 37.9%, with female managers accounting for 38.9% of all managers. To further support gender diversity, 50% of new recruits during the year were female.
- Fostering cultural diversity
- Committed to recruiting and retaining a culturally diverse workforce, Sydney Airport established, in 2016, its baseline ethnicity dataset, to better understand the cultural diversity of its workforce. Sydney Airport’s staff speak 35 languages, and have a collective 34 countries of origin. Celebrating this diversity and promoting a better understanding of different cultures, Sydney Airport organises events such as Harmony Day, where employees come together to share dishes from a range of cultures.
- Supporting Indigenous Australians
- Sydney Airport has a partnership with the CareerTrackers Indigenous Internship Programme, an organisation providing internship opportunities for Indigenous university students. Accordingly, in 2017 Sydney Airport hosted its second intern, who worked with its People and Performance team. Sydney Airport also supports the Clontarf Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation established to help Indigenous boys complete high school.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees
2) Disclosure 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men
Disclosure 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Gender equality, Women in leadership
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Diversity and equal opportunity
Disclosure 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Equal remuneration for women and men
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Equal remuneration for women and men
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
- Business theme: Equal remuneration for women and men
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Sydney Airport, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page
3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx
4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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