Respectful workplace training

As part of our Healthy, Safe & Respectful Workplace Policy commitments, in 2023 our Group Respectful Workplace Taskforce developed a Global Creating Respectful Workplaces training framework.

To ensure the training was embedded, we established a Respectful Workplace Officer network to deliver the training. A call for volunteers from our global legal, health & safety, human resources, learning and development, community and diversity and inclusion teams received a great response, with 87 nominations received. Partnering with the MATE Program by Griffith and Curtin Universities in Australia, the Respectful Workplace Officers gained training accreditation to deliver the Creating Respectful Workplaces program.

The training was contextualised to ensure it was appropriate for our business and the different regions where we operate, factoring in cultural, religious and societal norms and legislative requirements. The Creating Respectful Workplaces training is based on preventing inappropriate behaviours in the workplace through understanding cause and impact and using the bystander framework, which encourages bystander preventative action, to interrupt and challenge those behaviours.

The Respectful Workplace Officers have begun delivering the 3.5 hour Creating Respectful Workplaces training, initially targeting our leaders and mental health support network. In 2023, 403 employees completed the training globally including Thiess and MACA team members from Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia and America. We have received high levels of positive feedback from participants, with a 94% satisfaction rating and 92% of participants recommending the course to others.

“The Creating Respectful Workplaces session was one of the best training sessions that I have attended during my considerable time at Thiess. It clearly demonstrated that, as a large and diverse organisation, Thiess is genuinely invested in ensuring that its people work in a safe and inclusive environment, every day. The content was well structured and delivered, and the participation of all attendees was encouraged. As such, even though the subject matter was very serious, the session was enjoyable and, often, a lot of fun. The key take-away for me was that good leadership is not “rocket science”. It’s just about being a good human being", said Anthony Cantarella, Procurement Manager Australia after completing the program in November 2023.