Count her in. Invest in women. Accelerate progress. That’s the United Nations’ theme for IWD 2024 – and one that Hub Australia has, in fact, been embracing for years.
From advocating for diversity and inclusion in our staff team to launching community programs to empower women in business, here are just some of the things we do – and aim to achieve – to support women at Hub.
Enabling equity in the workplace
International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress, call for change, and celebrate the courage and determination of women.
This year’s IWD came right off the back of the Workplace Gender Pay Gap report, a historic step towards transparency and accountability in addressing gender inequity.
Private sector companies with 100 staff and above are required to report their gender pay gap data. And based on the data from the period of April 2022 to March 2023, 50% of the employers have a gender pay gap of over 9.1%.
At Hub Australia, our overall gender pay gap for the period is -1.0% in favour of women. This is considered within the ‘acceptable’ range of +/- 5% by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency – and means that on average, Hub achieves pay parity for our teams.
On top of that, we’re proud to cultivate a workplace that ensures an even representation of genders at all levels of our organisation – from the front desk and operation teams through to our leadership and executive levels.
In the Hub team, women currently make up 68% of our people managers and 59% of our overall team.
Going above standard to support parents
Hub is also leading the way in supporting our soon-to-be, new, and returning parents, offering gender-neutral paid parental leave entitlements for both primary and secondary carers.
Primary caregivers who have been at Hub for more than a year are entitled to 13 weeks of paid parental leave at a full salary, or 26 weeks of paid parental leave at a half salary. And if they’ve been at Hub for more than three years, they’ll receive 18 weeks of paid parental leave at a full salary – or 36 weeks of paid parental leave at a half salary.
This goes above and beyond the national standard for supporting parents, with only 6% of employers in Australia offering more than 18 weeks of paid parental leave.
But what makes our paid parental leave offering stand out is our superannuation guarantee.
Many employees in Australia don’t get paid superannuation over the course of their paid parental leave, which results in women having significantly less money saved for their retirement.
With our ‘superannuation guarantee’ policy, Hub employees continue to receive superannuation payments for the full 12 months of leave, regardless of how long their parental leave is paid for.
Connecting women in business
These efforts have contributed to us being recognised as one of Australia’s Great Places to Work for women, and we’re committed to continuing to do more to foster equity in our team.
But this commitment also extends to the wider Hub community.
In addition to ensuring that all women in our workspace – including Hub members – feel safe, heard and valued, we want to create the opportunity for connection and support.
And so, this International Women’s Day, we’ve launched a year-round program to support women in business, as part of our broader business CONNECT program.
“Our aim is to bring together a community of like-minded professionals, creating our very own support system for women in business here at Hub,” Rebekah Murphy, Chief Experience Officer of Hub, explains.
“You can expect inspiring speakers, informal meetup sessions, roundtables, and more – perfect for those who are looking for business advice, searching for inspiration, or just want to feel more connected to other professional women.”
The sessions will be hosted by a chapter lead in each state. If you’re a Hub member and you’d like to be involved, register your interest – and look out for the next meetup coming to your Hub Clubhouse soon.
Stepping up as an active advocate
These are just a few of our initiatives to support women at Hub, and we’re always looking to broaden our offerings to meet every need.
Beyond gender equity, all forms of inclusion and diversity within the workplace are important to us at Hub.
That’s why our diversity programs will continue to look at everything – from equal pay, to equal representation on our leadership teams, to equal treatment and access to opportunities, to benefits that reflect the needs of all team members as well as their families.
“We believe that having diverse perspectives in the workplace, including – but not limited to – gender diversity, sparks creativity and leads to more innovative solutions,” Rebekah says. “Different life experiences generate different insights, perspectives and approaches, removing bias and leading to innovative thinking.”
While there are certainly ethical and social reasons to drive for gender equity, there are also proven business benefits.
Firstly, diversity in the workplace helps attract top talent, creating a positive work environment and culture that then helps retain that top talent. But also, businesses with higher amounts of gender equality show increased performance and profitability. The latest iteration of McKinsey’s report, Diversity Matters Even More, suggests that when businesses invest in diversity, they are more likely to financially outperform their peers.
Brad Krauskopf, CEO and founder of Hub, shares that sentiment. “Growing businesses with happy teams looking forward to coming to work is good for our business’s bottom line, my colleagues and the community – now that’s a worthy priority.
“Our efforts start with our team, which is mostly female, ensuring that we achieve equity and develop female leaders and opportunities. However, our reach with Hub is much more than that. And our aspirations are to make our efforts an all-year-round initiative, highlighting stories of women making a difference in our workplaces.”
To sum it all up, Brad says, “Hub’s mission is to create workspace experiences that businesses and their teams love. Core to this is that our workspace, whether it be for our team or our customers, is welcoming, safe, and positive for everyone.
“So whether it’s gender diversity or any other kind, it’s critically important we’re not just just doing it to tick a box – but that we create value through diversity and gender equity.”
