GMC member, QA Electrical is finding success hiring female electricians and apprentices.
“The trade industry is a predominantly white, male industry so we’re actively looking to try and balance the workforce,” Geelong manager Adam Keilar tells GMC. “Our goal is to become a culturally safe employer.”
Fully-qualified electrician Tegan Brown has been practicing for eight years and started at QA at the start of the year, while Jamie Scheelings and Kristy van der Heyden are third and first apprentices, respectively.
Ms Scheelings is a mother who was previously employed as a medical receptionist, while Ms van der Heyden formerly worked in childcare and has four children. Her teenage son is undertaking a carpentry apprenticeship in parallel to her own apprenticeship..
Mr Keilar, manages a team of 40, and says QA employs 130 nationally and staff who are loyal tend to stay long term. Other QA offices also employ women apprentices, and the growing female staff base have established close friendships and camaraderie.
“We do have a really good retention rate here in Geelong,” he says.
“We put them in touch with one another because we’ve got quite a large workforce so there are situations where they wouldn’t necessarily cross each other’s paths.
“We tried to buddy them up with each other, just to make them as comfortable as possible. Having spoken to them recently, I’ve found they have got a little group going and are looking out for each other and supporting each other, which is great.”
QA is publishing its first Reconciliation Action Plan as it strives to promote gender and cultural diversity in the workplace. In signing up to its first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), QA Electrical joins a network of more than 1100 corporate, government, and not-for-profit organisations in pledging to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to help build prosperity and ensure a “fairer and more respectful” nation. Since 2006, RAPs have provided a framework for organisations to leverage their influence to support the national reconciliation movement. Over 2.3 million people now work or study in an organisation with a RAP.
“At the moment, for an electrician, there are a lot of other opportunities with state run projects, large construction sites. So it’s fairly competitive market in the electrical filed.” Mr Keilar said. QA strives to be a safe and inclusive workplace for everyone.