Executive Summary
The Champions of Change Consult Australia Everyday Respect Report is based on a survey with 1,588 employees across 10 Consult Australia Member firms on Everyday Respect. Employees contributed through confidential survey responses and verbatim accounts about exclusionary behaviour within their workplace.
- Participants were asked to report on their experience or observation of behaviours that can exclude some people and unfairly advantage others on the basis of their gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age.
- Participants were also asked about the consequences of exclusionary behaviour, their personal responses to these behaviours and the perceived responses of colleagues and leaders.
- The report includes examples by Consult Australia Member organisations Aurecon, Jacobs and Northrop, which illustrate some of the initiatives taken in tackling harmful behaviour.
The findings provide a clear picture that barriers to inclusion and respect are present in varying degrees across the many dimensions of identity, with significant negative impacts on employees.
Exclusionary behaviour affects everyone. The findings revealed that more than two in five employees report having experienced or observed some form of exclusionary behaviour in the past two years.
While women are affected more frequently and to a greater extent, men also experience the negative impacts of jokes or offensive and/or exclusionary comments and role stereotyping. Our employees told us that leaders can do more to address these behaviours.
Overwhelmingly, employees want their leaders to foster a culture where all people feel safe to speak up about exclusionary behaviour.
Our commitment
The insights from the Everyday Respect survey provide a deeper understanding of the nature, prevalence and impact of exclusionary behaviours within our organisations.
With awareness comes responsibility. As leaders, it is incumbent upon us to act – to deeply reflect on and communicate the human cost of exclusion. It is up to us to role model the type of behaviour we expect from our employees, to share our learnings across all levels of the organisation, to create psychologically safe workplaces where everyone feels comfortable to share their stories, and to provide the resources and skills to hold one another to the highest possible standard.
As leaders we take this responsibility seriously. We are committed to doubling down on the efforts that are making a difference, to introducing renewed approaches informed by our people, and to holding ourselves to account.
