A Report on Gender Equality and Recommendations for Arrium's Workplace

This report examines the challenges of gender equality within Arrium, a manufacturing and mining company with approximately 11,000 employees. Despite existing policies, the report highlights persistent issues such as gender discrimination, wage gaps, and performance disparities, particularly in tr...Read More

Running head: EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Employment Relations
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
Numbers of gender discrimination laws and court rulings have already legitimated the
right of a woman of getting equality; however there is still subtle chauvinist behavior within
work place which is quite adequate to tell the women work force that they are not equal. It has
been eventually observed that reshaping the organizational strategies is a major tool for
achieving the gender equality within the work places. Considering the issues with gender
equality, it can be said that each person deserves to be treated as an equal one without any
consideration of their gender differences (Comim & Nussbaum, 2014). There should always be
equal opportunity for both female and male employees as there should not be any kind of
obstructions within the political, social and economic spheres based on the gender. The
organizations should address these issues immediately and have an organizational culture that
welcomes everyone (Verloo, 2016). Arrium is an organization operating in the manufacturing
and mining industry. There are around 11000 employees who are dealing with different sectors
such as consumables, mining and steel. Considering the business of Arrium and the recycling
and industrial department, OneSteel has also got some difficult deals in managing the relations
amongst employees which supports the essence of gender equality. The administration of the
organization is fighting with this issue as they also want to promote their female employees.
Most of the female employees of the organization are placed in higher positions, even though
there is still no female employee in the engineering, superintendence or management. Therefore,
this report has analyzed the case and made recommendations that can be implemented in the
organization so that the management can enhance the gender equality.

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Scope of the problem:
It can be seen from the given figure that only 11.7% of the employees are female even
though the organization has implemented policies in order to enhance the gender equality within
the organization. The major issues with the gender equality issues are the gender discrimination
on the basis of gender, wag gap between the genders and the differentiation of performances. As
within the manufacturing sector, the job is associated with working in a boiling hot and dirt place
and it requires physical work (Petersen et al., 2014). However, now the job does not require
much physical work compared to before, but still the stereotypical work culture does not support
the female employees. There is still a common idea that the female workers are less efficient
than the male ones in such heavy industry.
Recommendations:
Other than the pre-determined government policies, the organization should also
implement some of their own policies which will promote their image and ensure that the
company also supports gender equality within the work place (Woodhams, Lupton & Xian,
2009). Eventually this will create a positive environment for all the employees irrespective of
their gender. The recommendations for this issue are discussed below:
Acknowledge the qualities of female employees
As over the year the issue of gender equality has become a prevalent issue in the
organizations, it is quite necessary for the organizations to represent female employees in front
of the world. If the organization represents more women in the work force, they can promote
gender equality more (Hacker, 2017). Therefore the organization can promote it by creating a
group of star female employees who can advocate for the organization. This may not have any

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significant impact on any short term basis, but it can be sustainable on a long term basis. Women
and men work in two different ways. Especially in the heavy industry, there is already a saying
that female workers are less competent than the male workers (Cooke, 2003). Therefore, it is
necessary for the organization to promote the qualified female employees in front of other staffs,
so that they can be motivated and at the same time gender equality is promoted (Huang &
Lowry, 2015). If the management of OneSteel can locate the powerful performers and promote
them, it is also possible that the other female employees are motivated to perform more. In
addition to that the potential female candidates may also feel safe with such acknowledgments.
There are several women employees who tend to miss the chance or any great opportunity as
they are considered to be under qualified. At the same time, there are several instances that the
men are promoted to a position where they are not supposed to be (Huang & Lowry, 2015).
OneSteel should not encourage such discriminatory ideas and they can actively encourage the
female employees for taking more chances and grab the opportunities. There should be adequate
support on behalf of the management so that the female employees can build their confidence
and go for the chances.
Implement policies for improving the organizational culture
Elwér et al., (2013) has indicated that the separation of gender is a huge issue for the
organization. Even if there is lot of promotions for the gender equality, sometimes there are
subtle behaviors within the organizational culture that does not match the company policy.
According to Atkinson (2017) the female experts and specialists in Australia report more gender
discriminatory attitude than the low level occupations. However, it can be also seen that most of
the organizational environments tend to filled up with the comparison between the male and
female employee while indicating the actions of the male employees are more effective than that

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of females. Therefore, in this case, the management of Arrium should reevaluate the culture and
behavior of OneSteel and implement proper policies to improve the organizational culture. The
company should also provide proper training and development session to the employees
regarding these matters. If the organization wants to promote gender equality seriously within the
organization, they have to be very clear and transparent about it (Kaushik, Sharma & Kumar
Kaushik, 2014). The management has to have a clear message that they are not going to tolerate
any sexist attitude within the organization and they have to be very strict about it. Having open
discussion regarding such issues between the male and female employees can be very effective
(Strachan, French & Burgess, 2010). If the women employees are speaking their heart out and
stating their issues, it is a lot easier to deal with the problems. Also, the male employees tend to
understand the issues if those are discussed openly (Barak, 2016). OneSteel should organize
open discussion forums where the employees can come and talk about their experiences and the
others can learn from it. .
Ensure that there is no gender gap and disparity
For promoting the gender equality within the organization, it is necessary to pay the same
to both the genders. Disparity in payment and gender gap are two prominent issues that act as a
catalyst to the ongoing gender inequality (Tatli, Ozturk & Woo, 2017). Therefore OneSteel
should immediately revise its pay structure and pay all the employees equally and fairly on the
basis of their experience level, not on the basis of their gender. The time has changed where
women only had two or three specific roles to play in the business. In order to empower the
female work force, the management should bring a unique and different perspective to the
organization and celebrate the working powers (Doucet, 2015). Instead of giving the clichéd
roles to the women that are being played by men for over a decade, the organization can also

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start thinking about new job roles that create benchmarks. If the organization wants real
equality to happen, it is very much necessary to implement the policies to all the levels.
Implementing policies at the higher level can act as a huge motivational force for the employees.
Therefore this may also have a positive impact on the retention policy and the organizational
culture.
Potential risks and benefits
Implementing policies may have some risks and benefits at the same time. If the
organization wants to implement several policies for empowering the women force, it is also
possible that the male employees tend to feel neglected (Doucet, 2015). However, it is always
about the aim of having equal chances for both the genders. Therefore, there is always a risk of
taking undue advantage of the policies by some women employees. Therefore the management
should ensure that while they are empowering female work force, they are not degrading the
male force. There are other benefits of promoting a brand image in front of the world; therefore
the company will be benefitted in the long term.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the management of the organization have to implement
some policies that should keep the balance of gender. It has been observed several times that the
organization, Arrium experiences a serious gender gap. Therefore, this essay has evaluated the
issue and the existing gender difference while it has also provided various recommendations that
can be implemented within the culture. The culture has also triggered the changed behavior. If
the organization starts implementing the recommendations, soon they will be enhancing the
women power within the organizational culture.

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