GMC member Hanlon Industries is shaking up gender ratios in the steel manufacturing industry.
After success with now second-year apprentice Rachel Ryder, Hanlon Industries has recently hired a second female boiler-maker in training – Lesha-Jayde Swan — at its 18,500sqm steel fabrication facility in Geelong.
Hanlon’s, with a workforce of 120, says an inclusive and varied workforce boosts innovation. It is actively recruiting women, as well as first nation talent, by going to schools and with the expertise help of partners like Head Start.
“They are quite creative roles,” Hanlon’s General Manager Elly Hanlon tells GMC. “We don’t want people just to think it’s picking up a welder and just meshing two pieces of steel together. The work that we do here at Hanlon’s is sophisticated and provides space for innovation and growth.”
“We are really focused on trying to balance the numbers and encourage more women to enter the manufacturing industry. We are celebrating it, and we want to be known for it.”
Known in Geelong for creating the iconic floating Christmas tree, Hanlon Industries was established in 2000 and is now second-generation family-owned and run. The team works across Australia, offering quality steel manufacturing and solutions-driven project and site management.
“We’re really conscious of being an employer of choice and opening ourselves up to all the opportunities that diversity brings us — to be more innovative as an employer, and getting more ideas from a more diverse group of people.”
The head office and manufacturing base is in Geelong, where the team fabricate large quantities of steel product for delivery to sites across Australia. The Company expanded to Sydney in 2013, where robust growth led to further expansion into Brisbane in 2019.
“Manufacturing, particularly steel manufacturing — it’s traditionally been a very male dominated industry but Hanlon’s has a variety of inclusive policies. The particular focus around that strategy has been really successful,” Mrs Hanlon says.
In recent years, partly driven by COVID-19 impacts, Hanlon’s has redefined its strategic intent and “ensured a focus on innovation,” she says.
“The only way that was going to happen is by embracing a more diverse workforce, so that naturally included trying to attract more women. Partnering with various not-for-profit organisations, we have also been able to attract some talented indigenous workers into the workforce which is continuing to embrace and harness the power of that diversity.
Mrs Hanlon says finding the right people can be a challenge, and Hanlon’s have had to be targeted and “really focused,” and feels “fortunate to be able to attract those demographics into the organisation which has been great.
“It says a lot about the fantastic culture that we have here, that people from diverse demographics and backgrounds feel supported, valued and have equal opportunities for growth at Hanlon Industries.”
It works closely with organisations like Head Start that go into schools and consult and speak to individuals. Hanlon is appealing to potential employees to make contact as it seeks to expand its female cohort, and Mrs Hanlon is appealing to students or people looking at different career options to make contact.
“We found that sort of collaborative, one-on-one consultative approach at a school level to be more beneficial in terms of attracting women into the into the fold. It’s critical that we are reaching women in schools and encouraging them to explore non-traditional workplaces and industries when they are mapping out their futures.
“We are really happy to open the doors and talk to people from a diverse range of demographics to provide information about the opportunities for careers in manufacturing,” Mrs Hanlon said. “We’ve still got a long way to go to achieve gender equality in our communities, but if we continue to raise awareness, create space for diversity and question traditions, we will see the change.”
Photo L-R: Lesha-Jayde Swan and Rachel Ryder, Hanlon Industries.
Courtesy Geelong Advertiser