To improve gender equality in a traditionally male dominated industry, Motorola Solutions Australia developed a comprehensive, structured program of diversity and inclusion initiatives and flexible work practices.

Although intuitively we may have considered ourselves to be an inclusive employer, Motorola Solutions did not have the appropriate measures or baseline data to determine if this was true. Diversity covers a wide variety of people and backgrounds. One of the more overt measures available is the number of female employees. After initial investigation, we discovered a lower than expected female participation rate of 18.5% overall, which was also reflected in management numbers. Since this was far from our intent, we determined the need for targets to be set and for new processes to be implemented urgently. This was coupled with identifying and removing barriers to achieving gender equality.

Our strategy was to address the employee life-cycle by targeting the following key areas

• Recruit – increase the diversity of our recruitment pool
• Retain – create an environment that enables all employees to be their authentic selves
• Promote – create talent management programs to encourage diversity and maximise potential

Our objective was to increase female participation rates in management and participation rates overall, and remove any systemic barriers to management roles for those interested. By creating a more flexible and supportive work environment, and promoting work-life balance, we planned to increase diversity overall so that we would more closely mirror balanced trends in the wider community that our company aspires to.