Reflecting the communities in which we operate, with a strong sense of belonging

Officeworks celebrates everyone from all walks of life and is creating a culture of belonging that’s reflected in the everyday behaviours demonstrated by team members at every location and at every level.

Officeworks recognises the value that diversity brings to its business and understands diversity means many different things, including individual life experience, skill, ability, age, ethnicity, religious and cultural background, family status and sexual orientation.

It is important to Officeworks that team members feel valued and accepted when they come to work and they belong. This is why it created a new strategy to broaden the Officeworks approach to diversity and help create an even more inclusive working environment.

This year, Officeworks introduced specific questions relating to team members’ sense of belonging in their annual engagement survey, Your Say. Through this survey, results showed that more than 80 per cent of team members feel like they belong at Officeworks and they can bring their whole self to work knowing that diversity and inclusion is valued.

The four pillars of the Diversity and Belonging (DB) plan enables Officeworks to make real changes for team members, by building the capability to have vital and authentic discussions about equity, diversity and inclusion to become better together.

First Nations – To respect and recognise Australia’s First People by building a greater cultural understanding of their history, customs and culture and providing career opportunities and guidance for our First Nations team members. During the year, Officeworks worked towards achieving and maintaining employment parity for First Nations People, which aims to increase Indigenous employment to reflect the proportion of the Indigenous population nationally – approximately three per cent. As of 30 June 2021, Officeworks Indigenous employment sits above the national average at 3.8 per cent. This was achieved through investment in the retention of existing First Nations team members continuing the partnership with the Clontarf Foundation and hiring 194 Indigenous team members that remain with Officeworks as at 30 June 2021. Officeworks also invested in hiring of its first Indigenous Engagement lead to support culturally appropriate recruitment. Officeworks partnered with the Australian Retailers Association for an inaugural Indigenous employment pathways program and delivered cultural awareness training programs across the business.

Identity – To recognise and support diversity across the business. Officeworks continued to remain focused on gender balance of its leadership team, with more than 43 per cent of leadership roles currently held by women. A partnership with Pride in Diversity was established to support building Pride awareness and an Officeworks Pride network was created, with more than 150 team members expressing interest to be part of the network.

Accessibility –To ensure team members are empowered to work in a way that suits them, including working families and carers. This year, Officeworks developed and launched its New Ways of Working principles and updated its Flexibility Policy, with the intention of supporting a more flexible and diverse workforce, where careers can be built through life change. Circle In, a platform for working families, carers and managers was also launched to provide webinars and wellbeing support to all team members at different stages of the life journey. Additional support and resources were provided to team members throughout the periods they were required to work and learn from home. Another aspect of the Accessibility pillar is the support of removing any barriers for customers or team members with disabilities so that everyone has equal access.

Thought – To celebrate and bring together diverse perspectives, part of which is achieved by delivering on the three diversity pillars above, but also by supporting team members to appreciate and embrace different perspectives.

Officeworks’ focus for next year will be to continue across each of the four pillars under the Diversity and Belonging plan. Officeworks will continue to focus on the hiring, retention and career development of Indigenous team members while building an ongoing awareness of First Nations cultures, aligned to the Wesfarmers Reconciliation Action Plan. Officeworks will continue to expand broader cultural awareness, taking an intersectional approach, including identity, sexual orientation, disability and accessibility, in supporting the diverse identities of team members. Officeworks will also build on the flexible work culture to support a broad range of flexible and accessible work options for all team members, including working parents, carers and individuals who may have requirements for a flexible arrangement.