Many law firms are still struggling to reach their self-imposed diversity targets for women. Recently, BA legal policy and research unit adviser, Kieran Pender, spoke to Lawyers Weekly and advocated that a new approach is needed to ensure diversity – it’s not enough to hope women will fit into existing law firm structures; these structures need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up.

True, simply hoping women slot into a well-established law firm culture which might favour certain attitudes, beliefs and workplace practices (such as interactions outside the office) is unlikely to be successful.

“Workplace diversity” however goes so much further than pointing to a 50/50 male, female split of a workforce, and on the same pay and conditions.

According to Dr Tim Soutphommasane, Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, it actually relates to the talents and skills that every employee brings to their workplace as a consequence of their varied background and principles. This, Soutphommasane argues, includes gender, age, language, ethnicity, cultural background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, working style, educational level, professional skills, work experience, socio-economic background, marital status and/or family responsibilities. Workplace diversity is about recognising the worth of each employee and acknowledging how these differences can benefit the workplace as a whole.

Yet, too many organisations in Australia harbour perceptions which don’t represent reality. In Hays’ white paper (2017) The Balancing Act: Creating A Diverse Workforce, 66 per cent of employees surveyed said their organisation is gender diverse, but 53 per cent of respondents said there is not a balance of male and female representation at the senior executive level. And only 69 per cent reported that a clear maternity leave policy was in place. Also, just 43 per cent of employers have plans in place to retain mature-aged staff.

While these figures are disappointing, it’s not all bad news, and law firms in particular are making great advances towards achieving true diversity. It’s not just about implementing quotas, but making changes at the ground level, ensuring that the pipeline of talent is diversified.

At Pinsent Masons, day-to-day processes have been tailored to promote diversity and inclusion across the firm and to provide a safe and respectful work environment for all of our people. We work closely with our trusted recruitment agencies to ensure external hires are gender balanced. Furthermore, our shared parental leave policy and our emphasis on flexible and agile working means we have the right foundation to support all of those who work at the firm.

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These policies are based around the firm’s commitment to equality, providing a safe and respectful work environment and apply to all our people whether employees or Varios.

Remote technology, person-centred work environments, and the necessity for businesses to be responsive to change, has led to increasingly alternate working patterns. At Vario, flexible working is a way of life. Working as a contract lawyer means that you can become fully-immersed in the sector you’re working in, providing you with invaluable knowledge that will help shape your career.

Due to the nature of contract lawyering, you also hone your people and professional skills very quickly. Another obvious benefit of working this way is how family friendly it is. With the opportunity to work from home, parents can take an active role in raising their young children, or dependents, without having to temporarily or permanently put their careers on hold.

This model of working is also beneficial to employees with disabilities as well as those with complex health problems who may feel more comfortable working from home. We see contracting as an excellent way to diversify the legal profession by offering another way of working, and is certainly gaining traction as more and more lawyers are looking into more flexible ways of working.

There are a plethora of issues in the legal profession surrounding diversity and there needs to be change to improve the numbers of women and others in senior positions. There is a long way to go, but through awareness, we are heading in the right direction.

Matthew Kay is the director of Vario at Pinsent Masons.