‘Best practice in workplace culture for the attraction and retention of women’
Speech
by Elizabeth
Broderick
Sex
Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age
Discrimination
Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
NSW Public Sector –
Senior Women’s Network
Seminar
Coles Theatre, Powerhouse
Museum, Sydney
24 June 2008
I want to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we are gathered, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
It brings me great pleasure to be here with such a large group of highly skilled and dynamic women.
I am delighted to talk to you today about how workplaces can best attract and retain women. But more than that, how policies and practices at work can help both female and male employees achieve their potential.
As working women yourselves, I have no doubt you all have a pretty good idea what sorts of workplace cultures serve women best. In truth, I am very much looking forward to hearing your views on this topic and learning what works for you.
In my experience, having firm, clearly-communicated policies to protect women from disadvantage in the workplace is a great start, but it is strong leadership, positive role-modelling and support networks, that make the real difference to women’s experiences of work.
It is very encouraging to see so many women here tonight who fill senior positions in the public sector. Things are obviously improving. But we are still no where near the tipping point of true gender equality across Australia’s decision-making roles.
For example, in my own field - law - nearly 70 per cent of Australia’s graduates are women, yet their median salaries just one year after graduation are $1,600 less than their male colleagues. And who is making it to the top? In New South Wales firms of 21 partners of more, women represent only one in five partners, while in the Federal Court of Australia, women only make up 13 per cent of the bench. The fact is that in 2008, women are still fighting incredible odds in terms of career progression.
We know women in full-time work earn only 84 cents in the male dollar and in recent years this gap has actually widened. At the Human Rights Commission we received 472 complaints in 2006-07 under the Sex Discrimination Act. 87 per cent of these complaints were from women and 81 per cent related to employment. And that’s just the formal complaints lodged- the tip of the iceberg really. I know scores more women either do not know they have legal protections in this area, or are too afraid of losing their jobs to take action.
As a society, we embrace the fact that men and women are equals. Yet at work women continue to held back, paid less and discriminated against. This cannot stand. Opening the workplace up to men and women equally is an important step to achieving gender equality.
And the good news is, its great for business! Actively attracting, developing and retaining women has huge benefits for employers, including public sector agencies.
For instance, women’s perspectives in the decision-making process can be enormously valuable. In the public service, having a diversity of opinions around the table – including those of women – is more likely to result in policies and programs which reflect the values of our whole community.
A recent NSW Government study concluded that in this state alone, if the
current labour participation and retirement trends continue, by 2030 there will
be 300,000 more jobs than people in the workforce.
As a society we have
invested heavily in women’s education with more women finishing high
school and enrolling in university then ever before. Yet only 58 per cent of
women are employed compared to 70 per cent of men. Women remain a largely
untapped resource in our employment economy.
With Australia’s skills shortage and ageing population, employers must
compete to secure the best staff. In such an environment no employer can afford
to ignore Australia’s large numbers of professional women or to lose them,
paying enormously in turnover costs. In fact, the smartest employers now have
proactive recruitment and retention strategies aimed directly at getting women
into their workplaces and keeping them there.
How do you create a workplace
that will attract women? Strong policies are a key ingredient.
The fact remains that women take on the majority of unpaid work in our
society – managing the household, volunteering in the community and caring
for children and increasingly for elderly parents. Workplaces that recognise
this and provide access to
- paid maternity leave,
- flexible work arrangements,
- quality part-time work and
- generous carers leave
will always be workplaces of choice for women.
The secret is to support women to balance their paid and unpaid work rather than requiring them to choose between the two. That is what these policies do. The availability of such conditions heavily influences women’s decisions about where to work and whether to stay in the workforce when unpaid caring responsibilities mount up.
While strong female-friendly policies are a great start, staff must actually feel empowered and supported to access them. Even where first-class policies are in place, a workplace’s culture will often be the single biggest determinant – or barrier – to women succeeding.
As you well know, the culture of a workplace includes the beliefs, attitudes, norms, and customs of the employees. It’s “how things are done around here”. Often there are very subtle signals about what is appropriate or required. Employees may perceive that, for example, you can’t say no to interstate work trips even though they mean being away from loved ones, that leaving work on time shows a lack of real commitment, or that taking leave to care for a family member is just an excuse to get a day off.
I know the public sector has merit based recruitment and strong female-friendly policies, but does that mean there are no barriers to women’s success?
There has been much talk recently about Rudd 24/7 and the pressures on the federal public service to work long hours. You may have seen reports of senior public servants telling a senate estimates hearing that they had worked 35 hours straight to prepare the Fuel Watch Bill for Parliament.
Think about your own workplace for a moment....
Are staff rewarded for
working frequent or unplanned overtime?
Are those earmarked for senior
management people with unbroken experience and a career path in graduated
ascent?
While applying to everyone equally, such requirements for career progress will, of course, impact most heavily on women with family or caring responsibilities.
Once you identify the messages people in your workplace may be receiving about how we work and what success looks like, you will often have also uncovered the unspoken barriers for women.
From there it can be as simple as explicitly and repeatedly debunking those messages, and actively encouraging and supporting people to work in a way that allows them to balance work with their other interests and responsibilities.
I am a strong believer in living the message. In my new role as Sex Discrimination Commissioner, I will continue to advocate for, and model, workplace flexibility.
I have negotiated my own flexible work arrangement at HREOC where I work full time but pick my kids up two afternoons a week. As the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, I can talk about work and family balance, but if I’m not practising it and modelling it, I don’t have credibility.
If we want change to happen around us we have to make it happen. We need women and men in senior roles modelling good work/life balance – because ‘we can’t be what we can’t see’.
I think actions will speak louder than words and it will be a critical mass of women and men balancing their paid work and caring responsibilities which is going to bring about the change we need in workplaces and over time ensure that senior roles are truly merit-based appointments.
I would like to turn now to another aspect of workplace culture which impedes women’s progress or sometimes repeals women altogether– gender stereotyping and demeaning attitudes. Addressing these are big challenges for women in the wider society and in the workplace.
Several years ago now, I was asked to deliver a speech at one of the regional law societies. They were trying to attract more female lawyers as members. I was asked - would I speak on flexible work practice? But no sooner had I mentioned the words “part-time work” than a gentleman at the front stood up and demanded “You’re not suggesting that lawyers could work part-time are you?”
“Yes” I said and started to point to some examples that were
working well.
“Well who’s going to look after the
children?” he said.
“Sorry”
“Well who’s
going to look after the children?”
“Well if you’re
suggesting that mothers can’t be practising lawyers I’m afraid we
will have to agree to disagree.”
“That’s exactly what
I’m suggesting!” he said.
“Can I ask you then – why
are we wasting tax payers’ money educating women and then allowing them to
think they can be productive in the paid workforce?”
“Why are
we?” he said.
“Do you have a daughter?” I asked.
“Yes”.
“Are you educating her?”
“Yes I
am but maybe I shouldn’t be!”
Now, can you imagine working with
that man?
While we cannot control what people think, we can make it
clear to our colleagues that such views have no place at work and cannot be
acted upon. We can send the message out loud and clear wherever we encounter
such misguided opinions, that it is simply not acceptable. Of course, this can
be tough. No one wants to be the only one to stand up when the boss tells a
unsuitable joke and say “No! That’s not funny, its demeaning”
but if senior people don’t do it, who will?
A recent report from the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency found that nearly half of all employees believe that a boys’ club exists within their organisation, and that nearly 40 per cent of women and 30 per cent of men believe men progress more quickly in their workplace than women.
Women can be important agents of change in the workplace. We can broaden the understanding of the issues affecting the progress of female staff, and take responsibility for bringing the most capable employees through regardless of their gender.
One very simple way of doing that is through mentoring. Women mentoring men in large numbers can, in itself, create a groundswell of workers with first-hand experience of the value of female staff and a greater understand of the barriers to women’s progress.
As women in senior roles you also have an enormous ability to support other women to reach their potential in the workforce. Madeline Albright once said “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” While I would never be so harsh, I certainly agree that it is especially important for women to support each other! In fact, a number of researchers have found that supportive mentors and role models are critical to women’s advancement in the workforce, particularly in the early years of their careers.
One study on the effects of mentoring on business school graduates in the US reported that individuals experiencing extensive mentoring relationships received more promotions, had higher incomes, and were more satisfied with their pay and benefits than individuals without structured role modelling relationships.
Findings like this provide a solid foundation for the argument that leadership and role modelling are important components of success and advancement in the workplace.
But this is only part of the story. Researchers have also shown that mentors and role models carry out important psychosocial functions. In other words, those in leadership roles also have a positive part to play in contributing to the personal growth of the fellow workers.
It is the provision of these psychosocial functions which I believe are most useful for nurturing junior women.
I have certainly benefitted from mentoring over the years. Throughout my life I have had some wonderful men as mentors and more recently women who have taken me under their wing, encouraged me, advocated on my behalf and showed me a different future. I think the absence of women role models in the early years of my career, was attributable to the fact that there was a real absence of women at the top in those days.
Later, many senior women had to work harder than their male counterparts to get to those positions, so perhaps they were trying to toughen up the girls to prepare them for what they anticipated would be the same path.
Except it wasn't really- not in my experience anyway.
I myself never set out to be a mentor. Its not something you make a conscious decision. The fact that you are all senior women in your agencies, means that you will necessarily be role models whether you like it or not. So I am simply suggesting that you make the most of it!
I don’t want you to think that because you are leaders you need to give and give and give. Please recognise that you too need support and encouragement.
Having a strong support network, whether formal or more relaxed, provides an excellent forum for establishing and fostering contacts, supporting and encouraging other women, and discussing common issues. Men have been doing it for decades over golf or cigars. We need to get in on the Act too. In fact, a support network can be particularly important for a woman having a bad time at work – it provides a safe place to talk without making formal complaints or resigning.
I am so pleased to be part of today. This network is a fantastic initiative –bringing women together to learn from each other’s experiences. But why not set up your own? It could a formal gathering of women from all levels of your organisation, or maybe something a little more casual. Not only would you create a space where women can comfortably discuss the issues that worry them at work, but those of you interesting in women’s progress in your organisation could find out what those issues are!
