Increasing the number of men taking parental leave
Transgrid
Transgrid achieves an unprecedented 50/50 split of men and women taking primary care leave
Sector: Energy/Electricity
The Background
Transgrid believes in equal access to family and caregiving responsibilities but they found that simply creating an inclusive parental leave policy wasn’t enough to shift the gendered expectations of care which, when left unaddressed, perpetuate the myth that women are less committed to their careers than men.
The Solution
An Opt-Out Approach to Parental Leave Transition Coaching
Knowing that men wanted to access parental leave, Transgrid changed the narrative and created an expectation that every employee who was becoming a parent would participate in parental leave transition coaching – if not, why not – and engaged Grace Papers to proactively reach out to each employee.
Not all expectant parents understood the importance of coaching when offered, leading to lower participation rates.
Transgrid then repositioned parental leave transition coaching as a systemic control, replacing the ‘opt-in’ model with an ‘opt-out’ approach. This new strategy ensures that employees and their managers receive crucial support during the key stages of their parental leave transition, while also ensuring that Transgrid meets its obligations under the Positive Duty.
65% of employees accessing primary carers leave are men
“The impact of this shift is shared responsibility for care. We are thrilled that men are now supported to access parental leave: they comprise 65% of employees accessing primary carers leave. Creating safe spaces for men to have vulnerable conversations has also been essential to creating a mentally healthy, safe and respectful work culture.”
Julie Moss, General Manager, Inclusion, Diversity and Wellbeing – Transgrid
Empowering women to lead and increasing agency and confidence among female employees in a male dominant industry. Find out how we helped Worley increase the pipeline of promotion ready women, retention of women talent and workplace safety and respect.
In collaboration with the Office for Women Victoria and Macquarie University we have proven, for the first time, that when workplaces improve their flexible work arrangements, return to work experiences or parental leave, they can close discrimination gaps and improve workplace gender equality.
Find out how Grace Papers partnered with Australia’s biggest employer, helping them improve gender balance and leverage the full potential of their workforce – whilst managing compliance, reducing discrimination and boosting their reputation as an organisation that values care.
