Our people

During the financial year, the Group continued to focus on maintaining a diverse, skilled, high-performing and ultimately, engaged, workforce.

The three key areas of focus this year included investing in the growth of Mirvac’s people, strengthening leadership across the business and mainstreaming flexibility at Mirvac.

INVESTING IN OUR PEOPLE

Mirvac is committed to supporting its people to be the best they can be through ongoing opportunities for growth and professional development.

Employee development is essential to keep employees thriving, skilled and engaged, and this was a major focus for the business in FY16. Opportunities to do this come from a range of sources: from the quality of projects undertaken at Mirvac; formal learning programs offered through the Mirvac Learning Academy; and ongoing coaching from leaders and subject matter experts.

THE MIRVAC LEARNING ACADEMY

While learning has always been provided for employees, a central platform – the Mirvac Learning Academy – was introduced in FY16, giving employees easy access to a range of training and career development options. In addition to technical skills, the Mirvac Learning Academy covers leadership and interpersonal skills like communication, time management, influencing and presentation.

LEADING EDGE

Leadership has been another key area for the Group this financial year.

Mirvac has developed and launched three core leadership programs geared towards leaders at different stages of their careers. Over 200 employees completed one of these leadership programs in FY16, which were available through the Mirvac Learning Academy.

Senior executives also participated in an INSEAD Masterclass focused on fostering High Performance Leadership.

EMBEDDING FLEXIBILITY AT MIRVAC

Following the launch of a refreshed Diversity & Inclusion strategy last year, Mirvac spent FY16 delivering on key initiatives from the strategy. Gender equity continued to be a strong focus area for the Group; however, there was also a focus on a number of other enablers, such as ‘mainstreaming flexibility’, to help foster a diverse and inclusive culture.

The Equilibrium Man Challenge, a Workplace Gender Equality Agency initiative that Mirvac participated in last year, successfully shifted the dialogue around flexibility at Mirvac from being something for ‘working mothers’ to being something for ‘everyone’. Approximately 15 per cent of Mirvac’s employees have a formal flexible arrangement and over 45 per cent of employees have an informal flexible arrangement, whereby they are able to change traditional hours or place of work to balance personal commitments.

Mirvac’s progress in building a diverse and inclusive environment was recognised by the property industry in June, when it won the inaugural Diversity Award at the Property Council of Australia’s Innovation & Excellence Awards. Mirvac also received the ‘Employer of Choice for Gender Equality’ citation from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency for the second year in a row.

To ensure gender diversity remains at the forefront, targets have been set for gender representation at Board and management levels, and there is a requirement for 50:50 representation in recruitment shortlists for senior roles. Mirvac also reports on gender diversity strength in talent and
succession planning.

The focus for the Group moving forward is on productivity and outcomes, rather than hours spent at a desk, and ensuring employees are provided with the tools they need to have greater choice in how, when and where they work.