People and culture

BOQ has a dedicated and skilled on-site recruitment team whose purpose is to ensure we use best practice and a structured and transparent approach to recruitment.

The Bank’s recruitment and selection policy requires that all vacancies outside of our talent and succession management plan are advertised internally and through a number of external sources. This is to ensure fairness of the process and to create the best applicant pool with the appropriate skills for the role and organisation.

Find out more about careers at BOQ.

BOQ is committed to diversity and inclusion in an environment where our people feel supported to be themselves and reach their potential. BOQ has refreshed its Inclusion Plan, which continues to focus on equality across genders and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, evolving towards harnessing broader intersectionality through inclusive behaviours that will foster a diverse workplace culture and enhance the employee experience.

Our key goals are to build a diverse workforce and inclusive culture:

• Our BOQ values and strategic pillars form the foundation for our approach to diversity and inclusiveness.

• We embrace difference and believe that our workforce should reflect the customers and communities that we serve.

• We strive to ensure a purpose-led, inclusive and empathetic culture where our people feel confident to bring their best selves to work every day. 

At BOQ we believe Diversity and Inclusion is everyone’s responsibility and requires a united, collective approach. Better outcomes for our customers and communities will be achieved through a diverse workforce and inclusive culture.

Our Inclusion Vision is to build an inclusive workplace that values and leverages differences, creates new possibilities and better connects us with our customers and communities. We will do this through the focus areas of:

1. Empathetic leadership and accountability.

2. Inclusive behaviours and practices.

3. Employee and customer connection.

BOQ recently lodged our annual public report with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) on 30 July 2020 in accordance with the requirements of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.To access a copy of the report, please click here. Shareholders are invited to comment on the report by emailing InvestorRelations@boq.com.au or contacting WGEA directly.

BOQ Group’s vision for reconciliation is an Australia in which First Nations peoples have infinite opportunity and prosperity.

As a leading regional bank that prides itself on building long-term relationships based on mutual respect and understanding, we are committed to building social capital through banking with First Nations peoples. We are dedicated to growing a culturally supportive workplace that builds strong relationships with, and provides opportunities for, First Nations peoples, customers, businesses, and communities.

You can download our second innovate Reconciliation Action Plan here.

Our commitment for this RAP

• Establishing meaningful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, stakeholders, customers, and employees.
• Advancing cultural inclusion through truth telling, celebration and sharing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ cultures and histories.
• Enhancing supplier diversity through procurement and supply chain practices which support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business, communities and peoples.
• Building and upholding an inclusive workplace that removes barriers, creates opportunities, and celebrates the diverse skills, perspectives and insights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities at BOQ.
• Supporting social and economic participation through specifically designed financial access and literacy programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Bank of Queensland Group supports the campaign for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament that is enshrined in the Constitution.  At this important time for Australia, BOQ is committed to supporting our people to learn more about the Voice to enable each person to make their own informed voting decision. 

Our Owner Manager branch model is unique to the banking industry and one which we are very proud of. Under this model circa 60% of our branches are run by Owner Managers who are agents and franchisees of BOQ and are authorised to conduct BOQ business.

Owner Managers are not only the Managers of their branch, they also own their branch business. As small-business owners they have the freedom to personally manage their customer relationships and the incentive to drive their business's success. These relationships extend into the broader community with our Owner Managers supporting local charities, schools and sporting organisations as well as being strong advocates for their local business and professional communities.   

Here at BOQ we take the responsibility of being a franchisor very seriously. We regularly conduct independent research to obtain Owner Managers' feedback on being part of BOQ and work hard to achieve balance in our business for the benefit of all stakeholders.

In 2009 we established the first iteration of what is now known as the Franchise Advisory Board (FAB) where BOQ Owner Managers as representatives of the franchise network meet with senior leaders in a structured forum. The FAB meet a minimum of four times a year to discuss ideas, issues, concerns and initiatives. All Owner Managers are encouraged to raise agenda topics with their FAB representatives and minutes from the meetings are made available internally to the Owner Manager network.

In September 2016 we introduced a business and financial coaching program for new Owner Managers to assist and support them through their transition into BOQ and business ownership in general. This initiative followed on from our business coaching program originally introduced in 2014 which saw over 60% of OM's participate across a two year program of business and personal development underpinned by peer to peer support and encouragement. The success of these programs has been evidenced across a number of holistic business quantitative and qualitative metrics.

We Support Your Career & Development

At BOQ, we have our very own internal and dedicated Learning and Development team who offer a range of in-house and external development opportunities. We support you throughout all the stages of your career from on-boarding and upskilling to professional and leadership development.

On-boarding & Upskilling

We are committed to delivering the best possible learning experience when we on-board new team members or when they upskill to new roles. We're currently redesigning this learning experience for our frontline retail roles and creating new learning pathways that are focussed on putting you in charge of when, where and how you grow your capability with a pathway that's tailored to and relevant for your role. By combining a suite of just-in-time modules that focus on our products, processes, systems, acumen, customers and risks with on the job learning activities completed alongside a capable buddy and face to face scenario-based workshops, we prove it's possible to love working for a bank!

Professional Development

We know our people are busy and their time is valuable, so we offer a range of virtual and self-paced learning options that can be accessed at work or on the go. We provide access to online learning platforms and content libraries with a wealth of information in the form of self-assessments, video clips, short readings, case studies, simulations, etc. that can be utilised when and where they're needed. We've also designed several programs around this virtual content which incorporate individual reflection and application, peer coaching and facilitated sessions and webinars on topics ranging from emotional intelligence and resilience to negotiation and conflict resolution.

Leadership and Career Development

We have recently launched our BOQ Pathways - our exciting new leadership and career development program which is designed to increase leadership capability and career progression at BOQ. The program is unique, aligned and accelerated and begins with individualised discussions to help you design your own personal pathway. It has an app-based learning platform to support you in the formal and on the job application of the learning activities, short and sharp face to face workshops linked to real time business and professional challenges that allow you to immediately embed your learning and access to executive coaches to align with your development needs and personal learning preferences. There is a wide range of experiential opportunities available including fantastic secondment opportunities with some of our partners. Everyone can choose their own pathway at BOQ. 

We are committed to frequently checking in with our people to understand how they are feeling about BOQ and what we can do to improve their personal engagement with the organisation through our annual ‘You’re The Voice’ engagement survey. The leadership team listen  to the feedback and respond with an action plan to strengthen culture and engagement at the BOQ Group level. Divisions and teams also identify their specific priorities to strengthen engagement and culture. Regular pulse checks and continuous improvement discussions are conducted at the team level to track and improve culture and engagement. 

Employee engagement score data is included in the Non-financial Performance Measures table located on our website. 

Every BOQ employee contributes to our success.  We understand that our employees value meaningful work where they are able to develop and grow professionally and are able to balance their work and personal needs.  We offer employees a benefits program designed to meet these needs.

We have our very own dedicated internal learning and development team offering a range of in-house and external personal and professional development courses and resources for all employees and a study assistance program.

We offer employees access to discounts through various gym and health providers as well as access to online information sessions on how to best manage their general health. There is also a flu vaccinations program available to all staff.

We offer our employees a wide range of financial employee benefits to BOQ products which include fee-free transaction accounts, discounted insurance, credit cards, home lending, personal lending and Salary packaging. We offer our employees an attractive superannuation plan and online and onsite information sessions. We offer salary sacrifice options including, superannuation, airline memberships, car parking and novated leases. There are also offers which provide discounts on a wide range of products such as travel, cars, local business offers and Entertainment Books. We also invite our employees to partake of the BOQ Share Plan which is offered on an annual basis.

BOQ has a recognition and reward program called the “Prove It’s Possible Awards” that recognises employees from every division who exhibit outstanding demonstration of our core values - integrity, collaboration, impact and passion. Employees complete online nominations of peers which are then presented to the divisional leadership teams to decide the overall winners. At the end of the year, quarterly winners are invited to a gala event where the grand final winner, as chosen by our CEO, is announced.

Through Davidson Trahaire Corpsych (DTC), BOQ provides all employees and their immediate families with access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP is a confidential, free and voluntary short-term counselling service to assist employees and their immediate family members to resolve or better manage work or personal problems which may be affecting their performance, productivity, job satisfaction and well-being.

Our health and safety charter and strategy takes into consideration New Zealand and Australian state and territory requirements, and applies the most stringent requirements across the board. Our objective is to maintain a safe system of work for our employees, customers, contractors and visitors and to deliver sustainable WHS performance improvements and enhance the wellbeing of our people and our customers.

We’re striving for continuous improvement and regularly monitor our performance against our targets to improve the health, safety and wellbeing outcomes for our employees. Reporting on our Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) performance is provided on a monthly and on a quarterly basis to Management and the Board of Directors.

Our commitment to WHS is supported through the delivery of a comprehensive workplace health and safety program. Some of our initiatives include:

• physical WHS ‘health checks’ for all our branches
• delivery of risk and safety leadership training
• proactive focus on injury management for both non-work and work-related injuries and illness
• BOQ Group wellbeing plan with targeted mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing programs
•  ergonomic design standards applied to corporate office and branch design, branch conversions and site refurbishments
• framework to ensure WHS standards are maintained for employees working from home or remotely.