More Powerful Together, the theme of International Women’s Day this year in Australia, is prompting Nous Group to celebrate our achievements in gender equity while also looking out for ways we can improve.

To mark IWD, we would like to take the opportunity to profile some of the exceptional women at Nous to honour their amazing achievements in bringing about positive change – whether through Nous or individually.

Of the 350 Nousers around Australia and the United Kingdom, 62 per cent are women, while among our leadership team, 47 per cent are women. This represents one of the highest proportions of female leadership in a consulting firm and demonstrates the outcome of our efforts to create the right conditions for diversity.

Tim Orton, Managing Principal & CEO of Nous Group, said that Nous had always strived to help all people achieve their full potential, so it was pleasing that Nous was maintaining results on involvement among women.

“I wish everyone a happy International Women’s Day and encourage people to think about how they can be More Powerful Together.

“At Nous we have always sought to create a welcoming work environment for everyone. It is not enough simply to seek gender equity during the recruitment phase if we do not also think about what experience our people will have when they are at work. That is why we have taken a holistic approach that looks at everything we do and asks, does it work for everyone?”

Nous has taken several innovative steps to create a gender-equal work environment:

• We have helped people balance their work and caring responsibilities by promoting part-time work as an option for all employees, no matter what their life stage. This has led to 22 per cent of Nousers choosing to work part time, of which 76 per cent are women.
• Our parental leave policy is gender-neutral, so both primary and secondary carers are entitled to the same leave conditions.
• We take a unique approach to new parents returning to work, including keeping in touch during leave, career coaching, helping them stay connected with their family.
• We have a deliberate effort to recruit parents of young children, contributing to a workforce in which a significant share of staff have young children.
• We ensure pay equity regardless of gender by keeping watch of salary data.
• We take a strict approach to all forms of harassment, so people can work free from intimidation.

Sally Pritchard, Chief People Officer at Nous Group, said gender equity, like all diversity, is important at Nous, because it brought diversity of thinking, perspective and style.

“By drawing on diversity we think more boldly and are more interesting and engaging as an organisation,” she said. “This allows us to not only be a great place to work but to deliver on our value proposition for clients.”