Generational

Australians are increasingly working later in life, and the demographic structure of our workforce is continually changing. For the first time in history, five generations are working alongside each other.

Generational inclusion at GHD includes understanding the career journey of employees and achieving positive outcomes through initiatives that support the collaboration and contribution of people at all ages.

Young Professionals

We are focused on connecting and developing our future leaders through our Young Professionals (YP) networking groups. Our YP program provides a strong support network for our early career professionals and opportunities for them to participate in a range of professional development activities. Active in every state, our YP groups help our people build strong working relationships with their peers and clients. The YP program brings together people with less than 10 years of professional experience from various disciplines to assist in developing skills.

Global Graduate Development Program

We refreshed our graduate program to create a globally aligned, structured development program balanced with a blend of experiential learning, coaching and training that will develop our graduates as future problem solvers and leaders. As part of the program, we welcomed 252 GHD graduates to more than 24 of our offices in Australia in 2022.

Smart Seeds

Now in its tenth year, our global Smart Seeds initiative aims to build connections, innovation, collaboration and confidence in emerging leaders. It brings together our people, our clients and partner organisations to respond to challenges set by industry leaders. Over a set period, participants collaborate with teammates and mentors from different industries and disciplines within a structured innovation framework to develop solutions to their set challenges. In 2022, five teams made up of young professionals worked together over 12 weeks to develop solutions to their set challenges related to future communities. Find out what their solutions were here.

Leveraging intergenerational diversity

Generational diversity is complex, but research demonstrates that organisations can leverage its benefits through proactive management. As part of our efforts to encourage optimal work practices that support mature employees’ participation, engagement and health at work, we are a Stakeholder Reference Group member of the Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) Australian Research Council (ARC).

This membership helps CEPAR to translate its research knowledge into practical business applications. It also facilitates our access to data, personnel and other resources that will help us promote successful ageing in our workplace.

Disability & accessibility inclusion

As a next step in our I&D journey, a cross-functional global accessibility working group (AWG) made up of our people was formed in 2022 to help create a more accessible environment which fosters a culture of disability inclusion within GHD, our clients and our communities. The AWG representatives are from across the globe and have been meeting with stakeholders to identify and prioritise disability inclusion challenges that people may face within GHD. We are focused on four key areas, related to disability inclusion:

1. Physical space – audit assessments and accommodation strategies 2. Digital accessibility – compliance checks and development of accessibility guides 3. People policies – creation of partnerships for access to talent and training, and inclusive hiring practices 4. Learning and development – learning content inclusive of all abilities and needs

Our key accessibility themes

We identified five themes which underpin our four key focus areas related to disability inclusion: 1. Talent acquisition 2. Learning and development 3. People policies 4. Information technology 5. Physical-space accessibility

Partnering with Disability:IN

In December 2022, our CEO Ashley Wright signed the Disability:IN ‘CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion’, which is designed for CEOs to take action to build inclusive, accessible, and equitable workplaces through their company’s participation in the Disability Equality Index. The partnership with Disability:IN will provide resources and expertise as we continue to expand opportunities at GHD for people with disabilities. → Read more about our

partnership here.

Marking International Day of People with Disability

In 2022, we marked International Day of People with Disability with a live panel session for all of our people in APAC. The session featured four panel members from GHD – all who have a connection to disability or neurodiversity.

Neurodiversity

We recognise that there are many talented neurodivergent individuals who struggle to join the workforce. Neurodiverse individuals include those with neurological differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and tics. Through our partnership with Neurodiversity Hub, we support and provide employment opportunities for neurodiverse people.

In 2020 we established a Neurodiversity ERG, with the mission of supporting, empowering and celebrating neurodiversity at GHD by increasing awareness.

In 2022 we have built on these foundations by drafting some neurodiversity talking points to support I&D discussions, strengthened our relationship with the Neurodiversity Hub by rolling out targeted training and support to teams with neurodiverse individuals and focused on increasing representation from the neurodiverse community within our ERG. In June 2022, our APAC employee briefing focused on inclusion and featured a young professional from our Melbourne office, sharing her experiences with ADHD to help build awareness. Passionate ERG member Laura Trotta also authored and shared a series of blog articles related to autism spectrum disorder for Autism Awareness Month in 2022. Read Laura's pieces below: