Tuesday, October 18, 2011

What do Women Want?

Men seek money and progression, women want culture and flexibility. Fred Van der Tang, CEO of Randstad, said in the face of the Australian skills shortage, the results of this Randstad survey should push Australian companies to assess their ability to attract talent.

Men and women are from different worlds when it comes to job-hunting, new research has revealed. A survey of 7,000 Australians found male jobseekers look for money and career progression, while women look for a strong workplace culture, flexibility, convenience and development opportunities.

“Our employer branding research demonstrates the need for a measured approach to talent attraction,” said Randstad CEO Fred van der Tang. “It is important for employers to recognise that men and women often have very different requirements and it is wise to focus on applying this knowledge through the entire hiring process—from preparing the job description and writing the job ad to conducting the final interview.”

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Gender Diversity Journey - Glass Ceiling to Glass Cliff?

mums@work are big advocates of gender diversity and having women in senior roles in the workplace as we have seen the value to women and families, but most of all businesses. Our biggest value-add to employers is helping them to 'know' what to do to encourage women and those with families in the workplace, and how to do it. We can build the strategies you need to retain your valuable employees through the many life changes, women in particular, experience.

HCMAG reported recently that although women make up 52% of the population of Australia, 46% of the workforce, and in recent years, 56% of university graduates, women hold only 2% of CEO and 10.7% of senior management positions in ASX200 companies. Perhaps more disturbingly, according to research by Mercer, despite growing interest in workforce diversity among organisations in Australia and New Zealand, only 1 in 4 (26%) have a clearly defined strategy to attract and retain women long enough to reach senior leadership positions.

Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce commented in a recent article by HR Daily that HR alone can't be responsible for increasing gender diversity in organisations, but it should drive the first phase of the journey.

Launching MCC in Sydney yesterday, convenor and Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said that one reason many initiatives to progress gender equality have not delivered is that "they focus solely on engaging and changing women - from the way women network to the way women lead. Too many organisations look to women alone to change the organisational practices that maintain the status quo."

"Without the avid support of men - who currently dominate the leadership group in most large businesses and control most of the financial and other resources - substantial progress is unlikely. Creating change therefore requires men to take the message of gender equality to other men. It requires men to get on board, to take action and to encourage their peers to do likewise."

Megan Dalla-Camina, Director of Strategy for IBM Australia and New Zealand says Australia has lagged behind the rest of the world for too long in most aspects of gender equity, whether that be paid parental leave, numbers of female employees/managers/executives, and women on boards. While there are some marginal improvements, much more needs to be done.

"For Australia, this is an economic imperative, especially in light of the ageing workforce and skills shortages," she said.

Of course, not every woman desires a job at the top or has the skills to pull it off, so it's about identifying the right people for senior leadership roles and ensuring they get to where they are needed in an organisation.

Both articles go on to outline steps in detail of what organisations can do to begin the journey to gender diversity. The HCMAG article in particular elaborates on what women in leadership, or those who pertain to leadership roles in the future, need to be doing to be successful in their chosen career path.


Read more on HCMAG's article...
Read more on HR Daily's article...

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Leading Business Women call for childcare tax deduction

Did you know? Childcare remains the second biggest expense after the mortgage for Australian families.

Leading business women and academics plan to advise the upcoming Tax Summit that childcare is the biggest and most directly related cost to earning income and should be eligible for a tax rebate.

Rosemary Howard, Executive Director and Conjoint Professor at AGSM said the cost of childcare is prohibitive and it affects not only low-income families but well-paid women in executive roles. “The lack of financial support for working families, in the form of childcare incentives, is an impediment to women’s participation in the workforce, particularly when it comes to advancing women into leadership roles and at board level,” she said.

Rosamund Christie, program director for the Women in Leadership program at AGSM agreed. Christie said “Tax-deductibility of childcare ought to be a right. Our economy depends on a fully functioning workforce and – however it gets that – it should be supported,.” she said.

Additionally, Judith MacCormick, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Australian School of Business, said that Australian is using an out-dated business structure, and this is the underlying roadblock toprohibiting governmental tax breaks.

Read the full story...