We know that individuals thrive in environments where they feel respected, connected and valued. By creating that environment we will develop an engaged and talented workforce and build stronger and more meaningful relationships with stakeholders.
Goodman Fielder aims to accelerate and advance our efforts on diversity and inclusion through the development of an ambitious plan. We respect and value the rich and diverse indigenous cultures across our region and acknowledge the need for a specific focus on indigenous recognition within our plan.
We recognise the importance of respecting the local heritage of the places where we operate, and we strive to respectfully engage with the local communities in an appropriate manner. To support our inclusivity drive, we have engaged with non-profit programs like Career Trackers who offer support systems, pathways and opportunities for local indigenous people. Additionally, using the sister program Career Seekers, we provide corporate experience for refugees and asylum seekers who are finding it difficult to start new careers. This partnership also benefits our local staff by offering them exposure to new cultures and different perspectives. Our diversity program also supports gender-based issues, and we recently removed outdated gender stereotypes from our White Wings packaging in recognition of this.
We believe in building solid foundations for diversity and inclusion through staff training and education. We will use these foundations to build a pipeline of proactive and progressive initiatives using community engagement to embed diversity into our mainstream. Our Diversity, Inclusion and Recognition Plan will be a way to ensure each initiative (large or small) contributes to a bigger and broader program.