Islamic Bank Australia is powering ahead with a no-nonsense I.D.E.A philosophy and placing equality, accountability and transparency at the heart of everything we are doing. It is not a deliberate strategy, just a different way of thinking embedded across the organisation.
Our focus is not only to hire talent from diverse background, but to provide them with an environment free from bias and discrimination, where our colleagues can bring their whole self to work and be appreciated for who they are.
Our senior leadership team has gender, ethnic and culture diversity with female representation at 55% and a mix of members from a diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We believe Islamic Bank Australia is a true reflection of the community and customers it represents, well placed to understand our customers’ needs. To take a step further, we are encouraging women leaders to join our Board as well as our Shariah Committee.
We feel that the true essence of I.D.E.A is lost when it is strategised and measured yet not really adopted across an organisation. At Islamic Bank Australia we are building an inclusive workplace by displaying the right behaviours from the top to grass root levels. Creating a diverse and inclusive culture is the responsibility of all. Colleagues are encouraged to speak up, hold themselves accountable and own up when things fall short. Being in a highly regulated industry, establishing and maintaining the right risk culture has enormous benefits and in the long run will protect Islamic Bank Australia from making expensive missteps.
When we talk about equity and appreciation, we cannot ignore the debate on gender pay gap. As a start-up, we have taken advantage of the opportunity to get this right from the very beginning. Islamic Bank Australia achieves gender pay equity by providing all colleagues equal access to training, promotions and flexible working arrangements, with work of equal or comparable value getting paid the same amount with same conditions, regardless of gender.
Australia’s national gender pay gap was 14.2% (calculated by Workplace Gender Equality Agency WGEA) using data from ABS at May 2021), with the financial and insurance sector at 24.1%, second highest across all measured industries.
Islamic Bank Australia is a young and progressive organisation that has managed to implement I.D.E.A by bringing all colleagues on a journey and through the active realisation of these concepts is creating a sense of belonging and common objectives and values. Strategies on I.D.E.A require significant mindset shift at all levels of an organisation. Only then we will see real change.
