Australia’s IMDEX has put up financial markers to support its leadership claims in the nascent global mining technology space. Doubling parental leave for its employees sends a different but equally important signal.
The A$2 billion ASX-listed company, on track this year to hit A$500 million of revenues for the first time, has bought and integrated a number of companies in the past few years to build out its subsurface intelligence software and sensor business. Its headcount has meanwhile grown to about 830 people.
Less than 3% of them took parental leave last year and that proportion could grow now that IMDEX has increased paid parental leave for primary carers from 12 weeks to 24 weeks and upped its secondary carer allowance to six weeks’ paid leave.
In an increasingly competitive labour landscape in which IMDEX is competing – essentially with customers – for geoscience and engineering talent and then with the plethora of tech start-ups and firms at the other end of the scale for AI, cybersecurity, cloud and data specialists, attracting and retaining talent has never been more challenging.
“If we really want to attract exceptional people and retain them, which we do, we need employment practices that reflect modern workforce expectations,” says IMDEX’s chief people, communications and sustainability officer Kiah Grafton.
“And we see that modern workforce expectations continue to be around culture, flexibility and employee benefits.
“Of course you want to make sure you address hygiene factors but actually differentiating on culture, flexibility and enhancing things such as our paid parental leave policy is part of ensuring that we remain an attractive destination for exceptional talent, particularly in the STEM space and professional services.”
Grafton joined a very different IMDEX in 2017. Since being appointed to lead the people area in 2021 its workforce has doubled and is now spread over more than 40 countries. Nearly two-thirds of the company’s workforce is outside Australia. Grafton says some live and work in countries with limited or no automatic entitlement to paid parental leave.
“When we talk about the workforce of the future we’re talking about attracting and retaining talented people globally and we are in a highly competitive market,” she says.
“Increasingly, people are looking for employers whose policies support different life stages. So not only life stages with regards to caring responsibilities for children but we also are cognisant of having an aging workforce too and are looking at alternative policies to help support all life stages.
“For this policy in particular it’s recognising that caring responsibilities can be shared and so enhancing our policy reflects the workforce we’re trying to build rather than the workforce of the past.
“We’re trying to create an environment where our people can build long-term careers while balancing family commitments and they don’t need to make a choice.
“In terms of the global lens, given the fact that we have employees in more than 40 countries we wanted to ensure that everyone had access to meaningful levels of parental leave support regardless of where they’re based. While some countries, such as the Scandinavian countries, already provide strong statutory benefits, others provide far less. In fact, none. So we felt there was real value in establishing a consistent global baseline that reflected our values and commitment to all employees, regardless of which country you’re actually living in or residing in.
“That consistency is particularly important in our organisation because we do have employees working together across borders and cultures on a daily basis and roughly 65% of our workforce are offshore. Providing a consistent parental leave experience reflects our belief that support for families should not depend on where someone happens to live or work.”
Grafton thinks projecting leadership in a noisy and fast-changing labour market is important.
“I think it’s very important because leadership’s about making deliberate choices, really to support long-term business success,” she says.
“Supporting our employees through major life events isn’t just the right thing to do. It also helps build a stronger, more engaged, more sustainable workforce.
“The importance of flexible and supportive workplace practices to help effectively manage professional and personal commitments cannot be underestimated.”
