2 minute read
PHOEBE’S TIPS FOR AN INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE CULTURE
Lead from the top in setting the tone for the workplace
Don’t make presumptions or put people in a box
Consider a person’s CV by merit, not by age, gender or ethnicity
Shake a person’s hand, say g’day and let them tell you who they are
Treat everyone the same
If you’re not sure you’re getting it right, ask them—they’ll be 100% grateful you want to learn
Introduce the person to the rest of the team and set expectations from the start she says. Prejudice can be shown by anyone, of any age, not just so-called ‘boomers’.
Be patient and take time to understand the people who work with you.
“Humans naturally want to fit people into a box. People are so quick to judge and we should make a conscious effort to fight that. When meeting someone for the first time, take half a second and try not to have any presumptions. Say g’day and let them tell you who they are, not the other way round.” people from other cultures just want to be treated the same as everyone else.”
Phoebe is speaking from experience, having found she’s often not in the handshake line-up on site. “People sometimes don’t know how to approach me, being a woman on the tools.” She has also discovered she can be overlooked at plumbing industry events—assumed to be the partner of a plumber, rather than a business owner in her own right.
And that starts from the initial job application. “I know a guy whose second language is English and his wife told him never to use his real name on his CV, or he’d go to the bottom of the pile. I love my name and I can’t imagine having to hide it to get my foot in the door.”
Good life choices
Phoebe says she couldn’t have asked for a better company than Foleys to do her apprenticeship. Respectful and inclusive, they also supported her in her mountain biking goals—understanding the importance of a good life balance and allowing her to take unpaid leave to participate in national and international events.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on women in the trades right now, which is great, but we’re not as far progressed as I had thought,” she says of these situations. “Women and
“As an apprentice, you can decide what kind of company you want to work for and be in charge of your own narrative. If you’re working for someone who wants to dictate how your life goes, that’s fine. But if you want to take charge of your own destiny, you’re better to walk away than get caught up with the wrong crowd, even if it means you have to spend a couple of months looking for another job. There are so many open-minded employers now, or usually someone in the company who is.”
Shoulders to lean on
Having been in business since June 2022, Phoebe has long-term plans to grow her company and is also looking to redirect to civil drainage to suit her self-confessed love of big diggers and trucks.
“I have kept a good relationship with Fulton Hogan from a brief stint working there before setting up Rose Line, and I still contract back to them on projects,” she says. “They’re a good company—very progressive, future driven and invested in employee development.”
Registering the business was the easy part, she says, but the massive pre-Christmas workload knocked her for six. “I was doing silly hours on the tools, on the computer