Sydney Morning Herald’s Executive Style recently reported that only 22 per cent of 1200 Australian chief executives appointed or intend to appoint a female senior manager.

The research, which was reported on in other media as well, found “68 per cent of respondents said they would not be mandating that female candidates be included in any short list to fill senior management positions over the next six months. “

Women in business have voiced their concerns about such low figures and debate has again intensified around solutions to the problem.

What solutions are available for increasing gender equality?
One strategy is outlined in the Mckinsey report Women Matter, titled ‘Four Best Practices for Achieving Gender Equality’:

• Create transparency by implementing gender diversity KPIs: some companies which have trouble attracting women have made recruitment for women a top priority
• Implement measures to facilitate the work-life balance: flexible working hours and career flexibility (for example taking into consideration maternity leave)
• Adapt the human resources management process: when it comes to promotions companies should have at least one woman on the list
• Help women master the dominant codes, nurture their ambition: coaching, network-building or mentoring programs can be highly effective in raising women’s awareness of the limitations they impose on themselves

Another solution has been suggested by Women, Management and Work Conference speaker Juliet Bourke. While some may argue that not enough women are qualified to be appointed to a senior manager role, Juliet suggests that unconscious bias in organisations can create the impression that women are under qualified.

Unconscious bias
Juliet will be speaking on the topic ‘Workplace Diversity: Uncovering Unconscious Bias’ at Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference on 12-13 July this year.

Juliet leads the national diversity and inclusion practice at Deloitte and regularly works with global executive teams to deliver Deloitte's inclusive leadership program.

She will speak about how unconscious bias creates gender imbalance in organisations and offer suggestions about ways companies can adopt ‘diversity thinking’ and think outside the box when making hiring decisions.

If you would like to find out more about Juliet or the conference please visit the website: http://bit.ly/WMWC12

The world’s largest social network has come under fire recently for having no females on its board. After Facebook’s board was revealed to have seven men and no women, efforts have been made by various organisations to encourage the company to create better gender balance.

Face It
The Face It campaign is the initiative that unites these efforts. The campaign was organised by women and men from across the world who believe that Facebook’s board should reflect its values – “to make the world more open and connected”.

The creators of the campaign argue that their mission is important for several reasons:

• Gender balance is good for Facebook
• Gender balance is good for society
• Women are qualified enough to serve on boards

Face It has utilised social media to spread awareness of the issue to the public using Twitter, YouTube and even Facebook.

Australian organisation, Women On Boards is the latest supporter of the Face It campaign and have asked their network to contribute to the conversation by sharing the message.

A deeper problem
Facebook’s gender imbalance problem is indicative of a deeper problem prevalent amongst technology and social companies. According to Women 2.0 Zynga and Expedia have no women on their boards while Groupon, Apple and Amazon have only one.

Women have been struggling to bridge the gap when it comes to board positions and while many reasons have been given for the discrepancy, solutions are a challenging feat.

It always helps to hear from women who have secured a position on the board, who can speak about the challenges of the role from a personal experience.

A woman on board
Women, Management and Work Conference speaker Suzanne Mercier was the first woman on the Board of Directors at George Patterson Advertising. She will be presenting the workshop ‘Skirting Leadership: Why many talented women won’t step up!’ which will focus on helping women to overcome personal barriers on the way to leadership.

If you would like to register for the conference please visit the website: http://bit.ly/WMWC12 

A recent article in The Punch has brought accepted norms at work to attention by questioning why workplaces were run with masculine norms where “information and power is controlled, hierarchies prevail and competition is more rewarded than collaboration”.

Women are an undervalued asset
According to the article, research from the Reibey Institute showed that “ASX500 companies with more women directors make more money for shareholders. Return on Equity was 9.2 per cent versus an average 4.5 per cent”.

Unfortunately there remains an unconscious bias in many Australian workplaces which is engrained into the workplace culture. This is perhaps unsurprising given that men historically dominated at work and made most business decisions.

However it is obvious that things must change in the 21^st century when women are more career driven and more conscious of their rights.

The article urges women to change the system and question the accepted norms to move into a more balanced world.

Changing the game
With new initiatives to propel them into more leadership roles and highlight gender based issues it is up to women to stand their ground and ensure that their opportunities are not limited.

Women speaking at the Women, Management and Work Conference are part of the movement towards a more equal society.

Speakers such as Professor Mara Olekalns and Dr Suzy Green are involved in research that can help identify solutions to gender inequality and give organisations the tools they need to implement changes.

Other speakers such as Suzi Skinner, Suzanne Mercier, Julia Palmer and Mariette Rups-Donnelly are focused on working with women directly to change mindsets and remove personal barriers for women who are struggling to achieve more for themselves.

Women who have achieved success through immense challenges in different industries such as Belinda Viavattene, Amanda Garland and Juliet Bourke are also speaking and can provide a great source of inspiration for professional women on the paths to success.

What are you doing to ensure all opportunities are open to you?

To listen to these inspiring speakers register to attend the conference http://bit.ly/WMWC12

A mentor is someone you can learn from. It is someone who can provide advice and guidance based on their personal experiences.

Why having a mentor can help
According to a blog post by Women, Management and Work Conference guest speaker Catriona Pollard mentoring is important for several reasons.

• Having a mentor can help you to have a learning experience as part of your daily life.
• Mentors can support you during difficult periods in your professional life.
• Mentors can encourage you to set goals and be accountable for achieving them.
• Mentors can be a source of inspiration.
• Mentors can open up your networks by giving you access to theirs.

Mentors can help women in the following situations:

• Starting a business: creating a new business is a challenging and sometimes overwhelming process. Having a mentor can help to ensure that you know what your next step is and avoid the obvious pitfalls.  
• Crises: Lessons learnt by a mentor would be extremely useful during times of crisis whether it’s a professional or personal crisis.
• Life decisions: A mentor can provide an objective point of view that comes from a wealth of experience when it comes to making major decisions such as changing career paths or quitting full time work.
• Reaching a major goal: It takes a lot of will power to reach a major goal. Regular meetings with your mentor can help you to keep going.

Mentoring opportunities
Mentoring can be especially important for women working in male dominated industries. Women in these industries have few female role models and less opportunity to be part of female support networks.

For example the new Women in Mining WA Mentoring Program is aimed at women in the mining and resource sector and gives participants access to influential women leaders, such as CEO of Brumby Resources Alison Morley and Manager of Momentum Partners Sabina Shugg.

Organisations such as herBusiness also try to facilitate mentoring opportunities for its members, such as free webinars including the Uncover the Benefits of Business Mentoring webinar.

Networking to find mentors
While mentoring is a long term process the first step is putting yourself in the way of mentoring opportunities. The Women, Management and Work Conference which runs for two full days will give women the chance to meet inspiring female leaders and other professional women from all walks of life.

Advice and knowledge will be passed on by the guest speakers, who will be discussing a range of topics relevant to women at work.

Many of the women attending and the guest speakers can make great mentors. All you have to do is connect with them.

Register to attend the conference before June 1^st to receive the early bird special http://bit.ly/ITl3sk

What are your experiences with a mentor? Have you ever had one?

In addition to facing gender related challenges at work women can face additional pressures in male dominated industries.

Women in Information Technology
According to a recent article in WA Today women make up 52 per cent of the population but only 18 per cent are in the Information Technology workforce.

The article states that gender, sexism as well as work/life/family balance are the main issues for women in the IT industry and cause them to reach out to female support groups in similar circumstances.

Women in IT have been dealing with the challenges of working as a minority by attending women’s networking events such as Girl Geek Coffees.

Women in engineering
Engineering is another industry where women have had to battle their way to success. While there has been substantial progress for women in this industry they remain under represented.

According to an article in Ninemsn “Nine out of 10 engineers in Australia are men, and just two per cent of the senior fellow positions at the professional body Engineers Australia are held by women.”

Inspiring women to enter male dominated industries can be one of the ways to create more workplace diversity. Having a support network or hearing stories of success from women who have overcome the challenges of being the minority can have a positive impact.

Succeeding in the engineering world
Belinda Viavattene is a woman who has built a successful career in the engineering and construction industry and will be speaking at the Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference on 12 July.

Throughout her career, Belinda has worked on many significant projects in Victoria, including the first road and rail separation to be completed in Victoria.

The project was awarded, constructed and commissioned within seven months and set a new benchmark for future road/rail separations in Victoria.

Through this project and many others, Belinda has had the opportunity to develop her knowledge in a specialised industry and explore the endless possibilities that this industry has to offer.

To hear Belinda’s success story please visit our website and register your attendance for the conference. http://bit.ly/WMWC12

“Women face an average superannuation balance 40 per cent below that of men in retirement” according to Herald Sun.

What’s more, “53 per cent of self-employed women do not contribute to superannuation”.

The discrepancies between male and female superannuation contributions also widen for women if they choose to leave full time work to take care of their young children.

As a result women have to be more mindful of their super contributions prior to having children and consider making larger contributions before leaving work for an extended period.

The problem is compounded by the fact that women have a greater life expectancy than men which means they need to have more savings to be prepared for retirement.

Offsetting superannuation inequality
Two Australian companies have created initiatives to balance out the superannuation gap between men and women.

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has introduced an incentive offering mothers returning from parental leave six weeks’ pay to double their salary. This benefit can be used to reduce the impact of taking time away from work and losing superannuation for new mothers.

Rice Warner has gone even further and intends to increase women’s superannuation contributions by 1.5 per cent while leaving the male superannuation contributions the same. This means women employees will receive 10.5 percent superannuation while males will receive the average 9 per cent.

Staying informed about workplace issues for women
These incentives are certainly a step in the right direction, yet they highlight the barriers still faced by women in the workplace and draw attention to the fact that other organisations are not addressing the issue of unequal superannuation.

In order to empower themselves women need to be aware of their rights as well as the challenges that exist for them at present.

Workplace diversity: uncovering unconscious bias
Workplace equality is an important topic of discussion for women in business and it will be covered during the Women, Management and Work Conference.

The Workplace diversity: uncovering unconscious bias session on 13 July will focus on unconscious bias at work and its impact on women.

Guest speakers will include Juliet Bourke, Partner Human Capital at Deloitte, Elizabeth Raper barrister at Wentworth Chambers and Chair Professor Lucy Taksa.

Each of the speakers will be able to bring a unique perspective on the issue of workplace diversity and equality.

If you would like to hear these speakers as well as other experts or to network with other professional women, please visit the conference website (http://bit.ly/WMWC12) to register attendance.

What would you like to be done about the superannuation gap? Are you prepared for retirement?

SingTel Optus has become another example of an unhealthy workplace culture with the recent news that a former marketing executive Kerry Morrison is suing the company amid allegations of “bullying, suppression and victimisation”.

A culture of bullying
According to the article Ms Morrison was caught up in corporate politics which prevented her from doing her job and was bullied by the head of consumer division Michael Smith before being sacked without notice.

Ms Morrison was on her job with Optus for seven months and filed her allegations with Fair Work Australia two weeks after she was fired.

The article states that the bullying peaked during a meeting where Mr Smith became verbally abusive and physically aggressive towards Ms Morrison who left her frightened and upset.

Dealing with workplace culture issues
The incident raises questions about workplace culture and the need for large companies to ensure that people in leadership roles do not abuse the power given to them.

EOWA (Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency) provides links and information to help develop an effective workplace program that promotes gender equality and diversity as well as general good workplace practices.

Some of the things the program suggests companies should do include:

• Developing a workplace program that has a strategic approach to create equal opportunities for women. This involves analysing the workplace and communicating with all employees to make an assessment about current workplace practices.  After an analysis, organisations need to identify issues and create a program that sets out clearly how to deal with these issues.
• Being accountable and following up on the steps covered by the program. This involves providing an annual report to help an organisation be accountable for its actions and to ensure that it is maintaining a good workplace program for all its employees.

Expert opinion on workplace issues for women
While incidents where employees and women employees aren’t treated ethically and fairly persist many studies have been conducted to assess the reasons why this happens and to come up with alternative solutions to empower employees and women who find themselves in difficult situations at work.

Several of the guest speakers speaking at the Women, Management and Work conference have published or have been a part of such studies.

For example Suzi Skinner is the research lead in a study on Women in Leadership supported by the Institute of Coaching at Harvard University/Mclean Hospital Corporation in Boston. The study aims to take a closer look at development practices and provide fresh, evidence based insights into key development areas for women leaders in the workplace.

Dr Grant Robertson was Research Leader of the ground breaking "Personal Influence at Work" study conducted in Australian organisations in the latter-half of 2011. Dr Robertson has extensive experience in the design and delivery of development programs for executives and high potential leaders.

These speakers as well as other experts speaking at the conference will be discussing a number of issues that affect women at work.

For more information about the conference or to register please visit the website: http://bit.ly/WMWC12

According to recent news, Campbell Newman will be abolishing the dedicated role of Minister for the Status of Women.

The current Minister for the Status of Women Julie Collins stated that Newman’s decision was hindering the progress of women and making it harder to implement cultural change intended by The Gender Equality Act.

The role of Minister for the Status of Women has existed in Australia since 1983 with Susan Ryan the first woman to be appointed to this role. Her contributions were crucial to the development of Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986.

Premier Newman defended his actions by saying that the Minister for Communities, Child Safety and Disability services would be responsible for dealing with the area concerning women, including the Office for Women.

The Office for Women
The Office for Women is responsible for three main areas: reducing violence against women, increasing women’s economic security and ensuring women’s equal place in society. While it will continue to operate within Communities, Child Safety and Disability services the decision may have negative implications for Queensland women.

The removal of the role may mean that less time and effort is spent on tackling women’s issues and coming up with solutions to the most pressing concerns such as gender based pay inequality.

For example, according to the most recent report released by the Office for Women, the pay gap for female full-time workers in Queensland is 20.1 per cent less than male full-time workers.

Discussing emerging futures at work for women
One of the speakers at The Women, Management and Work Conference taking place on 12-13 July this will be Claire Moore, Senator for Queensland, Australian Labor Party. Senator Moore will be speaking about emerging futures at work and will be able to give a fresh perspective about the future of women in both Queensland and Australia.

The conference will encourage discussions around pressing women’s issues and bring together professional women from different industries and areas of expertise. Women will be able to network and listen to experts and influential leaders speak about a range of topics relevant to women in the workplace.

If you would like to learn more about the conference or register to attend please follow this link: http://bit.ly/WMWC12

An article that appeared on news.com.au said that working mothers are “living on easy street” which has caused a backlash from women who are trying to balance work and motherhood.

The article commented that technology and advances in women’s rights have made the lives of working mothers easier than ever before, which means women have no excuse not to work.

Women have responded to the article by expressing their outrage about the notion that being a working mother is easy. An issue that was commonly brought up in the comments was that working mothers with a partner and a well-paying job were different from the working mothers who were either single or whose partners weren’t earning a large amount.

Common challenges
Working mothers who have the support of a partner and another income are likely to be better off than women without a similar support network.  Some women may prefer to stay at home with their children but don’t have that luxury because of their economic situation. However, working as a mother also has financial implications.

Two recently written articles have brought into question the way workplaces are currently run.

The first, ‘Brilliant but trouble –do you employ mavericks?’ published in the HR Daily describes the need to include mavericks and maverick thinking in businesses. Research has identified mavericks as disagreeable yet extroverted people who are open to experiences and willing to take risks. While these characteristics may be disruptive at work, the article suggests that in the current economic climate, businesses will benefit from encouraging nontraditional thinking and creativity common to mavericks.

The second article titled ‘Too many of our workplaces promote losers’ in The Punch speaks about the problematic nature of workplaces that operate on status and hierarchy. While hierarchical workplaces are the norm, the article states that according to research, collective decisions are better than quality decisions from managerial figures. Social media platforms are seen as a way to create more collaborative environments in businesses. The example provided in the article describes how social media platform Yammer was used by Deloitte Australia to promote collaboration.

These articles highlight two trends that may change our workplace practices in the future: workplace collaboration and creativity.

Collaboration
Workplace collaboration is receiving more and more attention, both in the media and in academic research.

Three ways of making collaboration at work effective are creating a workplace with shared power, transparency and the narration of work.

• Shared power, which also goes by the name of ‘wireacrchy’ is about a two way flow of power based on “information, knowledge, trust and credibility, enabled by interconnected people and technology”.
• Transparency means encouraging real knowledge sharing across the organisation. In the 21^st century this increasingly means using social technologies, such as Yammer.
• The narration of work means talking about your actions to receive feedback to identify whether your actions will be as effective as you believe. Making narration a habit has the additional advantage of improving communication skills.

Creativity
The new economic climate and increased global competitiveness mean that creativity is crucial for any business that wants to succeed.

Again, a lot has been written about the ways to promote creativity at work. Some of the strategies that have been suggested include providing employees with anonymity and confidentiality to allow them freedom of expression. Forming innovation teams with the goal of improving an aspect of the business is another more systematic way of encouraging creativity.

These are just two of the many recent developments in workplace practices that are likely to change the way we work in the future.

During the Women, Management and Work Conference industry experts and leaders will discuss the topic of future workplace trends and provide their own opinions about what organisations of the future will look like.

Speakers discussing these issues will include: Senator Claire Moore, Holly Kramer, Innes Willox and Raymond Markley.

For more information or if you would like to register to attend the conference please follow this link: http://bit.ly/WMWC12