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Ford is one of a select group of Australian companies to receive the coveted citation every year since being launched by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency in 2001 to recognise workplaces that support and advance women.

One of Laura's reasons for joining Ford Australia as a graduate in sales and marketing in 1995 was the company's flexible work culture and broad career opportunities.

But what has come as a surprise to her is the move, nearly a decade later, to job-share with a male colleague.

"Job sharing is not unusual at Ford," she explained. "But up to now, it had been taken up by women. This is the company’s first experience of male and female managers sharing a job."

It also has been a test case of job-sharing at a senior level with Laura and her colleague, Peter Zikas, job-sharing the challenging role of launch brand marketing manager for Ford's key products, the Falcon vehicle range.

"Peter and I have quite different skills and personalities but our job-sharing works for this reason – we are so different and we bring those different abilities to the job," she said.

While they may have their differences, it is their common aim to balance work and family life that have brought them together.

Laura has a two-year-old daughter while Peter has four-year-old and 14-month-old daughters. Both were looking for a balance between spending time with their young families and career demands when they agreed to the job share.

Presently, Peter works a four-day week and Laura two days with one of their days spent together in the office. Laura says the arrangement works well for her both personally and professionally.

"My two-year-old is growing up so quickly. Working part-time means I can stay closely in touch with her and share all those early important milestones," she said.

"It is also great to know at Ford that flexible work options, like job-sharing, are not seen as an obstacle to getting the job done, even with high levels of responsibility like Peter and I share."

As well as job sharing, Ford offers part-time work and telecommuting in its flexible job mix. It's all part of a holistic approach, according to Ford's Diversity Manager, Rachel Connor.

"We aim to provide an environment that allows employees to thrive at work by acknowledging that they also have full lives, including responsibilities and commitments, outside of work," Ms Connor said.

"By offering flexible work options, we aim to retain employees' valued skills and experience as well as improve productivity and morale."

The citation also recognises Ford's other programs that support equal opportunity for women in the workplace from paid maternity and parental leave, zero tolerance of harassment and discrimination, supporting an internal women's networking group, and establishing women's committees on the production floor to input into plant decision making.

"The citation is important to Ford as it recognises the value we place on the contribution of our female employees and on attracting new employees," Ms Connor said.

"In particular, it is pleasing to see that Ford is becoming the Employer of Choice for increasing numbers of young women, making up 42 percent of our total graduate intake in 2005 compared with 17 percent in 1994."