Refreshed strategy expands diversity focus beyond gender, reinforces inclusive culture

A growing body of research indicates that workplaces reflecting the communities around them are not only more inclusive and representative places, but are also more likely to be successful businesses. More diverse voices, ways of thinking and problem solving, drive innovation and performance.

While recognising that diversity takes many forms IFM has focused on gender diversity as an initial priority area.

Under our Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) strategy since 2017, the proportion of women in IFM’s workforce is increasing – including at senior levels. At the director level or above, the proportion of women increased from 26.4 per cent in June 2017, to 34.9 per cent in June 2020. Our senior leadership team - the Global Strategy Team - was 33 per cent female at June 2020, up from nine per cent in June 2017.

Improving diversity is a priority, but there must also be an inclusive culture to realise the benefits of a diverse workforce. To help achieve this, our leaders are being required to step up and be clearly and directly accountable for maintaining an inclusive culture and ensuring the workplace behavioural norms reflect the values we aim to uphold.

During FY20, in partnership with the employee driven I&D Forums in each region, we refreshed our corporate I&D strategy with an emphasis on inclusion and belonging. The refreshed strategy will be rolled out during FY21, incorporating:

• An approach built around five pillars: cultural and ethnic diversity, mental health and wellbeing, ability, LGTBIQ+, and gender.

• Diversity targets, which we believe are important in addressing the conscious and unconscious bias that leads to an unrepresentative workplace.

• The removal of name and education institutions from job candidate resumes to help address potential ethnic and socio-economic unconscious bias in the recruitment process.

Read our 2020 Responsible Business Report to learn more about why I&D is one of IFM’s responsible business priority areas and what we are doing about it in our corporate and investing activities.