South East Queensland arboriculture business, Aussie Tree Solutions (ATS), sets an industry standard for workforce diversity – a standard strengthened by the recent participation in the Workforce Evolve Program.

In a short 8-year period, the business has grown to employ 28 people and become a leader known for its safe practices, quality workmanship and environmental sustainability.

Owner and Managing Director, Des Young, has sought to continuously operate the business in an honest and ethical manner, demonstrated by the employment of people from different nationalities, and a focus on the both the health and mental health needs of employees.

“The personal stories of disadvantaged employees gaining security from long term stable employment, reaching out to others in need and providing emotional support, is what makes ATS family,” Des said.

“There is confidence and joy evident in employees when they come to work, knowing the day may have its challenges, but they’ll get through it with help from each other.”

In participating in the Workforce Evolve program Des said it provided a valuable refresher of human resources strategies for new employment, onboarding and termination situations.

“It gave us the confidence to continue this important role of employing people of diverse backgrounds and was able to connect us with platforms that specialise in finding employment for disadvantaged people who want to work,” he said.

“The program was also most useful in building our knowledge, understanding and awareness of workplace diversity and inclusion between employers and employees.”

He said the program considered some legal aspects to ensure disadvantaged and challenged workers were able to access the support systems they require within the workplace and was also a source of additional training and support for HR managers within small businesses, striving to meet the needs of diverse workers.

“We saw the Workforce Evolve program as a way to formalise our current business practices,” Des said.

“We believe as opportunities increase to employ workers with diverse backgrounds, it is important to remain at the forefront of the latest research and strategies to include and integrate workers into our business.

“ATS already employs diverse workers with physical, mental and social challenges and the proven techniques we learnt about through Workforce Evolve to address some of the challenges disadvantaged people face in the workplace was valuable and supportive as we continue to source employees from these diverse and inclusive groups.”