We recently spoke to former Gold Industry Group Vice-Chair and Gold Road Resources General Manager of Capability and Culture Stuart Jenner about his role in championing diversity and inclusion in his workplace and the wider industry.
Gold Road Resourerces team at 2019 Great Diversity Debate in Perth
2021 GIG Directors at annual sundowner
Tell us about your role and what drives you?
As General Manager of Capability and Culture, I lead a diverse division spanning Strategy Coordination, People and Culture, Enterprise Risk, Health, Safety, Environment and Security, and Information, Communication, and Technology. What drives me is ensuring that we can enable our people to be excellent at what they do, so that Gold Road can grow and deliver on its strategy. Gold Road invests in its people and is happy to think differently and do differently, which is why this role appealed to me.
Stuart Jenner speaking at the 2019 Great Diversity Debate in Melbourne
What has your involvement been in growing Gold Road’s focus on diversity and inclusion?
My team works with Gold Road leaders and our people to identify what we need to do in the diversity and inclusion space to attract, retain, progress and develop our talent. This year we have increased our Indigenous participation and graduate talent pipeline, which is pleasing to see. We’re also proud to be leading the way with female workforce participation at 33% and 50% female Non-Executive Directors on our Board.
What are the new benefits of your parental leave standard?
2021 Great Diversity Debate
We have adopted a very inclusive, holistic, and supportive approach at Gold Road, which includes preparing new parents and managers through external coaching, employee guides and our internal parent community. I think this tailored approach really adds value to new parents.
Our new parental leave benefits include:
16 weeks paid parental leave as the primary carer
3 weeks paid parental leave as the secondary carer
Continuation of superannuation contributions and a top-up of long service and annual leave for the paid period of leave
Removal of minimum service eligibility periods
External Coaching through ‘Parents at Work’ to support with the transition to parental leave
Development of Manager and Employee guides and resources
Introduction of the Gold Road Parent Community
To encourage and support our employees with returning to the workforce, we also introduced a range of return-to-work benefits which include:
Top up of superannuation for the unpaid period of parental leave
Top up of annual leave and long service leave for the unpaid period of parental leave
Return to Work Bonus Payment equivalent to 4 weeks salary
External Coaching through ‘Parents at Work’ to support with the return to work
Development of Manager and Employee guides and resources
How did you go about developing these parental benefits?
We undertook wide research and consultation to get a benchmark. We engaged our Board and consulted with our workforce through focus groups and surveys.
Our People and Culture Project Specialist Georgia Matters was the driving force behind the project and I’m really pleased with the progress we have made in elevating our employee value proposition. For a small mining company, we are progressive. We want to do the right thing to help make it easier for new parents and provide a positive experience for our employees and their families.
How will these benefits impact the wider sector and community?
Families benefit as it provides opportunities for both parents to spend quality time at home caring for their children. The more organisations that do this will help lower the stigma and stereotypes in the wider community and industry. You can see the growth in perspectives from when I went to school, you’d rarely see a father drop off their kids at school or engage in school day activities. We are contributing to a more flexible, balanced society, where everyone can participate.
How important are parental benefits to attracting and retaining talent?
It’s very important to attract and retain talent and differentiate your organisation. It will become more of an expectation as society is changing. Companies need to provide greater benefits and flexible work to remain competitive. Many considering a family will choose employers based on long-term opportunities and benefits.
It’s great to see the industry tracking well in this space, however, I think the small explorers have some catching up to do.
What are the next steps for Gold Road in relation to flexible working benefits?
To continue advancing flexible work in 2022, which we did well through COVID-19.
How are you championing diversity and inclusion in the wider industry?
In recent years, I have been committed to leading industry participation through the Gold Industry Group, CME and AMEC.
It’s been great to drive the Gold Industry Group’s netball partnership, putting the gold industry at the forefront of the youth and Indigenous girls through Shooting Stars, setting them up for success and attracting future talent to our industry.
I’ve participated in Gold Industry Group’s Diversity Debate which brings serious and important topics to light in a fun and engaging way, connecting the community to discuss opportunities. It’s also been fantastic to see the GIG really grow industry collaboration.
What is one of your biggest achievements?
My biggest shared achievement at Gold Road was introducing development opportunities for our people in technical, interpersonal and leadership areas. In 2020, we averaged 53 hours of learning and development per employee. This is fantastic for a small mining company and demonstrates our commitment to supporting the development of our people.