An investigation of the causes of the underrepresentation of women employees at BHP Billiton or the purpose of providing recommendations to senior ma

Assignment 2

An investigation of the causes of the underrepresentation of women employees at BHP Billiton or the purpose of providing recommendations to senior management to improve the situation

Student Name: Adam Arkell

Student ID: A001756250

Word count: 1515

1. 
   

   Introduction - Problem/Opportunity and Purpose of the Research

Problem: Despite BHP Billiton's goal of achieving a 50:50 gender balance by 2025, women remain significantly underrepresented, particularly in technical roles and senior leadership. This persistent issue hampers the companys diversity aspirations and limits the benefits of diverse perspectives in decision-making (Brooks & Saad, 2020).

Opportunity: By addressing systemic barriers to womens representation, BHP can improve its hiring practices, enhance organisational culture, and drive innovation and business performance. Recommendations based on a comprehensive analysis of diversity-focused initiatives could create a roadmap for sustainable gender equity.

Purpose: This research aims to identify the root causes of womens underrepresentation at BHP, evaluate existing diversity initiatives, and provide actionable recommendations to senior management for improving gender diversity.

2. 
   

   Theories and frameworks

2.1 Review of Business Theories

This section identifies two business theories relevant to the investigation: Human Capital Theory and Diversity Management Theory.

Human Capital Theory

Human Capital Theory also emphasizes the level of employee productivity of the firm (which is higher when employees are highly skilled and thus have high human capital), as well as the value of the organization (in that high employee productivity increases the value of the firm). This theory is relevant to the question of gender inequality at BHP Billiton and in response to the gender gap in technical and leadership roles. BHP can do better at training and developing them to fill those higher-level positions and manage gender equity. The literature discusses how strategic human capital investments can drive diversity in the workforce and organizational effectiveness (Gerhart & Feng, 2021, p. 1821). Particularly important is the concept of human capital in industries such as mining, where technical expertise and leadership development are critical to a higher gender balance (Infante & Darmawan, 2022, p. 28). Additionally, it can help foster an inclusive work environment and reduce barriers for women when it puts human capital investment into play (Infante & Darmawan, 2022, p.28).

Diversity Management Theory

Based on Diversity Management Theory, the practice of intentionally managing diversity within organizations for its inclusion within the organization and further organizational performance. This theory has a great opportunity to address gender diversity as it aligns with the companys need to actively implement policies and practices that promote diversity and inclusion. If BHP can build a more inclusive organisational culture, it could begin to address the underrepresentation of women in senior technical roles and equal career opportunities. This theory discusses how diversity management practices lead to better job satisfaction, organizational commitment as well as overall performance (Kllen, 2019, p. 4). Also, research shows that diversity management can translate to better talent attraction and retention rates, both of which are important to BHPs long-term diversity goals (Grzelec, 2022, p. 764). Besides, diversity management also allows organizations to tap into a variety of views, enabling the equation of diversity for innovation and enhancing the quality of the decision-making processes as outlined by BHPs strategic agenda.

3.2 Review of Analytical Frameworks (Methods or Tools)

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps evaluate a businesss internal strengths and weaknesses and internal and external opportunities and threats. It is valuable, as BHP seeks to address its gender diversity challenges, for this analytical framework to be used. By looking at its strengths (e.g., history of diversity initiatives) and weaknesses (e.g., the lack of female representation in leadership), opportunities (the evolving industry norms) and threats (societal pressure for gender equality) BHP can assess what strategic actions to take to improve the balance of gender. Such a potential application of SWOT addresses organizational readiness to promote and achieve diversity in organizations (Krithi & Pai, 2024, p. 172). This means that the framework enables BHP to think of external drivers, such as regulatory change or societal demand for greater corporate responsibility which could affect the way that the company is going to approach gender diversity. SWOT is used by BHP to develop a more targeted and effective diversity strategy that is aligned with internal capabilities and external expectations (Stefan et al., 2021, p. 7).

Gap Analysis

Gap Analysis is a tool for organizations that aid in identifying the gap between the state as an organization currently stands and the state where the organization wants to be long term. For BHP, this framework is crucial in evaluating the gender diversity gap between the companys current representation of women in leadership roles and its goal of achieving a 50:50 gender split. Through Gap Analysis, BHP can identify specific areas where gender initiatives are lagging, for example in recruitment, retention, or career advancement, and can do something about it. Gap Analysis is relevant because it can identify specific barriers to achieving gender parity (e.g. organizational culture, and structural inequalities) (Belingheri et al., 2021, p. 12). This framework allows BHP to concentrate on closing the gender gap in a structured and strategic manner, and to allocate resources and effort to the highest potential initiatives for gender diversity. Gap Analysis also helps BHP monitor progress in time and ensures that it achieves gender diversity targets effectively (Belingheri et al., 2021, p. 12).

3. 
   

   Secondary Data and Methods

3.1 Secondary Data Sources

Sustainability Disclosures and Annual Reports maintained by BHP

BHP publishes detailed, up-to-date information about its diversity initiatives, gender representation, and its progress towards reaching diversity and inclusion goals in its annual reports and sustainability disclosures. Key performance indicators, strategies to improve gender diversity in the workforce and insights into challenges faced by the organisation when trying to improve diversity in the workforce are featured in these reports (BHP, 2024, p. 104). The outcome from this source is very relevant to the investigation of gender diversity in BHP as it is directed to the companys policies, activities and outcomes about gender representation in their workforce. Also, these disclosures are useful to look back at performance compared to the past and assess whether the company is progressing towards gender equality.

Industry Benchmarks and Academic Reports

Industry benchmarks, such as those reported by the Minerals Council of Australia help provide additional insight into the mining and resources gender diversity trends. These reports show the comparisons of gender representation across key players in the industry to serve as a useful base reference for BHP in its performance in comparison to other organizations in the sector (Mayes & Pini, 2014, p. 537). Sector-wide challenges and best practices are identified by industry reports and are a good way to understand the wider picture of gender diversity in the mining industry. The data on these reports is consistent with the investigation because by aligning the BHPs initiatives and results to those of similar organizations one can be aware whether BHP is ahead or not of the industry standards and objectives.

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  Analytical Tools Application and Comparison

Strengths of SWOT Analysis:

• Offers a range view of both internal and external factors.

• It assists in identifying other realities and facts about the external environment that should cause concern.

Strengths of Gap Analysis:

• It focuses on identifying gaps in performance or outcomes.

• Targets actionable areas for improvement.

Weaknesses of SWOT Analysis:

• It does not have the specificity to define actionable gaps.

• It does not supply an depth understanding of disparities between current and requisite states.

Weaknesses of Gap Analysis:

• It may be paying less attention to the wider context of things that affect the whole situation.

• It focusses mainly on gaps.

Applicability of SWOT Analysis:

• It has a high-level view of an organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

• This is useful for strategic decision making but this may be too wide of an application to identify specific sex diversity disparity.

Applicability of Gap Analysis:

• It's great for finding the specific often overlooked disparities between the current and desired levels of diversity in gender.

• It tries to tackle actionable insights that will facilitate the targeting of better strategies for bridging gaps.

Justification for Selection of SWOT Analysis: SWOT gives a general strategic overview but does not go into the nitty gritty necessary to examine how gender diversity disparities vary.

Justification for Selection of Gap Analysis: Gap Analysis addresses the gaps between what the HRM professionals and the experience of the profession are, and what is expected from the profession. Thus, this analysis is more aligned with the study objective of increasing gender representation in the mining industry.

3.3 Application of the Frameworks