The SheEO Blog

New guidelines a valuable resource for gender balance reporting

Tue, 14 May 2013 04:26:00 GMT

Here’s a big tip for those of you charged with measuring and monitoring gender balance in your organization: the new Guidelines for Gender Balance Performance and Reporting Australia developed by Women On Boards will save you loads of time and money and give you access to leading practice tools (finally!) all in place.

I’ve spent the past few days test driving the comprehensive references and guidelines and the free (yes – I mean totally and completely FREE!!!) excel-based reporting tool for tracking your progress. And I’ve got to say I’m impressed. And grateful. But most of all, I’m surprised that all of this is now available free of charge – absolutely gratis – from the Women on Boards website.

Anyone who’s been involved in tracking and strategizing on the gender balance front will know that there are loads of tools and resources available in the public domain. What’s different about these new Guidelines - the brainchild of Women on Boards – is that all the relevant leading practices, legislation, frameworks and – importantly – reporting tools, are now all in one place.

That this is all available free of charge, when many consulting firms charging significant fees for similar resources, is a pleasant surprise. Though when I think of the collaborative nature of Women on Boards – and the generous coalition behind this initiative to develop a practical and relevant framework to help organisations measure, report and improve performance in relation to gender balance – then perhaps it’s not surprising at all.

In the interests of full transparency, I can declare that I have no commercial interest in Women on Boards, or the Guidelines, though it will certainly be a valuable addition to my resource toolkit on my future gender balance consulting assignments.

So what’s under the bonnet? Here’s the official spiel from the Women on Boards website:

They are a resource for entities to achieve cultural change, rather than to achieve compliance with reporting obligations.

The Guidelines contain gender balance indicators that entities - from the largest ASX listed company to small to medium-sized enterprises - can adopt in order to:

collect and analyse data on gender balance
report on the current state of gender balance, and
report on progress against measurable targets to improve gender balance outcomes.

The key element of the Guidelines is the Framework for data collection, analysis, reporting and performance improvement (the Framework), which is intended to assist entities to set measurable targets for increased participation by women. The Framework covers seven sections as follows:

Policies and practices in relation to gender balance in the workplace
Areas where data should be collected in order to develop a comprehensive workplace profile
Good practices to achieve pay equity
Measuring effectiveness of flexible work practices
Policies for recruitment and promotion
A guide for evaluation and development
Mechanisms for communication and information

The Framework is progressive, so that entities can identify at which stage of the gender balance journey they find themselves, and select activities for implementation that progresses them to the next stage. The Guidelines also contain a sample of a dashboard/ scorecard that can be used to report to the board on gender balance within the entity.

If any part of your job description is to monitor, identify, track or promote gender balance and gender diversity in your business, I can highly recommend these guidelines to get you started. You can check them out at the WOB website here and a big thanks goes out to Women On Boards for making this available to us all.

Thinking of working from home? Work from home DISadvantage suggests it's not all smooth sailing

Tue, 14 May 2013 04:16:00 GMT

If you're thinking of working from home, then here's another free resource that you might want to review before you give up your desk in the office. We've heard a lot about why people want to work from home... now this infographic from Internet Provider gives us an insight into some of the challenges you might face if you do.

A survey of 24,000 workers in 95 different countries highlighted some of the most common challenges for those working from home, and found that :

- 59% were impacted by children or family demanding attention
- 43% had trouble concentrating on work issues when in the home environment;
- 20% suffered from bad postur;e
and maybe this one relates to me... 12% were impacted by pets demanding attention!!

It seems to me that none of the obstacles are so significant as to avoid working from home; though some consideration of these issues BEFORE you make the big move could certainly help you with planning the transition, and maybe even save you some heartache down the track.

Click on the image above to see a larger version of the file...

A tear for our ANZACs and a tear for Kate

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:23:00 GMT

Kate Malonyay lived – and died – about 200 metres from my home in Sydney. I didn’t know Kate, but I’ve walked past her home hundreds – if not thousands – of times. As the news broke first that her bruised body had been found, alone, in her apartment, after work colleagues raised the alert, my heart sank. As the story evolved, and her ex-boyfriend jumped to his own death yesterday to evade arrest for her alleged murder, I felt anger. What sort of selfish and gutless bastard is this guy, to take away the life, the promise, the joy that this woman brought to the world?

And then I was transported back to the UN Women event I attended this time last year, with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Rashida Manjoo. Back then I was stunned to learn that – right here in Australia – one woman is killed every week by an intimate partner. Who knew? Kate Malonyay, my unknown neighbour, was just one in fifty women who will suffer the same fate this year. She lived in one of the safest streets in one of the safest communities in Australia, but it wasn’t enough to save her.

I spent this morning, like many Australians, attending a local Anzac Day service. As the bugler played The Last Post, tears rolled down my face for my grandfather, and his mates, and the atrocities they endured. All in defence of this nation that I adore as much as the air that I breath. That they cared so much for their country, and one another, is at the heart of the mateship that underpins our quintessentially Australian culture.

And then I shed a tear for Kate Malonyay. And her family who mourn her loss. And her friends and colleagues who cared enough to raise the alarm. And I wondered what we can do to end violence against women? What more will it take?

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

Women and Leadership: Do women value MBAs as much as men?

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:40:00 GMT

An article this week in AFR titled “Women Lagging in MBAs” caught my interest and has had me pondering ever since whether or not it’s a problem that only 35 per cent of students in Australian MBAs. A decade or so ago when I was completing an Executive MBA, there were just 8 women in my final year cohort of 32. At the time I had little awareness of gender balance; it had simply not appeared in my consciousness as yet. Though I do recall some discussions about the 1:3 ratio and my personal feeling was it had advantages.

So on the one hand, it’s probably a good result that women number as much as 35 per cent of MBA students, given they currently hold only 24 per cent of senior management roles in Australia. That more women aspire to senior ranks than are presently in them must be a good thing, right?

Yet on the other hand, when you contrast MBAs with undergraduate courses, where 51 per cent of students are women, and in postgraduate courses where 48 per cent are women, it’s worth asking why fewer women take up a degree that is all about leadership than other technical or specialist courses.

After several days of kicking around whether or not women in or out of MBAs is a good or bad thing, I went to my trusted sources and rang some of my fellow alumni. “Is it a problem?”, I asked. Two said yes; and the other said no. Still hardly conclusive. So I thought I’d throw out a few ideas for exploration here, and see what you think.

Why do an MBA?

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked whether an MBA is worth the effort. Given I’ve actually made that effort, it surprises me that people still ask (what’s the likelihood of someone saying the investment and years of hard work wasn’t worth it, after all?)

In any case, my normal and immediate response is that it was definitely worth it for me. Firstly, completing the MBA gave me a skill set that was immediately applicable to my role at the time as a management consultant. Plus I’d always had leadership aspirations. And perhaps more importantly, it gave me a completely different perspective of myself.

When I started the MBA I was absolutely terrified I’d be found out to be the dumbest person in the room. With all those amazingly skilled, experienced and savvy business people around me, it was only a matter of time before I was asked to leave the room, I thought.

But as the weeks and months went by, and I realised I could hold my own with the men and women around my, my confidence grew and grew. My persona as a businesswoman blossomed. I became what I had observed in the room at that first lecture class: a very capable business leader like everyone else. And that wasn’t just about the course content.

So why don’t more women do MBAs?

I’ll be honest and say that doing the MBA wasn’t my idea. In fact I knew very little about MBAs when I submitted the application form. What I did know, however, is that all the leaders in the firm where I worked had one. From top ranking business schools. And it certainly hadn’t done any harm to their careers!

My boss and internal mentors at the time – all of them men – thought it would be a good thing if I went ahead and got one too. And just to make sure I took them seriously, they offered to pay J

On the other hand, most of the men I studied with weren’t employer sponsored; they’d made a conscious decision to get an MBA, paid the $50,000 or so it cost at the time, and saw it as an important investment in their future careers. There were some women self-funding too, but far more men.

So is it that women just don’t rate the value of an MBA as highly as men do?

When you consider that these days an MBA in Australia costs as much as $100,000 in tuition fees, it’s fair enough to scrutinise the potential return on your investment.

So what is the expected return on investment from an MBA?

Well, that all depends... on many factors including whether or not you were born with the Y chromosome (but other non-financial measures as well, such as the network you’ll make, the job options it will give you, the chance for a new career direction and so on). The Beyond Graduation 2011 report shows that three years after graduation, commerce and management postgraduates – which takes in those with MBAs – saw their median salary increase from $80,000 to $104,000.

Males earned an average of $120,000, while women earned $92,000. That's hardly encouraging.

Why the big difference between the genders?

Research shows that women MBAs are likely to earn less than their male colleagues right from their first post-MBA offer. This has to do with men being offered more (obviously!) and women negotiating less. But for those women who take career breaks, there’s a bigger issue at play.

Because prior work experience is often a pre-requisite, most MBA students are in their late 20s to early 30s. Indeed the average age of students in Australia’s leading MBAs is 33 years. When you consider that many women will have children already or be planning families and career breaks around this time, it’s exactly the wrong time for many. Particularly for Executive MBAs, although I do know women who have juggled this while raising kids and so it’s clearly not impossible; but certainly very tough.

Even if they push on with their studies, there’s a good chance that parenting breaks will have them out of the workforce for one or more remuneration review cycles. And it only takes one or two payrises on a post-MBA salary to ratchet up a significant pay gap.

Leaning in or not, women can’t control all these factors but they can ask the questions about how their pay stacks up against the men they work with.

So do MBA courses need to adapt to women?

According to Women’s Agenda, some universities are evolving their programs to cater to what they believe is and will be a growing market of female MBA students. Is this really necessary, I wonder? Given women have made it to almost half of the undergraduate and Masters students in other disciplines without special treatment, is there something special about the MBA? Are changes needed, and will they result in more women taking up the MBA?

Possibly. Change is good in most contexts, and if it makes for a better product and outcomes, then why not. But for what it’s worth, I think the biggest change needs to come in the way we:

Encourage leaders to encourage women to think about leadership, aspire to it, and plan for it in their careers.
Identify, nurture and reward talent, particularly in terms of timing and process. If 30-something isn’t the best time for women to do an MBA, then maybe we should encourage and pick up these women later in their lives and careers;
Remunerate fairly, regardless of gender, across comparable skills, experience and education levels. It cannot be fair that there’s a 30 per cent pay differential between male and female MBAs in Australia, and transparency on this issue this would be a great starting point.

Your thoughts on this?

Steve Jobs on reaching out and reaping the rewards: Fantastic advice from the archives

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:35:00 GMT

This clip featuring Steve Jobs is doing the rounds again – and I love it for it’s simplicity, brevity (just 2 minutes!) and practicality. Success is all about being prepared to give it a go, to reach out, to take risks, says Jobs. What do you think?

Parenting & Work: Tell the politicians what really counts when it comes to childcare, paid parental leave, early learning and more

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:30:00 GMT

Parenting and work – and how to combine the two – are critical issues for our communities. Since launching the Make Care Fair petition three years ago, a lot has changed in the world of childcare, paid parental leave and the needs of parents. And given the election that has been called in Australia on September 14, we would love to understand your CURRENT views:

Is finding affordable, quality childcare an issue for you, your family or colleagues?
Do you need help with out of school hours care?
Have you benefited from paid parental leave?
Should the Government be extending the education system to include early learning programs for preschool aged children?
Do stay at home parents need more support with child care?

I will gladly raise these issues again with the media and representatives of the Government and Opposition in the lead up to the election, but I need your help first in completing a short survey here.

It’s very brief and simple to do – just tick a few boxes and your done. There’s also space to submit additional comments or thoughts if you wish.

It would be really helpful if you could also forward this request on to five people you know – the more responses we get, the more newsworthy the results will be. And that means the more likely we are to get the pollies’ attention. Thanks in advance for your participation.

Invest in your future at the 4th Women on Boards Conference

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:43:00 GMT

I'll be at the 4^th Women on Boards Conference on 8-10 May 2013 and wonder if you'd like to join me? For more information about the conference, click here, but in a nutshell, the conference will provide women with an unparalleled opportunity to learn, network and hear from global experts to drive their careers in the workplace and boardroom. This year the conference will feature five international speakers.

Noted for dealing with the difficult and cutting edge issues, the Conference will feature sessions and thought leadership on a broad range of topics from its line-up of inspiring Australian and international speakers, including:

Patricia Bellinger, Executive Director of Executive Education at Harvard Business School, Director Sodexo & Nordic Windpower (USA)
Umran Beba, President Asia Pacific Region PepsiCo & Turkey's 2nd Most Powerful Business Woman
Launa Inman, CEO Billabong & Non Executive Director Commonwealth Bank Australia
Alison Maitland, author, journalist & commentator on the future of work (UK)
Gary Bird, General Manager Australia & New Zealand MEDA Pharmaceuticals
Sally Muggeridge, Non Executive Director TOTAL Upstream UK Ltd, member of the general synod of the Church of England & Master of the Worshipful Company of Marketors (UK)
The Hon Kristina Keneally, CEO Basketball Australia & former Premier of NSW.

A further six interactive discovery sessions and a limited number of 90 minute complimentary mentoring sessions are also on offer. Held on both Conference days in the after lunch sessions, the interactive Discovery Sessions are a great chance to get up close to the people, skills and topics that will help you succeed in the boardroom, in the office and in your life.

The conference will be preceded by a workshop on 8 May to help women gain the vital skills to improve their visibility, build resilience and be impactful in the workplace and the boardroom.

Date: 8-10 May 2013
Where: Sheraton on the Park, Sydney
For more information and to book visit the Women on Boards website.

Strengthening Society by Investing in Women & Girls – new guide to genderwise philanthropy launched today

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:21:00 GMT

I’m embarrassed to say it’s been a month since my last post. A productive and very fruitful month, and all the same I’m frustrated that I haven’t been able to post on all the amazing programs and women I’ve been in contact with recently. My headspace has been consumed with selecting a “big school” for Master 4-and-a-bit… which for us means deciding between living full time on the farm in the country, or alternately in the city… decisions, decisions, decisions! And as I discovered today at the launch of a new toolkit on Genderwise Philanthropy, I’m not alone in making those important decisions on behalf of my little family. Throughout the world, it’s women who have the greatest influence on the education and life opportunities of their children, and that’s why the Australian Women’s Donor Network has launched this new tool kit aimed at focusing all Australians on how to use philanthropy as a tool in strengthening society – by investing specifically in women and girls.

So why women and girls, you might ask? Well, because:

And considering this, the Gender-Wise Philanthropy Guide maps out a step-by-step guide for philanthropists in how to review and apply a gender lens to their giving.

The guide was officially launched today by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, the Governor of New South Wales. In a very moving speech, Her Excellency spoke about her own personal and professional experiences and how they have guided her perceptions that investing in women really does pay the greatest dividend for any community. She shared stories from her career as a psychiatrist working with at risk children and adolescents, including those in the most remote indigenous communities, and of her lifelong commitment to securing the best possible future for all children. “With a population of just 22.5 million, there’s not one child to be spared. We need every child to reach his or her full potential”, implored Her Excellency. And of course she’s right.

What this means is that we need to invest in creating safe, secure and productive futures for the women who care for our kids. And yet, the statistics outlined in the Genderwise guide are nothing short of frightening:

One in three Australian women will experience physical violence in their lifetime
One in five Australian women will experience sexual violence in their lifetime
Every night 46,000 Australian women are homeless
More than 66 per cent of children seeking refuge from homelessness were in the care of a woman who was the victim of domestic violence.
Women are two and a half times as likely to live in poverty in old age, compared with men.

These are just some of the reasons why we need to invest in programs that invest specifically in women and girls, and why we should apply a gender lens in our giving practices.

And if you’re interested in doing just that, you can find out more from Australian Women’s Donor Network.

It's certainly got me thinking about what more I could do.... and I wonder what are your thoughts on genderwise philanthropy??

On IWD2013: Be inspired by the success stories of 15 leading women in business

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:22:00 GMT

I love celebrating International Women’s Day. It’s a time to reflect on how far we’ve come since Australia first awarded women the vote back in 1902. Recognition of the progress we’ve made in recent years to get business focused on gender balance. And a reminder that we still have a long way to go, in order to ensure true equality, fairness and safety for women.

It’s terrific that we have more female role models than ever to aspire to: community leaders, business leaders and government leaders alike. Still, it’s obvious that we still have a long way to go when one considers that:

women still hold fewer than one in ten executive positions in our public companies
women earn on average $4 per hour LESS than their equivalent male counterparts and retire with less than half the median superannuation balance as men; and
one in three Australian women are in abusive relationships and there is one woman killed every week by intimate partner.

Although my work mainly involves gender equity in the workplace, that doesn’t prevent me from being horrified by this last point in particular.

Still, today is a day of celebration today, of coming together and working together for the future of women and all our communities.

Yes, today is a day to be inspired, and if you're looking for inspiration, can I encourage you all to take some quiet time over the weekend to review the new Ernst & Young Women in Leadership report, “In Their Own Words”? This is the fourth report in the Ernst & Young gender diversity series, and I think it’s the best. Why? Because this time, EY has asked 15 Australian leaders to share what enabled their success, as a woman in business.

You can hear first hand the stories of these women, who share their experiences, advice and observations on what got them to where they are today:

Therese Rein, founder and CEO of Ingeus, the world’s largest provider of welfare-to-work services
Jane Hemstritch, non-executive director of four ASX-listed companies
Tina Thomas, Woodside’s Senior Vice President of Corporate:
Cathy Foley, Chief of Material Science & Engineering at CSIRO
Annabel Spring, Commonwealth Bank Group Executive for Wealth Management
Nessa O’Sullivan, Group CFO for Coca Cola Amatil
Linda Kristjanson, Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne University
Julie Mackay, Executive Director of UN Women Australia
Leah Armstrong, CEO of Reconciliation Australia
Janine Garrett, the founder of CHARM Health, a leading health informatics company
Melinda Cruz, CEO and Founder of the Miracle Babies Foundation, a national charity supporting parents of premature babies
Marion Webster and Renata Singer, social entreprenteurs
Lindley Edwards, Group CEO of AFG Venture Group
And me – yes, I was the only SheEO in this marvellous mix of women J

You can download the video clips and transcripts here or if you just want to download report, I’ve created a short cut here.

So on International Women’s Day, I hope you are inspired by the successes and stories of these women and that you are able to reflect on your own achievements in life too.

“Success is not about how much money you make… it’s about making a contribution that is important” – Linda Kristjanson

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing... Happy International Women’s Day 2013!

Yahoo CEO’s ban on working from home makes perfect sense

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:14:00 GMT

I'm on holidays in Bali at the moment, and decided to log in this morning to submit this piece to Women's Agenda - not because I miss being at my Mac, but because I've believed for a long time that flexibility at work is vital to advancing women at work; and it also works best when we can make it work for business. Here's my thoughts as shared with Women's Agenda - and I'd be interested to understand your opinion on it too:

Marissa Mayer, the recently appointed CEO of Yahoo, has banned working from home, citing a need for greater collaboration and cooperation that will come from colleagues working side by side. And I, for one, agree with her.

Having been a knowledge worker most of my career, I’ve seen first hand the synergies teamwork has to offer in crafting and honing ideas. As a management consultant, my job is to come up with great ideas to fix business problems and it’s true that anyone can up with a new idea from anywhere – at home, walking the dog, or even in the office. But taking that idea, and turning into reality, takes something more – and that “more” is what Mayer is looking for in turning the Yahoo ship around.

Yahoo as a company has been as close to a basket case as it gets, for some time now. It’s been on a downward profit performance year on year and has lost important market share in an environment where – with new competitors emerging daily – it will be almost impossible to claw it back. Mayer was it’s third CEO appointed within a year and it’s going to take something special to restore performance and investor confidence.

It’s crunch time now and Mayer is right to go back to basics and ensure all staff are 100 per cent on board with her strategies. It will be easier to achieve this with people sitting side by side: forming, norming, storming and performing together.

And while it’s possible to dream up ideas anywhere, what Mayer knows is that it will be easier to deliver the cutting edge advancements that Yahoo needs with researchers, developers, customer strategists and commercial analysts sitting side by side too.

Many tech writers are screaming blue murder at Mayer’s decision, yet Google has already gone down the same path along with most Silicon Valley startups.

Richard Branson has spoken out against Mayer’s decision, saying he “has never worked out of an office, and never will” and that Virgin likes “to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they at their desk or in their kitchen.” But the majority of Virgin staff go in to work every day. And Branson knows there are times a leader has to make the tough calls; surely he’s made plenty of those himself over the years.

The truth is, policies like work from home are nice to have and can deliver real value when staff and leaders can make it work. I’ve enjoyed working from home on and off over the years, and have afforded the same opportunity to my team, when it made sense to do so. Who knows? Perhaps Mayer would like to offer the choice Branson speaks of to all of her staff, and perhaps one day she will again. But in the mean time, she’s dealing with an ailing business in an economy in recession.

In times of crisis, nothing beats coming together and my guess is that Yahoo staff will be grateful for anything that will save their jobs and improve the company’s long-term performance. Particularly given the 12.3 million fellow Americans who are unemployed with many competing for the very jobs they hold.

While there are clearly benefits from giving people a choice over where and when they work, there’s a time and a place for making flexibility work.

In Yahoo’s case, with Mayer at the helm of a major business transformation, now is not the time for home to be the place. And – just maybe – bringing people together to build the new Yahoo will produce far greater outcomes than team members working at home, alone.

Your thoughts?

Oops... my apologies

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 04:23:00 GMT

Yesterday when I posted asking you to vote in the Agenda Setter awards, I wasn't aware that voting was closing the very same day. So I apologise for asking you to do something that clearly you could not.

A big thanks to those of you who continue to support the Make Care Fair agenda. If you have any thoughts or suggestions - or would like to help in the campaign - please be in touch. We'd love to hear from you.

Once again, my apologies for any inconvenience.

Regards,

Jen Dalitz

Please vote and forward to support the push for childcare reform via the Agenda Setter Award

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:50:00 GMT

Three years ago on International Women's Day I launched the Make Care Fair alliance with the goal of getting policy makers to seriously rethink childcare and readjust policies, systems and those all important places across Australia to better serve the needs of Australian families. I've learned a lot in this process, and have had the opportunity to speak with many community leaders and politicians to push the case for a complete overhaul of what is clearly an outdated and . This lobbying has been recognised with a nomination in the Agenda Setter category of the NAB Women's Agenda Leadership Awards, and now I need your help to progress to through the voting stage.

It's your call... pick your Agenda Setter!

The Agenda Setter award recognises a leader who is making a measurable difference, providing real solutions in the world today, and is instrumental in building a smarter planet – be it through innovation in finance, health, technology, environment or education.

Because so many of you have been right behind me in the push to make care fair, I would love it if you would log onto the Awards website to vote. This is not a vote for me personally, but a vote for the work we have all been doing together. Every day I keep hearing from men and women who are struggling to find affordable, quality care, from women on career breaks who are struggling under the cloud of PND and need a break, and of employers struggling to get their star performers back to work - all because of our child care limitations. It would really help me to continue to secure important meetings - in this election year - to have the weight of this Award behind us.

So please, if you have 60 seconds to spare, you can simply click this link and log on to vote here.

Thanks in anticipation, and thanks for your ongoing support on this very critical issue for Australia's families, employers and indeed the productivity of our country.

If you can forward to your networks and social media followers as well, all the better - every vote counts and every one will benefit from better child care in this country.

Make Care Fair - update on childcare reform petition and meeting with Minister Ellis and her response

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:36:00 GMT

This is a long overdue update on the Make Care Petition which many of you will know I launched almost two years ago to get childcare reform on the political agenda. At the time of the petition launch we ran a survey and 86% of respondents said they would give their vote to the party with a tax-deductible policy on childcare. I guess we'll soon have the chance to test that theory with the election date announced.

Late last year I had the opportunity to meet with The Hon Kate Ellis Minister for Early Childhood and Child Care. I presented her with the petition and its comments, a summary of which you can access here. You can also read the Minister's response here.

What I know for sure, after spending significant days and hours over the past two years to understand the community concerns relating to child care, is that the flexible working hours ruse announced by the Government on Sunday is not going to solve the very material issues relating to child care quality, affordability and accessibility.

Flexibility is important for working parents, but it doesn't help them find quality care for their kids. Just as working fewer hours, or part time, will not make child care more affordable - unless it reduces your income threshold adequately to access additional family tax benefits. And forcing employers to turn full time roles into part time roles will only make it less attractive to employ women.

I was planning to write a detailed piece today on what I've learnt on this issue - and what we all (mums, dads, employers and community leaders) need to know about child care... but my neighbour on the farm 5km away has just rung to say my naughty sheep dogs have just turned up there so I need to go find them... and who knows how long that will take!!

So I'll finish working on that to post tomorrow, and in the mean time leave you with a sample of the comments that have been posted on the Make Care Fair petition website that will give you just a flavour for some of the issues we need to resolve - as a nation - to make child care fair, for all Australians.

Here are just a sample of the comments, from all over Australia:

What is the point in working when you come home with $50 a week after everything is paid for? I am the main income earner in my family and I work shifts covering a 24 hour roster. Each shift varies in length from 8 to 14 hours. No two weeks of the roster are the same and there is no government supported childcare available to my child. I can't get a spot at childcare in my local area and can't afford at home care with no rebate, so why's my option? We are better off financially with my wife not working and getting FTB than if she rejoined the workforce. I'm currently paying ~$30k net per year on private day care. I have been on the waiting list for cheaper govt day care since before my son was born - he is now 26mths and I've yet to receive a place. Ever tried getting childcare for more than one child at the same place? We sold our fully paid for second car to pay the cost of child care for 1 child! I'm married to a Soldier who's currently deployed and I can't go to work as he's always away on courses or exercise and don't have after hours care for the kids. I went through ELEVEN child care scenarios before my eldest was 6..... as a shiftworker on a rotating roster it was simply hell trying to find suitable ongoing childcare. I used occasional care, long daycare, family day care, family..... It nearly destroyed my sanity. But not my partners. I cannot afford $1000 per week for both my children to attend day care. With crazy rental prices and the cost of childcare we are struggling and are damned if we do or don't. I want to work but cannot afford to, taking my choice away. I feel trapped at home on one income struggling and unable to assist with bringing in $$$. I have tried finding night work but told I'm to over qualified!!!! Childcare is a legitimate cost of working like a tool of trade - if I don't work the government doesn't get my taxes. As a childcare worker I am concerned at the extremely low pay rate for myself and fellow child care workers. We are paid less than a check out operator and we are looking after the lives of children and supporting parents in caring for a human life. My 4 yo daughter goes to preschool. My 8 yo went to the same preschool attached to the local public school. It used to cost $12 a day; now with these new "standards" preschool is $40 a day. Finding childcare for my son so that I can return to work next month has been a nightmare. Despite having my name down on at least 6 different waiting lists (which is ridiculous in itself), I have only been offered 1 place in a centre which is still being build and not yet staffed, so I haven't been able to meet anyone. Rather than being able to choose the best care for my son, I am having to choose the only available. Living in a small country town it is blatently obvious the lack of resources when it comes to chidcare. We have 1 active childcare centre which boasts month long waiting lists and if you are new to town there is almost no chance of getting a placement for your child as children with sibling who are or have attended the childcare centre get first preference. I am 5 months out from returning to work and am finding it very difficult to find a place for my daughter. I am going to have to take a place as soon as I find one - and pay for care I do not need - just to ensure there is somewhere for her to go once I do return to work. I'm 34 and I've been putting off having children because I know my partner and I can't afford one of us being off work for an expended period of time. Recently, a friend of mine who was due to return to work after 12 months maternity leave had no choice but to resign from her job due to not being able to find appropriate childcare for her 14mth year old. I have had my name on childcare waiting lists for 2.5 years to no avail. It's a strange situation that requires you to return to work after 12 months, but there's not enough childcare services to enable you to re-enter the workforce. We've had to pay a nanny for the last 12 months, and my salary is not enough to justify this. It doesn't make sense that you can't access the childcare rebate for a nanny when you can't get a childcare spot. Full time child care costs more than private school education. This is ridiculous. I live on a cattle station & have few child care options & even less assistance available to me from the government than my city cousins.... don't forget us here in the bush too - we work long hours in challenging conditions to feed & clothe the nation. Why can child care not be a deductible expense? Let me tell you, childcare for my 3 children is a far more direct 'cost of going to work' than all of those magazine subscriptions I claim! After having our second child I was diagosed with depression, and our babysitters have allowed me to return to work part time which has helped to manage my drepression, and for that I will always be very thank ful, There is a 'black market' of childcare that exists in this country - this has to stop. If men were the primary carers, this would not even be a debate - it is obvious that childcare cost should be tax deductable. Due to the cost of child care we have had to place our house on the market as we cannot afford both a moratage and child care. YES CHILD CARE IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN MY MORATAGE. I am due to return to work next month but no childcare place has come up despite being on multiple waiting lists. I was told the wait would be about two years, and yet they will not allow you to put the child's name down until it is born. In France public school start at 3. How wish it was the same here! I re-iterate, a parent knows what form of childcare is most suited to their child. I'm demanding the parents' right to choose, in the interests of child and family. More women in the workforce serves to make our country more efficient and effective. In a time when we already suffer skilled labour shortages this would seem an obvious area to focus on. If the Government honestly DOES understand how crucial the first 5 years of a child's life is, then why isn't childcare a government run organisation such as Primary and High Schools???

As you can see, this is a complex issue that requires a complete rethink of the entire care proposition. Not just maternity leave. Not just flexible work. And not just employer solutions.

Your thoughts?

PM Julia Gillard announces election date - so what can we expect in the battle for the female vote?

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 04:22:00 GMT

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced today that the next Federal election in Australia will be held on September 14, sparking what may be be the longest political campaign we've ever seen here. So how do the major parties currently compare on policies targeted at the female vote? Rose Powell - who started her career here right here at sphinxx and is now a writer for Women's Agenda has prepared this fantastic summary (great stuff Rose, keep up the good work for us!)

Policies for working women: How would an Abbott government compare?

Whether it's the women in Tony Abbott's life giving interviews about "the real Tony" or Julia Gillard sharing drinks with the power women of the blogosphere, the battle for the "women's vote" is already on. But what policies have been put forward that specifically target women?

Parental leave

Labor is heading into the 2013 election having introduced Australia's first government scheme for paid parental leave. Since January 1, 2012, most working women have had access to up to 18 weeks of paid leave. The scheme sees primary carers, most of whom are women, paid the minimum wage by the government for that period, with the pay administered through their employers. Partners can take two weeks of leave at the same rate. Women and men earning more than $150,000 per year are not eligible for the scheme.

While the scheme is shorter and cheaper than many other countries, and critically, doesn't include super contributions, the paid parental leave scheme was an important step forward for working women.

The Coalition under Tony Abbott proposed a much more generous parental leave scheme during the 2010 election. Abbott's scheme would pay new mums (or primary carers) their replacement wage and super contributions for up to 26 weeks. If the recipient's weekly wage is lower than the minimum wage, she will be paid the minimum wage. Replacement wages are capped at $150,000 per year, so anyone earning more than that would receive the rate for someone earning $150,000 per year. Partners would have access to two weeks' leave at their usual rate of pay.

The funds for the leave will come from a 1.5% levy on business earning more $5 million in taxable income. It would be administered through the Family Assistance Office, rather than employers.

Childcare

There are a range of initiatives designed to make childcare more affordable and accessible being promised by both parties. Childcare quality is also a major focus after Labor introduced the National Quality Framework in 2012.

Heading into the 2013 election, the Gillard government has promised to continue the Child Care Rebate (CCR) of up to $7,500 per child per year. The rebate was introduced to cover half the cost of any out-of-pocket expense associated with childcare. After a rebate reduction and a freeze of indexation in 2011 and the following year of budget cuts, there has been some concern about the CCR being reduced again.

The Labor party has announced it will re-index the rate from 2014, effectively protecting the amount from being included in any budget cuts. The Coalition also intends to re-index the Childcare Rebate but hasn't specified a timeline for this yet.

The Labor government has reduced the $5,000 baby bonus to $3,000 for the second and subsequent children. The Coalition did not support the reduction. It has also created a schoolkids bonus, available since June 2012, granting parents $410 per primary school child and $720 per high school child per year to help cover costs.

For parents raising children with significant disabilities including sight and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or Fragile X syndrome, the Labor government will provide up to $12,000 until the child is seven.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was introduced by Labor in 2012 and supported by both parties. Funding legislation is expected to be introduced at the May budget. The NDIS will not only benefit women living with disabilities, but also many carers.

Labor has created a set of new rules to better the quality of care in the sector. These include all long-daycare centres with more than 25 attendees must have access to a university-trained early childcare teacher. The party has also legislated new ratios of educators to children, with one educator to four children (under 24 months), one educator to five children (24 months to 36 months), one educator to 11 children (36 months+).

The Coalition's childcare plans include a Productivity Commission into childcare and reworking the National Quality Framework.

Steve Block, an advisor to Sussan Ley, the Shadow Minister for Child Care, told Women's Agenda: "Concurrent with this [the Commission], much of our attention is focused on assisting childcare operators, their organisational bodies and parents with the impact of the new National Quality Framework, particularly in relation to fee increases, increased red tape and staff shortages."
Other Coalition childcare policies, outlined in the party's 2010 plan for child care, include having the CCR paid weekly to daycare centres so families face fewer out-of-pocket expenses. There has been considerable debate and support for the Coalition's suggestions to extend the CCR to include in-home carers (nannies). However this initiative will be dependent on the findings of the Productivity Commission which will address this area.

While the Coalition is not opposed to the National Quality Framework, it promised in 2010 to assess the initiative and look to reject the public ranking system for childcare centres. It also plans to re-establish the Federal Planning and Advisory Committee.

Beyond babies

The gender pay gap between men and women working full-time still sits about 17.5%, after a record low during the Howard government in 2004 of 14.9%. The pay gap has widened by 2.5% since Labor was elected in 2007. Neither party has outlined a coherent and ambitious plan for reducing this gap yet.

The government has also made several billion-dollar commitments to tackling pay equity through industrial segregation issues for the social services sector. These were made after the successful Fair Work case brought by the Australian Services Union and concluded in June 2012. The federal government made a joint submission with the union to Fair Work Australia.

Julie Collins, the Labor Minister for the Status of Women, claimed in a press release that the Fair Work legislation introduced by Labor had made the case possible. "It was this Labor government [that] allowed the case to be brought to the independent umpire through our introduction of the Fair Work Act and we are committed to meeting our share of the costs associated with the historic decision," said Collins.

The Coalition has not released a policy about equal pay or increasing the number of women in leadership yet. In response to the graduate pay gap identified by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency in January 2013, Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash, the shadow minister for the status of women, recently advocated for better education for women about the issue, what they can expect to earn and their right to negotiate.

The Gillard government launched Boardlinks, http://www.boardlinks.gov.au/ a network designed to get more women onto Australian government boards, in late 2012. The government has committed to reaching 40% women on government boards by 2015. The rate sat at 38.4% in June 2012. As governance experience is required for most board appointments, this initiative is a proactive step towards gender equality in leadership, an area Australia lags in.

The Coalition hasn't released a policy for increasing gender diversity in leadership, and has advocated against quotas. "Quotas do not drive a positive change in thinking. Rather, they give board directors and businesses a box to tick off on regardless of the outcome," said Senator Cash in a November 2012 press release. "Ultimately, you cannot legislate cultural change."

This article was first published last week on Women's Agenda.

Your thoughts?

Over 2,000 women vie for just 30 places in BBC Expert Women's Day initiative PLUS how to join the Women in Media expert database

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 05:28:00 GMT

With a 9:1 male/female expert ratio on the BBC1 News at Ten, it's no wonder the network is looking for female talent to add to its expert panel. So what is the biggest obstacle women face in getting on air? Themselves and the Imposter Syndrome, according to organisers of Expert Women's Day, hosted by the BBC Academy in conjunction with Broadcast magazine last week.

The even has been held for the first time as part of a campaign to tackle the gender imbalance on-screen and on-air in news and factual programming in the UK with a masterclass and networking opportunities to put women front of programmers minds in sourcing experts for stories on air.

A similar program called Women for Media was launched last year in Australia to provide journalists and media with a database of expert women available to provide comment on all aspects of business and community issues. I've been delighted to support this initiative by joining the database along with many respected business leaders throughout Australia, and I now have an opportunity to nominate other women of influence.

So If you are a woman with business expertise and/or community insights to share, and are happy to be contacted by media for expert commentary, drop me a line with your details and tell me all about your experience. I'll collate the top 3 for a post here on the blog and to send through to Women for Media.

Queen of Media Ita Buttrose crowned 2013 Australian of the Year

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:57:00 GMT

With perfect timing to round out my Women in Media theme of the week, Australia’s own Queen of Media, Ita Buttrose OBE AO, has been crowned Australian of the Year and says she will use the recognition to drive community change. Like many Australians, I grew up watching Ita on TV advertising editions of Women’s Weekly and, for young girls in any case, she was the one we all wanted to be. Elegant, poised and painted nails! That was before I learned of her career achievements, which really earned her the respect of business leaders the world over. News of her appointment broke as I was driving home on Friday from my adventure co-hosting Sydney Live with Ben Fordham (a huge thanks to Ben for taking a punt and putting Kayley and me live on air with you; and while it was all for fun this time we hope to be back on-air soon taking on serious issues from a woman’s perspective). But back to Ita and all of her amazing achievements which include:

In 1965 being appointed women’s editor of the Telegraph at just 23 years of age
In 1971 being appointed the founding editor of Cleo, which was an instant success selling its entire original print run in just 2 days when it launched in 1972 complete with nude male centerfolds and frank articles on female sexuality an other topics that women clearly wanted to discuss
In 1975 becoming the youngest person ever to be appointed editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly, at the time (per capita) the largest-selling magazine in the world
In 1979 being made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
In 1981 becoming the first female editor of a major metropolitan newspaper in Australia when she jumped ship to Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
From 1984 until 1988, Buttrose was the chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS, responsible for the terrifyingly successful Grim Reaper awareness commercials
In 1988, becoming an Officer fo the Order of Australia (AO)
In 2003, being awarded the Centenary Medal

Ita Buttrose has contributed tirelessly throughout her career to community causes including her current role as President of Alzheimer’s Australia, and is a prolific author of 9 books, and is a wonderful role model and ambassador for all Australians. I really do hope that her appointment will mean we hear more of her and her voracious opinions throughout 2013.

Here’s a clip courtesy of Commonwealth Bank’s CAN Stories which I think gives a flavour of why we all love Ita, her humility and her determination to make a difference:

What are your thoughts on the appointment of Ita Buttrose as our Australian of the Year? Have you met her or worked with her? Or maybe you're just an admirer. Love to hear from you!

BREAKING NEWS: 2GB Radio invites Women onto the Air - voice your support to keep us there!

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:27:00 GMT

BIG NEWS here today is that I’ve just received a call from Ben Fordham’s Sydney Live team at 2GB inviting me and Kayley Harris to co-host Ben’s Happy Hour program tonight from 5-6pm. Kayley and I have been working on a concept to bring women’s voices and views to the testosterone-charged airways of commercial radio stations across Australia, and so it’s a BIG WIN to have the chance to test our idea on air tonight. We would LOVE you to listen in, and importantly CALL IN to the Radio’s open lines between 5-6pm Sydney time this afternoon to voice your support, please dial 131 873. It’s LIVE CALLERS this afternoon that we need to get the programmers to get behind us.

FYI, I actually heard about Clementine Ford’s article (see yesterday’s blog) on Ben’s show on Wednesday when he interviewed Clementine live on air. Ben is a GenX journalist married to a smart professional woman, just the ally we’ve been looking for to get behind this idea!

So if you’re near a radio or wifi device you can listen live to our conversation on Sydney 2GB 873 on the AM network or 2gb.com and get behind us too – the number to dial in on to join the conversation is 131 873.

Happy days and hope to hear from you this afternoon on air!

PS If you can’t get your ears on this afternoon, you can send your feedback online to 2GB programmers by clicking here

Women in Media - Stereotypes, Representation and What Audience Wants... but is anyone listening?

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:57:00 GMT

I was planning to write a post about The Boob himself (aka David Koche) on Sunday afternoon but ended up out of action after pinching a nerve in my back (ouch!). Thankfully while I've been laid out, Clementine Ford published an opinion piece yesterday at smh.com.au that gets to the crux of the issue: the lack of female voices in our main stream media.
As Ford says, "The problem with recent comments about breastfeeding by Channel Seven's David Koch isn't so much about ignorance, it's that they are legitimised by a broadcast media populated by bumbling blokes in a society that heralds laddish masculinity. Koch is clearly not a stupid man. His blokey everyman schtick sits comfortably with the kinds of values we allow to dominate Australian broadcast media. Our idea of acceptable Australian masculinity is reinforced by the kinds of male voices we allow to set the mainstream social agenda - think Kyle Sandilands, Sam Newman, Chris Smith, anyone on the Footy Show and all of 2GB. There's very little room for intelligence and thoughtful compassion, with most broadcast strategies deferring to an entirely outdated construction of masculinity whose cornerstones are mateship, blokeyness and hilarious sexism.

Society allows its (extremely well paid) male hosts to behave like undisciplined little boys, and consequently it also excuses and punishes their transgressions as such. What can you do? Their humour is ''edgy''. Boys will be boys. Here come the PC police! We're sorry if you were offended."

Perhaps Kochie is entitled to his view and perhaps it's a view shared by others. Or perhaps if there were more female voices on the airwaves, we'd see a shift in attitudes.

But one thing is clear: in order to make that happen, more men and women would need to demand change.

While the #DestroyTheJoint movement has rallied the efforts of some Australians on the issue, it clearly hasn't yet filtered through to the airwaves and certainly not the ratings figures. I wonder if it's it's women who need to speak up more, or men, to make that change happen. Or if there are some things that will never change anyway.

Your thoughts?

An important event for business owners: The 2013 SME Business Governance Symposium series

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:54:00 GMT

Here's an event that those entrepreneurs amongst you may find of interest and which I'm delighted to promote on behalf of the team at Women on Boards. The 2013 SME Business Governance Symposium series is a partnership between Women on Boards, National Australia Bank and Women Chiefs of Enterprise International and the series has been designed in recognition of the large number of SME owners in the WOB network to provide a high quality forum that covers issues faced by SMEs including:

Business and financial governance
Evolving your SME operating model
Setting up an advisory board
Attracting external investment
Readying your SME for sale
Succession planning

The event will be held in Sydney on the 27/02 and in Brisbane on the 21/03.

I'm planning to get along to the Sydney series; and would love to see you there. More information and registration can be found here.

Violence against women Pt2. – Recognising and reconciling the abuses and suffering of our stolen generations

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:19:00 GMT

Imagine being taken from your mother when you are two years old (or for parents reading this, having your child taken from you at age 2)… being “re-homed” in a Government or religious institution where you learn the skills to be a house servant. This will become your occupation from age 9, except that it’s no ordinary job: in your role as a domestic servant you will be raped and beaten by the master of the house; ignored by the mistress of the house; and treated as a second class citizen by the children of the house.

At an age that should be the time of your life, you are existing in a misery that is absolutely unfathomable and certainly unforgiveable.

Sound like fiction? Sadly not, as has been uncovered in the very first courageous edition of the Anne Summers Report. Every Australia needs to read about this – even if it reduces you to tears, we must honor these victims of abuse by understanding their story. It’s a story repeated In so many chapters of Australia’s short history.

Go on, give it a read here.

Once you’ve read it I’m sure you’ll be left with the same questions as me: What on earth were our policy makers thinking? Should the institutions be brought to account now, via the Royal Commission, or is it just too late to achieve much at all? And could you ever get over an experience like this to live a normal, happy and fulfilling life?

Those of you who have followed the work of Anne Summers, one of Australia’s finest literary legends and feminists, will not be surprised that the new Anne Summers Report pulls no punches in lifting the lift on this unspeakable history of violence towards the stolen generations of women. Thanks, Anne, for telling me something I didn't want to know, but needed to. Of course the abuse towards little boys was equally as evil and is also acknowledged.

As a parent, and an Australian, it makes me sad and sick and everything in between.

If you wish, you can subscribe to the Anne Summer Report here.

Your thoughts?

Violence against women: How did Facebook get it so wrong in condoning this campaign of violence?

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Violence against women might seem like an unusual topic to follow on from last week's theme of women on boards… however it's important in the context of our attitudes towards women and authority. So let me ask this: are you on Facebook? Did you know that 60% of Facebook’s one billion users are women? Do you remember the campaign last year for gender balance on the Facebook board - and the response by Zuckerman et al that suggested Facebook knows enough about women to ensure their interests are served. Really? Given this appalling campaign of violence that was allowed to continue unfettered after repeated requests by the victim of the online attack to shut it down... I just can't believe that.

When I first read about this story on Mashable, I was gobsmacked firstly that someone would think to do this, but secondly (and perhaps more importantly) that Facebook moderators would see nothing wrong in this targeted online campaign of terror. The campaign against Thorlaug Agustsdottir - who had criticised a rape-humour page on Facebook - included posting a photoshopped image showing her bruised and battered with a caption written in Icelandic that read “Women are like grass, they need to be beaten/cut regularly."

Surely, anyone would come to the immediately and simple conclusion that this is not ok. Anyone except Facebook moderators, it seems, who rejected four requests by Agustsdottir to delete the photo and shut down the Facebook group responsible for it.

When Agustsdottir reported the image to Facebook, she received four responses (yes, FOUR!!) saying that the image had not been deleted because it didn't violate the company's Statements of Rights and Responsibilities, not even the part where it states that users cannot "post content that: is hate speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence."

It was only when news of her experience broke in mainstream media that Facebook finally shut down the campaign and issued an apology.

How on earth it should take a media campaign to point out the obviously appalling nature of activity on a public site that is used by a majority of women is really beyond me.

So what do you think, does Facebook turn a blind eye to violence against women? Don't they realise the majority of their users are women? Or are they too big to even care?

You can make up your own mind on this one. I certainly have.

Women On Boards: Moving From 'Why' To 'How' - some good insights from EY and ForbesWoman on making change happen

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 09:29:00 GMT

One last word on Women On Boards: I really liked this piece from ForbesWoman and thought it worth sharing for it's tips on HOW to create real change for gender balance (thanks Carol for sending the link!) The articles links to Ernst & Young’s corporate governance database and recently launched report, Getting on board: Women join boards at higher rates, though progress comes slowly. It's top tips include focusing on advancing women at all levels: targeting talented women for promotion and providing active sponsorship programs for women to increase the future supply of talented female director candidates. In addition to these actions, following are some questions for boards and audit committees to consider:

Does the board think diversity should be a priority and does it have a strategy for building a board that is reflective of the market?
Should the board open up searches to a more diverse pool of candidates or broaden search criteria to consider additional perspectives, skill sets and experiences?
Has the board also considered setting term limits to force diversity of thought into the board?
Does the company or the board identify qualified women to pursue as future directors or members of senior management?
Has the board considered a woman for a committee chair position?
Has the company or the board sponsored a woman in senior management to pursue a board position at another company?

Some good ideas here in the article. Please let me know if any of them are being implemented in your organisation...

Women on Boards Pt. 5 – Census shows female directors on Australian public companies also at all time high

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 08:00:00 GMT

To wrap up this week’s theme of Women on Boards I’m attaching the 2012 Census of Women in Leadership produced by the Gender Equality in the Workplace Agency (formerly the EOWA) and launched on 27^th November – so you may have already seen the results but it’s worth revisiting just case. In a nutshell, the Census has been tracking the number of women on boards and in key executive positions in Australia’s public companies for the past decade, and for the first time ever the number of women on ASX200 boards has reached double digits – coming in at 12.3 per cent.

OK, so it’s a negligible shift since the Census reporting began, but at least it’s a shift in the right direction. And according to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, who is tracking real time stats on gender diversity on boards, as at 17^th December women now hold 15.4 per cent of all ASX200 board seats.

The Census also moved beyond the ASX200 and to start tracking the ASX500 this year to bring reporting in line with international comparisons, and revealed that women comprise 9.2% of executives in the ASX500.

Here’s a snapshot of the results, and you can access the full 2012 Census of Women in Leadership here.

With all this good news… would love to hear your thoughts on QUOTAS which I’ll be covering in detail later in the month. Are we making enough progress, or is it time for quotas? Are you for, or against, quotas for women on boards and why? Would love to hear your thoughts on this...

Shoutout from Australian Womensport & Recreation Association - can you help?

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:57:00 GMT

I've received this shoutout from Australian Womensport & Recreation Association and I thought for such a worthwhile cause, there must be someone out there reading this blog who can help.... So here it is: In order to create a stronger, healthier Australian culture through the active participation of women and girls in sport, physical activity and active recreation AWRA needs an Executive Officer. They're seeking like-minded people and organisations who also have a vision to create a stronger and healthier Australia. If you have any ideas on how to make an Executive Officer real ... please make contact as soon as you can. For us, no idea is outrageous, and every idea opens another opportunity, so please contact us with your ideas, thoughts and of course, we won’t say no to cash!!!

Here's all the the details including contact details if you're able to help.

Women On Boards Pt. 4 – female representation on Australian Government Boards hits all time high of 38.4 per cent

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:33:00 GMT

And now for some good news: there are more women on Australian Government boards than ever before and with terrific initiatives like BoardLinks and the board readiness checklist at AppointWomen it seems the only way is up! The latest Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Report 2011-2012 shows that as at 30 June 2012, women held 38.4 per cent of Government board appointments. This is up from 35.3 per cent in 2011, demonstrating sound progress towards the 40 per cent gender balance target.

The breakdown by department currently stands at:

To access the full 2012 Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards report, including details on initiatives aimed at increasing female participation on Government Boards, click here.

And if you're one of the women currently serving on a Government Board - or you know someone who is - I'd love you to share your experience here on the blog on how you got there, how you're finding it and any advise you have for others who are keen to follow in your footsteps!

Women On Boards Pt 3. - Board of Directors Survey shows men and women differ on diversity

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

When it comes to gender diversity on boards, it seems that not everyone agrees on what the blockages and issues are to increasing female representation. According to the 2012 Board of Directors Survey, conducted by Women Corporate Directors, Heidrick & Struggles and the Harvard Business School in 58 countries, men and women directors share similar views on economic outlook, political and regulatory concerns, and the business challenges facing their companies. Yet when it comes to board diversity, opinions differ between the sexes.

When asked why women are underrepresented on boards, 45 per cent of men (compared to 18 per cent of women) believed that a “lack of women in executive ranks” was the primary reason why the percentage of women on boards wasn’t increasing.
Women respondents cited “traditional networks tend to be male-oriented” as the top reason why there weren’t more women on boards.
Just over half the women directors surveyed (51 per cent) believed that quotas were an effective tool for increasing boardroom diversity, but only 25 per cent of men agreed.
Similarly, 39 per cent of women and just 18 per cent of men said they would personally support boardroom quotas.
While 46 per cent of US Directors and 57 per cent of directors outside of the US could not say that board diversity was a priority for their boards.

Which makes you think, if we're relying on the (mostly male) Board Directors and Chairmen to drive the gender diversity agenda, perhaps not a lot will change in the foreseeable future.

Your thoughts?

Women On Boards Pt.2 - Your chance to get a foot in the door for Government board positions in 2013

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 03:16:00 GMT

Continuing this week's theme of Women On Boards, here is your chance to be considered for Government board vacancies under the Boardlinks program. Board Links aims to provide more opportunities for women to be appointed to their first board, to launch and further their directorship careers, and increase the number of potential candidates for Australian Government boards. Our good friends Ruth and Claire at Women On Boards have been asked to nominate 5 board-ready women to be considered for Boardlinks opportunities and anyone interested in a Government board position is invited to express interest.

More details can be found here on the Women On Boards website, including details of how you can nominate for this tremendous opportunity. If you are looking to build your Board portfolio in 2013, this is an opportunity you really shouldn't miss. Good luck!

Women On Boards: Is there a critical mass beyond which women directors influence company performance?

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 05:38:00 GMT

Welcome to 2013! In my usual style, I've set a theme for the year and it's a theme that will permeate through everything I do including this blog: 2-0-1-3 it's all about Simplicity. For the blog this means, simply, that I'll attempt to cover a different theme every week, in short sharp posts, starting this week with Women On Boards. Much has been written in recent years about the importance of women on boards, how to boost the number of women holding directorships and whether it's time after all for quotas. So my first post for 2013 examines this question: is a critical mass beyond which the presence of women on a board influences a company's performance?

This question was posed last month, at the American Economic Association conference in San Diego, Ca., by Miriam Schwartz-Ziv, an economist at Northeastern and Harvard Universities. Schwartz-Ziv examined the detailed minutes of 402 board- and board-committee meetings of Israeli companies with a substantial share of government ownership -- where thanks to a gender-diversity law, women hold roughly 37 percent of directorships.

Significantly, she found that:

Boards that had critical masses of at least three female directors in attendance were approximately twice as likely both to request further information and to take an initiative, compared to boards that did not have such critical masses.
The ROE and net profit margin of these type of companies is significantly larger in companies that have at least three women directors.
Boards that included a critical mass of women directors were more likely to experience CEO turnover when firm performance was weak.
At the level of the individual directors, both men and women directors were more active when at least three women directors were in attendance.

To review the full findings of Schwartz-Ziv's study, click here.

Blogging Retreat – Get away, get writing and build your blog and your business in 2013

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Blogging is a great way to build your business and professional reputation, your online presence and your personal brand. Since I started my blog six years ago, I’ve created a readership of 50,000 page views per month, amplified my professional network to over 10,000 social media followers, been invited to travel internationally to speak at conferences and events, received business and blogging awards, made money from speaking engagements, product sales and advertising… and had a lot of fun in the process! If this sounds like a fit with what you’d like to achieve in 2013, then come along to one of my brand new Blog Writing Retreats where you will be led through a process to:

Define your blogging goals, including your key messages, target audience, integration with existing or future business operations, potential alliance partners and promotional opportunities to get the most important outcome for your blog – loyal readers!
Research and write a series of posts that you can broadcast into the coming weeks and months
Get set up on a blog platform, if you don’t already have one
Build a social media strategy for promoting your blog via the most relevant social media platforms for your business and brand; and
Develop a plan for monetizing your blog

With just four participants per program, you’ll get plenty of 1:1 time and advice tailored to your business objectives and blogging goals.

Southern Highlands Retreat: 7^th and 8^th February - book here

Sydney Workshop: 13^th and 1^4th February - book here

EARLYBIRD OFFER ends this Friday 11^th January. And with only 4 places on each program you just might want to book now to secure your spot.

Wishing you a joyous Christmas and a new year filled with meaning, connection and energy: how talented women will thrive in 2013

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 11:23:00 GMT

With Christmas Eve upon us, and most of us embarking on a well-deserved break, my wish is that 2013 brings meaning, connection and energy in abundance, in your work and in life. If you do have the chance for reflection over the break, I highly recommend this brief and concise read from McKinsey on Centred Leadership: How talented women thrive. The gist of this piece is that successful leaders consistently demonstrate 5 dimensions of leadership: Meaning; Managing Energy; Positive Framing; Connecting; and Engaging.

I was reminded of this McKinsey research last week at a Women Of Influence luncheon generously hosted by Victoria Geddes of First Advisers. The women around the table, from diverse industries and sectors, shared hundreds of years of combined experience, their personal inspiration in business, and more than a few war stories on what it takes to make it to the top.

Crafting a career that has true meaning was absolutely pivotal for everyone; as was the ability to manage energy on both professional and personal levels; and of course the connections via networks and support structures that are the foundation of any senior role today.

If you can find a quiet 5 minutes to yourself over the break, I recommend a revisit of the McKinsey piece along with one simple question: what will be your meaning in 2013?

And as a final parting gift for 2012, I leave with you with this stunning collaboration that was forwarded by Paula. It's a beautiful metaphor of the power of our connections and left me with goosebumps. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

With best wishes for a wonderful year ahead in 2013,

Jen

Why most workplaces are hopelessly inflexible – and what employers must change to fix this

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 01:21:00 GMT

Most of you know that I have a portfolio career. Actually I guess I have a portfolio life, or maybe just multiple personalities (or both!). But this blog is supposed to be about work so I’ll try to keep focused on the career bit. Except that – of course – we can’t ring fence our lives separately from our careers and I think that’s the huge challenge when it comes to working flexibly and finding satisfaction in our work and our lives. I discovered that recently when one of my clients suggested I’d overstepped the flexibility mark, and it really, really annoyed me.

So my usual routine looks a bit like this: managing two homes, a farm, multiple businesses, a day job, a marriage, the continuous learning that comes with parenting a young child, my speaking commitments, coaching commitments, Board responsibilities, beagle responsibilities and the fun things that I try (with varying degrees of success) to fit into my spare time like riding my horses.

Some people find this an appealing aspiration and they engage me as their mentor to help create their own portfolio career, so they can get paid to pursue their various passions (rather than just one, which is what traditional careers looked like).

Truth is when they realize how chaotic my life really is, they realize it’s the last thing they’d want to replicate.

The chaos in my life exists on every level, though I’ve gotten pretty good over the years of creating the façade of being in control. But it’s always there. I mask it and manage it in many ways, like always bringing fresh eggs with me from the farm because I know there’ll be no other food in the city house. Eggs are full of goodness and it’s enough to keep us going. Plus my son has meals provided at his daycare in the city, and I’ll usually be out at business lunches. So eggs are enough.

I manage my calendar with the precision I can only credit to my German ancestry. But actually it doesn’t look very organized when I have to keep shuffling and reshuffling priorities on a daily if not hourly basis. Anyone who has worked with me over the past five years, or even just tried to connect with me over coffee, will know that I rarely schedule face to face meetings any more because I simply don’t know where I’m going to be on any given day.

Not everyone can handle this level of ambiguity. And I think that’s what happens in organizations that are dealing with the flexibility trend. Which in my mind is the single biggest issue that every boss will have to get her head around over the coming decade.

What I’ve noticed about workplace flexibility is that it’s always existed, only until now it’s been just a one-way street. The employer demands flexibility of the employee: to work back late or come in early to finish that urgent and time critical task; to travel for business needs; to fit their annual leave in around the company’s peak periods; to perform additional responsibilities or higher duties to cover for colleagues when they’re on leave.

The employee, beholden to the employer for their salary and way of life and fearful of losing their job or not getting the payrise or promotion they want and deserve, fitted in.

This type of flexibility has always been there, and employees have come to expect it. It’s historically been driven by fear, and so it was effective. But there’s no quid pro quo. Flexibility on the employee side is something that’s still relatively new and unexplored, mostly because employers haven’t needed to adapt to it.

But as employees have begun to ask for flexibility in the hours or days that they work, or the place that they work from, or to be measured on performance based outcomes, it’s naturally become a bit more difficult for the employer to get their head around than one simple set of homogenous working conditions. Particularly in the context of control-command leadership.

And what I’ve noticed on the employer side of the equation is that if it’s hard work, it’s usually just too hard. Regardless of the potential upside.

Until now, women have struggled more than men with the lack of flexibility on the employee side, because they’ve been the ones who have scaled back their careers post parenting, or who take the call from childcare or school when their offspring are ill, or who assume eldercare responsibility as their parents age and need time off for medical appointments.

Men have until now relied on their partners to deal with all of this, because they were fearful of the career implications of not responding to employer side flexibility, like missing out on the payrise etc. It doesn’t make financial sense for both partners to take a career and/or financial hit, so the women whose careers were already disrupted took most of it. They juggle and struggle, and when it all gets too hard, they step away completely from paid employment (or their relationship, or both).

This, of course, is the real reason why we don’t have more women in leadership roles. Not because there hasn’t been flexibility; but because it’s all been on the employer side and not enough on the side of the employee.

Now I know I can achieve a lot in my life and career because the underlying theme in everything I do is flexibility. But it only works if there’s flexibility on both sides. I get a lot done by using as much of my “white space” time as possible, and by managing expectations around my priorities and my clients' (employers’) needs.

This sometimes means accepting the inconvenience of changing my city work days to fit in with client meeting requests; or the distraction of dialing in to conference calls when I’m at home writing my blog (like now!); or the challenge of changing holiday dates to fit in with client needs which have less flex in terms of timing than my own travel plans.

Because I’m prepared to do all of that, I expect my clients to come to the table too. I expect it to be a given that if I’m prepared to change my work arrangements for them, that they’ll occasionally let me change my work arrangements for me. And irrespective I expect them to trust me to always work in their best interests. I think this is true of almost all employees.

This seems perfectly reasonable, right? And for the most part, it works. So what happened recently that really pissed me off? I changed my work days – ironically to meet the client needs and not my own – but when I sent an email to my client summarizing the change in arrangements, the accusation was made that I changed my days just to suit my own needs, and this was no way to operate in business.

Even if this was true, I don’t see what the big deal would be. It’s not like I’ve ever missed a deadline or failed to deliver for this client. But given that changing my days to suit his business required taking my son out of his childcare in the country for the day (though of course I still had to pay for his spot), organizing one babysitter in the city in the morning and another in the afternoon (which I had to pay for as well), having an extra night away from the farm because it’s too far to travel in peak hour in the morning, which meant organizing someone to feed and check the animals at the farm while I was away (which I paid for) and reshuffling my standing commitments on that day to fit in, I was actually expecting a thank you from him rather than his curt email telling me how appallingly I’d communicated my change in work arrangements.

Of course he shut up when I reminded him that this change in plans was to serve him, and not me, but still it was annoying that he’d assumed this was all some sort of disruption on my part. It left me in no doubt how difficult the conversation would be if I actually needed flexibility to suit my own needs rather than his; and it made me realize that it’s probably not a business relationship that is sustainable for me in the long term.

This kind of bullying from employers and hardline expectations on employees has to change because the whole business world is changing. Hierarchies worked in the past, but they don’t work now because employees have been told for the past decades they have to work smarter not harder, and we’ve learned to do just that. Younger generations are way more savvy than their bosses, and have a better handle on the technologies that underpin business today. They place less importance on status and career progression because they know they’ll need to have other options and career paths in their lifetime.

And employees – men and women – figure that in this case, there’s no longer the necessity to make the same personal sacrifices as generations past, just to climb a career ladder that’s just as likely to be pulled from beneath them.

The tide is turning and employers of the future will need to give up some of their power if they’re to have any chance of getting the most from their employees. The employers that will win are the ones who get this right, the fastest. Starting now.

Your thoughts?

Good news and bad news for Women on Boards, as Minister Wong launches BoardLinks aimed at giving women their first board appointment

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:46:00 GMT

There’s been good news and bad for me on the board front over the past week. First the good news: I was present at the Australian Stock Exchange to see Minister Penny Wong launch the Government’s new BoardLinks initiative. Board Links aims to provide more opportunities for women to be appointed to their first board, to launch and further their directorship careers, and increase the number of potential candidates for Australian Government boards.

A small group of Champions will advocate and publicly promote the Government’s initiative, as well as identify and encourage strong female candidates to consider Australian Government board positions.

Foundation champions in the program include Westpac CEO Gail Kelly, Telstra chairwoman Catherine Livingstone, businessman David Gonski, Australian Stock Exchange CEO Elmer Funke Kupper and director of Stocklands and the Womens Leadership Institute of Australia Carol Schwartz (who invited me along to the launch – many thanks, Carol).

On many levels, I think this is a great initiative, not the least that it was launched by the Minister for Finance – reinforcing the productivity opportunity that lies within the female talent in our country. Secondly, it aims to address a specific obstacle women face in the board appointment process – the lack of relevant comparable experience – by providing support into that vital first appointment.

The Government has issued a Board Links fact sheet that you can review here. I’ll of course be following the developments of BoardLinks in the coming months and will keep you updated.

In the mean time, if a Government Board is on your hit list, my advice to you is to find out how you can connect with one of the new champions and signal your interest in being involved.

So then the bad news? You may be aware that I wasn’t successful in my bid to join the board of UN Women Australia. Of course my first reaction was to hide in the closet and tell no one of my defeat! But nonetheless I'm over the disappointment and I really want to thank the many of you who voted for me – with a special thanks to Ruth, Claire and Louise at Women On Boards for their help in spreading the word. I also congratulate those members who were successful in being re elected; in the end it came down to a membership vote and I did well, but not well enough and simply didn’t have the numbers this time around.

And yet I share this news because of what it is what it is: an opportunity, a lesson, a chance to learn. So what did I learn?

I’m reminded of the power of my networks and it was a good excuse to reconnect with so many of you :-)
I certainly have a better knowledge of the process for next time around: I know need to plan better in the future for member based votes, articulate my strengths better, and not leave my run so late!
It's only strengthened my relationship with UNWomen and my desire to support their goals through the work that I'm doing
This process has reaffirmed commitment and renewed energy to my current role as Chair of Peer Support Australia, and has been helpful as I’ve been evaluating new additions to my own board there
Perhaps another no simply gets me closer to a yes?

And because - of course - you’ve got to be in it to win it. We've ALL got to be in it to win it. And we ALL have to keep putting ourselves forward.

So I already have an eye on my next target in line with my own goal to attain one more board appointment, this time I'm focused on a Government board and I hope I'll have some better news to share on that front in the future!

I know many of you are also seeking board appointments this year… would love to hear how you are going in your process, there must be some lessons you've learned too and I'm sure many wins along the way??

A Recipe for Change? When women have the power to change the world

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:00:00 GMT

In the top drawer of my desk lay note cards on which my hand written messages are scrawled to people who touch my heart. Printed neatly on the front are the words I live my life by: “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” (Mahatma Gandhi 1869 - 1948)

I had these cards printed about 10 years ago, after returning from a professional development conference in Colorado Springs. I realised on that trip that being good at my job wasn’t going to be enough of a legacy for me to leave on my gravestone. What I really wanted was to change the world… I just didn’t know then what that would might mean!

But it really didn’t matter, like most things in my life I simply got started, assuming the answer would appear eventually. It took a few years, but I realized soon enough what that goal meant for me: to see women equally represented in leadership roles, in our workplaces and communities. Why? Because women have the power to change the world; and the world, I reckon, needs women to change things.

Tonight as the guest speaker at a FIFI networking event in Sydney, I shared the same thought: that women have the power to change the world (thank you Victoria and team for the invitation). My remit was to share my own career story, peppered with advice and the real experiences of the women I coach to career success. It’s critical, I said, that women take charge of their careers because when women have careers they’re in charge of their futures. A job is good in so much as it gives you an income. But a career, to me, means so much more, including that sense of identity, of expression of your values and motivations, and the pathway to self actualization and financial independence that really creates the true luxury in life: choice.

Choice – to be educated, to make informed decisions, to offer a safe and happy environment for our future generations – that changes the world.

I try and surround myself with people who not only thrive in their environment, but who make it their goal to make their environment a better place. When I met Nat Isaacs from 1millionwomen about four years ago now, I knew immediately she would change the world too. I became an ambassador of 1millionwomen back then because I believed in Nat’s goal: to get one women million to change the world too by creating a more sustainable future for themselves, their families and the future generations.

Since that time 1millionwomen has grown from 700 to 7,000 to 70,000 women all united with a common goal to change the world for the better. Each woman signs a pledge when she joins 1millionwomen to cut one tonne of carbon dioxide from her life, and the website then shows how this can be done: simply, by making minor modifications to the way each woman lives.

It can be as simple as recycling and reusing materials at home; walking or taking public transport instead of driving; or by adopting energy efficient practices your home or workplace. Everything counts.

70,000 is a formidable force, but what Nat really wants is for one million women to get on with climate action, cut pollution from their daily lives, live more sustainably and be a powerful voice for change.

If that sounds like an outcome you’d like to support too, I encourage you to get behind 1millionwomen and register to host a Recipe for Change event on the weekend of 17-18 November and bring one or more friends together, with the purpose of identifying some of the things – small or large – that we each could do to create a sustainable future.

I’ll be hosting a Recipe For Change Event on Sunday 18^th November at my farm in the Southern Highlands of NSW and I promised Nat I'd ask you all to get involved too.

So if you live in Sydney and feel like escaping the big smoke for the day, to meet some new people and you’re your say on what sustainability means for you, then please come join me and be part of the change too. The farm is beautiful this time of year, and just a 90 minute drive from Sydney Airport (click here to RSVP and receive detailed directions). BYO picnic basket, ideas to reduce our footprint on the earth, and an empty egg carton that you can refill fresh from the henhouse!

If you live further afield, you can register to host your own get together - a coffee catchup, brunch, lunch or just a walk in the park together.

So… can one million woman change the world? You betcha. The real question is, what role will you play?

WEConnect: a life changing opportunity for Melbourne's entrepreneurs?

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:21:00 GMT

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to meet Sue Lawton the Director for Innovation with WEConnect International. If you're an entrepreneur and you haven't heard about WEConnect yet, you need to! This is one organisation that is truly changing the lives of women all over the world, in empowering them through the global supply chains of major corporations with serious spending power (such as global hotel chains, multinational consulting firms, product manufacturers etc).

WEConnect has been in Australia over the past year forging relationships with organisations that are ready and willing to incorporate women into their supply chains, in other words to buy the things that women entrepreneurs have on offer.

If you are a women-controlled business in Melbourne, you could get involved by coming along to this "Meet the Member Cummins" session.

Cummins is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and services engines and related technologies.

Date: Friday, October 26th
Time: 10.30 - 12.30 A light lunch will be served at this event.
Venue: 2 Caribbean Drive, Scoresby, Victoria

Cummins welcomes any business area but are particularly interested in:

HR Services
Training
Temporary Staffing
Recruitment
Events Management
Gardening/building maintenance
Printing
Cleaning services
Gardening

To attend this event, here are the steps to follow:

Step One

Businesses eligible to attend this meeting must be 51% or more woman or women owned, controlled and managed and must first have registered with WEConnect International. If you meet this criteria, then click here to register with WEConnect.

Step Two

Reserve your place at the Melbourne event by emailing Sue Lawton

I highly recommend this to all of you in Melbourne that fit the bill - and would love to hear from those of you who manage to get along.

UN Women Australia - cast your vote to drive equality and change for women and girls

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 05:11:00 GMT

If you are a member of UN Women Australia, now is the time to vote for incoming board directors, and I would greatly appreciate if you would consider supporting my nomination by voting for me. (And if you're not a member of UN Women, I strongly encourage you to support their work promoting women's human rights, political participation and economic security by becoming a member - click here for more info)

I see UN Women as a great fit for my passion to support the advancement of women and children and I also bring skills that UN Women has specifically sought out in its call for nominations, namely:
- Experience in managing growth and change within small-medium organisations
- Understanding of governance in small non-profit organisations
- Understanding of gender equality and the importance of women’s empowerment to achieving development
- Experience in fundraising and resource mobilization
- Experience in developing strategic communications strategies.

I would really appreciate your support and members can vote by downloading the ballot form here and returning it to UN Women by Monday 29th October 2012.

Below is a summary of my candidate statement, and you can download other candidate statements here. This information is also available in the email sent by Cassandra Rose to UN Women Australia members on 11th October 2012.

* * *

Jennifer Dalitz - candidate statement

I would like to nominate as a Director of UN Women. My passion for the empowerment of women and gender equality is well known and regarded, as over the past six years I have been writing and speaking about this internationally. My blog www.TheSheEOBlog.com has developed a strong following of readers with over 50,000 page views per month, and my commentary regularly features across mainstream media. In 2010 I was invited by the Minister for Women to deliver a keynote presentation at the Women’s Summit in Malaysia and I represented Australia in a BBC global debate on the advancement of women and the Millennium Goals. In 2011, I co-founded the childcare lobby group, Make Care Fair to raise awareness of the challenges Australian families face in securing quality, affordable childcare; and in 2012 my expertise was recognised with selection on CPA Australia’s 40 Young Business Leaders list.

I am an experienced company director and a graduate of the AICD Company Directors Course. I currently chair an educational foundation, Peer Support Australia (www.peersupport.edu.au), and hence am fully versed in the governance obligations of non-profit organizations.

I am a Certified Practicing Accountant with strong business acumen, and throughout my 20 year career in management consulting and finance I have developed deep expertise in setting and implementing business strategy. I have personally led teams and organizations through the processes and steps involved to manage growth and change effectively, and in communicating the impacts effectively with all stakeholders.
I have worked with organizations from broad industry sectors and geographies, and have personally led two start up businesses so fully appreciate the machinations of small organizations as well as large.
My broad experiences will bring skills and capability to the UN Women board, along with an energy, commitment and passion for driving change and giving women and girls every opportunity to lead safe, fulfilling and rewarding lives.

* * *

About the Voting Process - as communicated by Cassandra Rose to members of UN Women by email on 11th October:

Members of UN Women can use the attached ballot form to vote - click here to download the form.

This year, there are two (2) vacancies for elected Board Members. Each Board Member elected will serve a term of three years, with the opportunity to be elected for a second term. All current financial members of UN Women Australia at the time that nominations closed on 28 September 2012 are eligible to vote in the election. Voting will be conducted by post and votes must be received by the National Office by 5pm AEDT Monday 29th October 2012.

Each candidate has submitted a 350 word statement addressing the selection criteria identified by the National Board. Candidate statements have been included in this voting pack listed in alphabetical order by surname.

In accordance with the ACT Electoral Commission guidelines for non-profit organisations, UN Women Australia uses a first past the post voting system and, as such, a single (1) tick or cross is to be placed in the box alongside the two (2) candidates whom you would like to be elected. The ballot papers are counted for each candidate and the two candidates receiving the most votes will be deemed to be elected. In the event of an equal number of votes, the Returning Officer deems the outcome of the election by lot.

Please place a single (1) tick or cross next to the two (2) candidates you wish to vote for and return the ballot form to UN Women Australia by 5pm AEDT Monday 29th October. Ballots can be retuned via post, or scanned and emailed to admin@unwomen.org.au.

To allow for elected members to attend the AGM, the Returning Officer may make successful candidates aware of the outcome of the election prior to the AGM. At the AGM the results of the election will be formally announced.

If you require any further information about the AGM or the voting process, please do not hesitate to contact the UN Women National Office on 02 6173 3222.

Recommended: Lunch event on Transparency, Reporting and Gender Equity, 31st October

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 12:45:00 GMT

Join me at this business luncheon on 31st October 2012 in Sydney which will examine the ASX diversity principle and its impact on the gender diversity of listed companies. It features some of Australia's most respected business leaders: to be moderated by Gordon M Cairns, with an expert panel including Elizabeth Broderick F Fin, Jillian Segal AM and Helen Conway, as they address:

Finsia's Significance of the gender divide in financial services 2012 survey results
The status of EOWA reforms and what the new regime will look like
Reporting under new ASX Governance principles - is it working?
Are businesses are taking notice and have the champions of change been effective?
What do people on the ground think - have perspectives changed?

To register, simply call Finsia on 1300 346 742 or register online. And don't forget to let me know when you've registered so I can look out for you there, and if you'd like to sit together at my table we'll organise that too :-)

Gender balance and Innovation: What's wrong with this picture?

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Three emails have hit my inbox this week on the topic of innovation: one from the Australian Institute of Management seeking participation in its innovation survey; another from Barbara Annis' office in New York with news of her forthcoming keynote speech at SAP's Global Diversity Days that will keynote will articulate the compelling business case of the diverse organization, examine gender differences through a scientific lens, and illustrate the competitive advantage achieved through inclusion; and this one from a colleague with photos of the national executive and branch councils of the Australian Industry Group:

In case you were unaware, according to the AIG website,

"The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) is a peak industry association in Australia which along with its affiliates represents the interests of more than 60,000 businesses in an expanding range of sectors including: manufacturing; engineering; construction; automotive; food; transport; information technology; telecommunications; call centres; labour hire; printing; defence; mining equipment and supplies; airlines; and other industries. The businesses which we represent employ more than 1 million employees.

We are an organisation committed to helping Australian industry with a focus on building competitive and sustainable industries through global integration, skills development, productive and flexible workplace relations, infrastructure development and innovation. Our legitimacy comes also from our role in and connection with the broader community."

Which makes one wonder... for all of the female business owners, employers and entrepreneurs out there... how connected do you feel to your industry body which has only 3 female and 114 male representives in its National Executive and Branch Office.

And at a time when innovation is key for manufacturers, retailers and all employers... where is the diversity in thinking coming from on these leadership teams?

Is something wrong with this picture? And if so, how should it be addressed?

5 things women need to tell men about flexible work

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:46:00 GMT

This was the title of my first article published in the launch edition of Women's Agenda and I think it's a great starting place for change. Flexibility: it's the new f-word. Ask any working mum what matters most to them in a job, and she'll probably say flexible work arrangements. But don't mistake flexibility for a women's issue: it matters just as much to a worker who has elder care responsibilities. And to dads who expect to play an active parenting role. And to members of GenY and the forthcoming GenZ who know little of workplaces without flexibility.

But here's the thing: the vast majority of Australian workplaces are still run by men, and in the top jobs those men still mostly have stay at home partners to keep the home fires burning, and very little concept of just how critical flexibility is to the rest of us.

So how can you bridge this knowledge gap? You can start by telling men the following five things.

The world is changing, and roles are changing. That women can't have it all is an old story that's been given new life in the recent article by former Whitehouse advisor Anne-Marie Slaughter. But here's the thing: men don't have it all either. Many men are seeking more flexibility in the workplace so they can be involved in the day to day care of their children but either aren't offered it, or are afraid to ask for it because of unsupportive workplace cultures and the fear it will harm their future career prospects.
Leadership attitudes matter most. Flexibility doesn't have to mean setting up remote working arrangements, or tailored working hours (though it could). Often what matters most is the leader's attitude – and how the leader responds – when life's emergencies arise. It's about being able to call in with complete honesty and transparency, and without fear of retribution, to say you'll be in a little later or need to leave a little earlier. And a level of mutual trust, concern and respect.
It can work, if you let it. Irrespective of different roles, industries and sectors, employees have a vested interest to make flexibility work, and given half the chance they will. Think your business is different and doesn't lend itself to flexibility? Think again: if a job can be performed by someone else when the incumbent is on leave of any sort at all - annual leave, sick leave, long service leave etc - then it has the potential to be performed flexibly or remotely, on reduced hours or on job share arrangements.
Clients value outcomes over hours, and employers should too. Provided their needs are met, most clients accept flexibility because it's part of their life too. Working longer hours won't guarantee a more committed workforce, but it will surely be a more expensive one. Just as extended operating hours or more time billed won't guarantee a better customer outcome, but it will surely be a more expensive one. Now, more than ever, is a great time to address client needs and to allocate remuneration – including bonus pools – on the basis of return on investment and not on the basis of outdated models of workplace performance, like who is first in of a morning or last out at night.
Recognise the hot spots and offer some breathing space. Be aware that 8am is an impossible meeting time for anyone juggling morning drop offs; and yet I'm amazed how many business meetings are still scheduled at this time. Likewise the 5pm-8pm timeslot is the most precious time of day for many working parents, so consider it a no-go zone (even Sheryl Sandberg famously leaves the Facebook in time for dinner!) So let them start work earlier or log on later – but don't make them choose, or they just might not choose you. And while the Fair Work Act gives parents the right to request flexibility while their kids are of pre-school age, it's once school starts and the long day care hours shrink into shorter school days, with a mammoth 13 weeks of school holidays, that the real challenge begins. Add to that increasing elder care responsibility as our population ages, and a Sandwich Generation caring for younger and older family members, and you're just starting to get the picture. Like it or lump it, this is the reality of the modern world; and offering flexible solutions brings with it an opportunity to develop a committed, loyal, efficient and productive workforce.

What does flexible work mean to you? Freedom, a source of tension in the office, or just the way work should be?

This article was first published on Women's Agenda.

Someone who believes in you: the critical role of mentors, role models and friendship in your career

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:31:00 GMT

When I was fresh into the corporate world as an accounting graduate I thought I knew everything I needed to know. Of course. Until I started working in the business world, and discovered it’s not what you know but who you know. Of course. Getting a job in the 90’s – despite being in the thick of a recession we (apparently) had to have – was the easy bit. Learning how to navigate the world of banking was another story. Women managers were still a rarity, especially those who dared to have a life AND a career. In these early days of my career, everything was new and unknown and had to be learned. I came from a family where everyone worked hard, though not in the world of big business, so I was very much flying blind. Loving it, but learning the hard way. Reinventing the wheel, when I now know how much simpler and more effective it is to have a network of contacts to ask, a mentor to call on, a peer group to swap notes with or to just lend an ear.

Those early days, when I look back, were pretty tough. I’d left home and the bubble of my small country town for university and life in the big smoke, just seventeen years old and too scared to tell anyone how much I missed home! After a string of part time jobs, my “real” career started when I was twenty. And I was lucky enough to fall into safe hands, with a string of managers who took a great interest in my technical abilities and encouraged me to stretch myself, go that bit further and faster, and they rewarded me in the process with career advancement. But the one that had the biggest impact on me was Dianne.

Di was my first – and only – female boss and she did what the guys couldn’t do: she showed me how to be a successful woman in business. Di opened my eyes to a world of opportunity (she’d broken new ground for a woman in banking); to smarter and more efficient ways of working (she taught me systems and short cuts that enabled her to get more out of every day so she had time more with her real passion, her family including 3 kids); and to that elusive balance of being feminine and ferocious in the world of business (yes, she was competitive and yet she was always respectful and empathetic and her clients loved her). She had a sixth sense to know when I was facing personal challenges away from work; and she encouraged me to share them with her. And so Di taught me that a problem shared was a problem halved. She became that unique blend of boss and friend; of master and motivator. She taught me to surround myself with friends who were interested in seeing me succeed, and would help me do just that.

Almost twenty years later I’ve yet to come across a better role model and mentor, and so it’s with absolute delight that I will be reconnecting with Di at a panel discussion I’ll be facilitating in Adelaide next week on The Female Leadership Journey.

Dianne Rogowski went on to become the recipient of the prestigious Telstra Business Women of the Year Award for the Corporate, Government and Business sector in 2005 and is now CEO of the City of Tea Tree Gully. If you’re in Adelaide next Friday 14th September – why don’t you come and meet me and the woman who inspired my career?

Joining Di on the panel will be Isobel Redmond MP, Leader of the Opposition of SA, and Nicole Graham, CEO of scosa, an organization which plays a crucial role in supporting South Australians living with disabilities.

You can book here for this truly collaborative lunch event – or why not organize a table with your friends and colleagues?

And for those outside of Adelaide, it’s your turn to share: who was your that special mentor and motivator in your life, and what was it about them that made you shine? Share your comments here on the blog.

Hope to connect with you round the traps soon.

Best wishes,

Jen

Are you a senior leader? Want to give back to the community? Can you spare 3 hours to assist a NFP on strategy and operations?

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:34:00 GMT

If you're a senior leader with experience in setting strategy and delivering operational results, I need your help! I have become aware of a number of not for profit organisations, that could benefit from the collective insights of experienced leaders like you and me. They need help in setting strategy, solving complex operational issues, and improving their organisational efficiency and effectiveness. So I've offered to host a series of boardroom networking events with a difference, designed to make a difference.

The deal is this: you volunteer up to 3 hours to come together in a boardroom forum, where the CEO of a not for profit pitches a strategic challenge to the group. The participants have the opportunity to ask questions and clarify the strategic issue, before working together to develop a solution and project plan to be implemented by the NFP.

Sound interesting? We need a few more leaders in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne to participate - please drop me a line to register your interest and receive more information.

The gender agenda: some recommended reading from around the traps...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:03:00 GMT

The Australian Stock Exchange commissioned a survey that found more than half of 211 ASX-listed companies have established a gender diversity policy as recommended by ASX Principle 3.
The Australian Institute of Management has published a green paper that outlines why flexible arrangements are integral to improving opportunities for women to advance through the leadership pipeline and the retention of high performing female staff members.
The Australian School of Business has issued its Top 10 for 2012 list of Knowledge@ASB articles including Women in Leadership: An Intervention for the Imbalance?
Women in Focus has released a publication called Chief Women: Tips from the Top which features advice and experience on managing careers and leading businesses from Sonja Bernhardt OAM, Sarina Russo, Naomi Simson, Cathy Tiberio, Ann Hollonds… oh, and me!

Have an article you think is worth sharing? Let me know here.

Stanford Australia scholarship opportunity for employees in NFP sector - check this out!

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 04:55:00 GMT

For those in the NFP sector, here's a leadership opportunity you won't want to let slip by! Stanford Australia Foundation (SAF) is offering 2 Scholarships: one for up to $50k and one for up to $15k for study at Stanford Graduate School of Business, located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Wow!

SAF enables more Australians to share the exciting experience of a Stanford education for the benefit of the Australian community. It's non-profit scholarship program supports and encourages eligible Australian leaders to undertake further study at the Stanford. This year the scholarship opportunities have broadened significantly and someone's going to win this... so why not you??

Scholarships to be awarded in 2012 for study in 2013:

2013 Stanford Australia Foundation Scholarship: Up to $15,000 (for course fees and economy return travel) to attend a Stanford Graduate School of Business executive course of the recipient’s choice.
2013 SAF Dyson Bequest Scholarship: Up to $50,000 (towards course fees and economy return travel) for the Stanford Executive Program.

Candidate requirements

SAF scholarship recipients must be employed by an Australian non-profit organisation with Deductable Gift Recipient status 1 (DGR1).
The candidates for this scholarship will be the Executive Director, President, or CEO of an Australian non-profit.
Individuals who currently serve as a Deputy Director or equivalent will be considered if they expect to advance to a CEO position within three years.

Key dates
· Applications open: Wednesday 18 July 2012
· Applications Close: Monday 1 October 2012

· Winners Announced: Stanford Alumni AGM 2012

To find out more, you can register for the open night here or visit the Stanford Australia Foundation website here.

Remember... you've got to be in it to win it, so if you're a leader in the NFP sector then you owe it to yourself to put your talent to work and submit your application!

Adding to the portfolio career: a new flexible role in the mix

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 01:43:00 GMT

It’s been a busy month here as I’ve been settling into the latest changes in my porfolio career, a management consulting role with Third Horizon Consulting Partners. Thanks to those of you noticed the change on LinkedIn and sent messages… and in response to your questions, YES I’m loving the change and being part of a team again (it gets lonely in your own business!), and YES I’ll definitely still be blogging and mentoring, and farming and building my board portfolio (I've negotiated a flexible role), and NO I wasn’t intending to take a month to tell you my news! (whoops, has it really a month?! Time flies!) But with my start date coinciding with lambing and calving season at the farm, and my son falling ill with (another) ear infection, and his dad working away on a big project, it’s been a process of daily re-prioritisation… which is just business as usual, for anyone with a portfolio career or even a regular, run-of-the-mill, busy life!

One of my friends has described the new gig as the perfect working woman's role: challenging, strategic, senior and – most importantly – flexible enough to fit in with a 3 year old son, a farm in the country and my writing and career coaching. But the real bonus of joining a firm again is the capacity it brings: finally I can take on more gender diversity consulting clients, with the support of the firm’s resources. This has been the biggest challenge in the past – my limited capacity to take on more clients – so if this is an area you’re looking to expand on in your organization, with strategies, project planning, job design, mentoring programs, unconscious bias training or women’s initiatives, then drop me a line, I’m better placed than ever to help and have developed a number of new methodologies that will ensure your gender diversity initiatives deliver tangible business outcomes.

Off the back of my move have come a lot of great questions and messages from those of you looking to establish a portfolio career of your own – so this is a topic I’ll be covering in a series of blog posts in the coming weeks. Likewise, for those of you who are currently trying to negotiate a flexible role, or find one, or return to work after a career break, I am writing an article that will outline my own approach and how it could work for you.

The other big news for me is that I'll be a contributing writer for the soon-to-be-launched Women's Agenda community. My first article will be appearing in the launch edition, more news to follow on that as well...

And I'm hosting the inaugural Property Connect event on this coming Monday in Sydney, for senior women working in the Property sector. If you are interested in hosting similar events, let me know, I'm put together a fact sheet for those of you who are thinking of setting up your own networking events and women's forums.

Finally, I’m on the look out for talented management consultants to join the team at Third Horizon. So if, like me, you love working with clients to understand their business pressure points, and to come up with solutions on how the they can be more effective and efficient in their operations, drop me a line and we can have a chat. We have a particular need for consultants and project managers with experience in the products/FMCG and Government sectors, in operations and strategy, who are interested in joining a dynamic, growing management consultancy.

Phew... I think I need a break now! So enjoy your weekend, I know I’ll be having fun on the farm with my new Wessex Saddleback pigs – aren’t they just gorgeous?!

Please vote for my question to the Prime Minister on OurSay - on how to better engage women in our workforce

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:55:00 GMT

OurSay is a fantastic new community that is promoting democratic debate, it's next questions forum being with Australia's Prime Minister, no less! It's an online community that works by allowing anyone to submit a question - but here's the crux - only the top 3 questions (determined by a voting system) will be put the Prime Minister on 21st July. I have posted this question - on how the government plans to engage women better for the productivity of Australia, with policy reforms - and I would really appreciate you voting for my question, it's just a one-click process so will take 30 seconds of your time. Here's my question and you vote by clicking here, then on the next screen you simply click on the blue Vote button at the top left of the page. That's it!

Can you please also spread the word to your networks - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, friends, family, colleagues - there's been thousands of questions submitted but nothing like this relating to women and work, and what we all need to make that happen. If we present a united voice, we'll have more chance of making the real change that we all need.

Just a final note that I really do need each and every one of you to help by voting - the top 3 questions so far have over 4,000 votes each - so we need to to better than that!! Can you please help by spreading the word?!

My question in full is:

“Prime Minister, how is your government going to better engage women in the workforce? When are we going to see a complete overhaul of the childcare system, to truly integrate the working reality for parents with the very best in early learning and caring for our kids? Women comprise 51% of our population and yet are completely underrepresented in the country's workforce participation, leadership positions, high income earners and retirement savings; and over represented in primary caring responsibilities, domestic activity, violence and abuse, and poverty.

Your government has introduced progressive policies to advance the status of women, from the first universal paid parental scheme to a 40% mandated representation of women on government boards. But in a small country like Australia, where we are importing skilled labour to meet ever increasing demands, along with changed workplace practices, we need childcare reforms that pick up where paid parental leave stops, and we need more women in leadership positions to drive cultural change.

So will you take a position on completely rethinking childcare, instead of tinkering at the edges of an outdated system? And will you drive up the representation of women in leadership positions, in our workplaces and communities, by implementing targets for the appointment of women to key leadership roles in Government (such as Chair of government boards and key executive positions), and encourage the private sector to do the same?”

Just a reminder that you vote by clicking here, then on the next screen you simply click on the blue Vote button at the top left of the page. That's it!

Thanks in advance, I hope you'll help!

Jen

Miss Ruby Online Hosiery has a 30 per cent discount offer for you - and a fundraiser to support Australia's Olympic beach volleyballers

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 05:27:00 GMT

I received a gorgeous sample pack in the mail from Miss Ruby, and have to tell you that if you're in need of some winter warmth in the form of tights and hosiery, you'll love the quality of this product and the discounted offer. After opening the packs, I promptly sent the samples over to my friend Aedann who was the right size to trial them and she says she just loooves them - and if you know your hose, think Levante standard without the matching pricetag. Donna at Miss Ruby is offering a discount for my readers with 30% off this three pair sampler pack, comprising 1 x black sheers, 1 x latte sheers and 1 x patterned back seam.

You simply order and purchase online for $24 plus postage. That’s $8 each a pair. They arrive next day in most places via Express Post which is also discounted at a flat rate of $7.50.

Miss Ruby is also running an Olympic promotion to help raise funds for our Aussie beach volleyballers on their road to the London games. The road for the girls is particularly hard with only 20% funding from the AIS and they have a huge shortfall which they make up with money from their winnings and any fund raising they can do on the way.

So what better way to support the Aussie beach volleyballers in London than buying a pair of... Aussie flag tights... yes it's true - all the details are on the Miss Ruby website here.

Until men are talking about having it all, women never will

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 05:04:00 GMT

Can women really can have “it” all? No, I say, until men want it too. Media has been awash this week on this issue: former Whitehouse staffer Anne-Marie Slaughter put forward her view on why women still can’t have “it” all and had a reported one million women across the globe debating her position, why it’s irrelevant women who need “it” the most, and why stay at home parents have made the “right” choice, or why working mums have made a better one. Women against women. Then yesterday the NSW Minister for Woman, Pru Goward, released a report showing women in NSW don’t yet, but possibly could have it all, with better career choices. But let’s be honest: it’s all talk, no change until the most important people in this debate get on board: our men.

For the women – in the workforce or not – and with children or not – drawn in by Slaughter’s provocative piece on why women can’t have it all, you miss the point: this article is not intended for you. You’ll make your own choices anyway. You’ll argue your circumstances are different. You’d do what’s right for you, as you should.

So maybe it’s not for you, but you will benefit if the leaders of our companies, governments and firms read it. And that is to say, this is a must read for the men who hold about 9 out of 10 of these positions, around the world. So please forward this on to the men in your workplace.

These men would benefit, I say, from hearing about the challenges women face when they combine kids with their careers, the bias they come up against, the toll it has on workers both male and female when we make unrealistic demands on their time and lives, and what effect that has on their engagement at work.

With men still dominating leadership positions in business throughout the world, they have to be the starting point for setting – and changing – the worplace culture that so many women simply give up on.

The good news is I see that men are becoming more involved in the discussion – as I’ve commented today for Women in Focus. I'm asked regularly by men "what can I do in my business to find and keep the best women", or "I really get this, but how do I shift the needle on the advancement of women in my team?" Some of them have daughters entering the workforce and have a vested interest in that regard; while others just see the huge costs when women walk out the door and want to address that. In the public domain, the Male Champions program instigated by Elizabeth Broderick has been a commitment by a cohort of CEOs to focus on gender balance in their business. All of these are encouraging signs.

Men are telling me that they value the women on their teams, and in their workplaces. They like the skills women bring - they are educated, empathetic and have a wealth of experiences and insights that may be different or at least bring some fresh perspectives - and they frequently have a reputation for calling a spade a spade and getting in and getting the job done with less emphasis on politics and pointscoring. It's not to say leaders value women more than the men on their teams; but there's certainly an increasing awareness of the difference that difference can make.

And – importantly – they are looking at gender balance through a different lens, coming at it relatively more recently than many of the female pioneers in business, so their fresh eyes and enthusiasm is quite solution oriented and certainly brings a new energy to our drive for true gender equality. The change in corporate governance guidelines implemented by the Australian Stock Exchange - led by a male Chairman and male CEO - is an example of an initiative that is delivering real result across a broad base of companies, industries and sectors. That can only be a good thing.

But most male leaders have a different career experience to that of women, even those women that make it to the top. Dr Terence Fitzimmons of The University of Queensland analysed men and women CEOs at the helm of listed Australian companies. He found that the home life experience was very different: all the men had stay at home wives; while most of the women were also married – like Slaughter – to supportive partners who were actively involved at home, but who also worked full time in paid employment. Is it any wonder that most male leaders don’t understand how critical flexible work arrangements are in a household where both parents work? And so this knowledge gap needs to change.

Change the conversations that we’re having with men, and about women, and we just might change our workplaces for the better.

As to Slaughter’s article, who in their right mind would want it all, when it involves giving up so much. The hours she worked in the Whitehouse are ludicrous and would exhaust anyone – a regular double shift of up to 20 hours a day, presenting in the day and reworking into the night, every night, week on week, month on month, year on year. Notwithstanding the “family friendly” changes that Hillary Clinton brought into the State Office, reducing face time to “only” 8am-7pm in the office (but doing more at home, before and after). Is this enough? Is this a gender balanced workplace culture? Not at all, and I’m unconvinced that many Gen X or Gen Y workers - men or women – would sign up for that.

Your thoughts?

Exclusive network for senior women working in the property sector - register your interest

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 01:08:00 GMT

I'm very excited to announce on behalf of sphinxx a new and intimate gathering of women leading in the property sector. From urban planning and architecture; engineering, construction and design; and advisory, transactions and property management, Property Connect brings together women from across the sector to forge friendships and build trusted business relationships.

The first Property Connect event will be held in August in Sydney and is kindly being sponsored by Australian Workstation Manufacturers. Our guest conversation starter will be Carol Schwartz AM FAICD. Carol has extensive experience in business, property and community organizations, and is currently a director of Stockland, Yarra Capital Partners, Bank of Melbourne, Qualitas Property Partners, and Executive in Residence at Melbourne Business School. Carol’s previous roles include Chair of Industry Superannuation Property Trust (ISPT) and President of the Property Council of Australia.

Comprising senior executives, partners and CEOs from property related disciplines, numbers are strictly limited, so to register your interest please contact Jen ASAP.

Women On Boards releases 2012 Boardroom Diversity Index showing further small increase in women holding board positions

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 23:58:00 GMT

Hats off to Women on Boards for their latest Boardroom Diversity Index (BDI), which provides a snap shot across 850 organisations of the number of board seats held by women. The research, now in its third year, tracks directorships by gender across ASX Companies, Cooperative Research Centres, Credit Unions & Building Societies, Government, National Sporting Organisations, Research and Development Corporations and Superannuation Trustees, and this year the categories of ASX201-300 companies and Health Funds were also added.

The 2012 BDI shows small, but encouraging, signs that the recent gains in the number of female directors on the boards of ASX200 companies are being matched in other key sectors in the economy.

Directors of Women on Boards, Claire Braund and Ruth Medd, said the 2012 BDI findings were encouraging and showed that organisations were paying attention to the issue of boardroom diversity, but that there was still a lot of work to be done as there should be at least 40 percent of women on the boards of the majority of the organisations listed in the BDI.

"The number of organisations with more than 25 per cent women on their boards has increased and the number of those without a woman on their board has fallen, however the latter is still unacceptably high at 24 percent. These organisations are failing in their responsibilities to customers, shareholders and society," Ms Braund said.

The sectors with the largest increases since 2011 are the ASX200 and the Australian Government. Those with the highest representation are the State Owned Corporations in Queensland and South Australia.

The 2012 Boardroom Diversity Index is available alphabetically by company and also by percentage of female representation on the Women on Boards website here.

Or follow these links to various sector specific data:

Your thoughts?

Money tip: Private Health Insurance Rebate now means tested – prepay for next year and make 30 per cent return on your savings

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 23:14:00 GMT

Next week is the start of a new financial year in Australia and if you earn more than $84,000pa as an individual or $164,000pa as a family you will no longer be able to claim the Private Health Insurance Rebate from July 1^st. (Note income includes things like super that is salary sacrificed, fringe benefits reportable amounts and imputation credits). But here's a tip that could buy you a bit more time on the rebate and help you save big dollars!

However, if you’re in this income bracket, there is a small window of opportunity to still receive the 30% rebate and defer your higher premiums for one year. If you pay your premiums to your health fund before 30^th June, for the next financial year, you will still receive the 30% rebate.

This is because the government pays the rebate based on when the premiums are paid, not on the period covered. So if you have some savings in the bank, and are no longer going to qualify for the rebate, you might want to ring your health insurance fund THIS WEEK to prepay your cover for next year. This will effectively give you a 30% rate of return – pretty hard to find these days!

The disclaimer: Please note this tip does not constitute financial advice and if you’re unsure whether you should act on this, I suggest you call your accountant or financial planner today to discuss it. They’ll know your situation and be able to advise you on a path of action (which I obviously can’t do on my blog!)

(At least) 3 things women need to stop apologising for

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 05:00:00 GMT

"Women need to stop apologizing for routine workplace events," Bloom shared with me in an email. "Ladies, every time the word 'sorry' is about to fly out of your mouth, think: Have I actually done something wrong? Or has this just become a verbal tic?" Here are three things that women often apologize for and what we can do to stop, today.

1. Our financial expectations. Ever since women entered the workforce en masse, there have been reports revealing that we make less on average than our male counterparts. Although this gap is lessening, there is still much progress to be made. Yes, talking about money can be an uncomfortable endeavor. However, if you're armed with good ammunition to back up your demand, you'll feel more confident and ready to engage in that dialogue. In other words, be clear what you want, and don't leave until you get it (well, within reason). Moreover, when in contract negotiations for any job or project, engage an advisor so that you have a second set of eyes on the details and can work out what's acceptable and what's not with someone well-versed in the small print.

 2. Our physical appearance. Earlier this week I did a little tally of how long it took me to prepare for one of my other jobs, working as a national TV host on a business news network. The night before our shoot, I spent two hours with my clothing sponsor picking out my wardrobe for upcoming shoots. The next morning I spent two hours getting my hair done, two hours getting my nails done, and 30 minutes in makeup just before the show. Almost a full day, and I haven't even started my job, compared with my co-host, who literally grabbed a clean shirt and was ready to go (yes, he's male).

3. Our professional accomplishments. "Women are trained to be sensitive to everyone's feelings, not to be selfish, and not to brag," Bloom explains to me when I ask about this culture of saying sorry. "These are good traits to have. Be we also need to understand that sometimes it's not appropriate to apologize--like when we haven't done anything wrong."

From the article by Amber Mac, at Fast Company

The female economy hits Silicon Valley - with the rise of the pink-collar businessmen

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 04:45:00 GMT

"According to a 2010 report from comScore, women spend more time online than men, and they’re overrepresented in social networking, gaming, photos, blogs, and retail. Not only do women spend time online, they spend money, too—female customers make up 61% of online transactions. In a TechCrunch article on the topic, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Aileen Lee called women the “rocket fuel” of e-commerce. “Especially when it comes to social and shopping,” Lee explains, “women rule the Internet.”

But women aren’t the only tech entrepreneurs with their eyes on female customers. From the men behind Pinterest to the dudes who started Shoe Dazzle, smart men are defying gender stereotypes in the pursuit of great business and jumping at the chance to cash in on pink-collar opportunities."

Read the full article at Forbes.com

What if, what if… the legacy of Azaria Chamberlain and the price her family paid

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 04:38:00 GMT

Like Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, my parents have grieved the loss of a child. Like the Chamberlains, my parents took a healthy, vibrant baby girl home from hospital expecting a lifetime of happiness but instead experiencing the ultimate sadness. In my family’s case, it was a decade earlier and my sister – Susan – died at home from meningitis, asleep in her cot, a little younger than Azaria and only two weeks old. Like Lindy and Michael, my parents never fully recovered from the loss of their daughter. Only unlike the Chamberlains, my family wasn’t torn apart, publicly vilified and my parents incarcerated for the sad circumstances that beset them.

Yesterday when the deputy coroner finally confirmed a dingo snatched baby Azaria from her bassinet on that fateful night in the Australian Outback, what were you thinking?

Did you remember the media circus that turned the death of a voiceless child into a witch-hunt of grieving parents, while their hearts were breaking? I did.

Did you recall the indigenous people of Uluru, and the park rangers, who were steadfast in their belief that – of course – a dingo could drag a baby away, though their advice was ignored? I did.

Did you remember – like I do – the accusations directed at Lindy, the public disdain that she’d even gone on a camping trip and wasn’t at home – where a mother should be (of course) – with her youngest newborn child?

Or did you wonder: what if Australia had learned from Azaria’s death, and responded to it way back then? Could the families of those other children killed or injured by dingos have paid a lesser price? Could an innocent family been spared a lifetime of injustice?

Thank goodness the public record has finally been set straight, but what a price the Chamberlains have paid. Particularly Lindy, who spent three years in prison when she should have been home in the comfort of her remaining family.

As Lindy says on her website,

“This is the story of a little girl who lived, and breathed,
and loved, and was loved. She was part of me.
She grew within my body and when she died, part of me died,
and nothing will ever alter that fact.”

As an Australian, I would add this is also a story of a nation coming of age, of raised consciousness, and of a family that has taught us all so much about persistence, courage, commitment and forgiveness. If only they needn’t have done so.

Your thoughts?

You're invited to a fashion fiesta: Personal service, pampering and exclusive access to independent designers

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:49:00 GMT

If you're in Sydney on the weekend of 23/24 June this is a fun fashion event that's bound to keep the winter blues at bay! I've written before about the gorgeous all-Australian fine merino knitwear from Cinnabar Designs - just one of the many brands on offer at this weekend boutique fashion fiesta. This event is free to attend by invitation only - but my friends are welcome and you can download your invitation here.

Six savvy independent fashionistas are joining style-forces over one weekend to create a weekend “boutique” like no other, giving you free workshops and personal styling and - of course - great buys and offers.

When: Saturday 23 June 10am to 4pm Sunday 24 June 10am to 4pm
Where: 114 High Street, North Sydney
Who:         Cinnabar Designs - if you demand style with ease, this beautiful knitwear nails it.
                 Danielle Chiel - for truly eye-catching beauty, these luxury hand knits scream individual chic.
                 Eclettica - looking for the perfect bag that blends Italian style with intelligent design- found!
                 Ondina - passion, style and confidence with New Zealand labels Paula Ryan and Visage.
                 Mr. Rose - love beautiful fabrics, great cuts with a bit of quirk? These shirts and blouses are for you.
                 Statement Pieces - bold, elegant Australian contemporary jewellery
RSVP: by downloading the details the invitation here (I'm told RSVPs are essential for champagne catering!)

BREAKING NEWS: Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership on offer... could this be you?

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:03:00 GMT

This is exciting news: The Origin Foundation is sponsoring a Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership, and applications are now open!! This scholarship is designed to boost the long-term leadership and management capacity of the Australian NFP sector - so if you're a leader or director in that sector, you could be in the running for the $40,000 scholarship package.

The Scholarship
The Fulbright Scholarship, valued at $40,000, is a unique opportunity for an emerging NFP leader (and possibly his or her family) to travel in the United States for up to four months to study and conduct research into leadership and the operations of US non-profit sector organisations. This is a terrific opportunity to gain experiential learning by visiting organisations as well as attending a course in the US.

The Application
Applications are now being accepted for 2013 and will close on 20 August 2012 - but be warned: it's a lengthy application process so you better get started now!

More details on application criteria and FAQs are available on the Australian Scholarships Foundation website or the Fulbright Commission’s website. Good luck!!

Networking on the fly: Baltic Air introduces intelligent seating to help passengers get social

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 02:48:00 GMT

I love this: Air Baltic - a Latvian airline - has become the first commercial service to introduce intelligent seating, offering the opportunity for like-minded passengers to sit together. Travellers will be offered the choice of three preferred “flight moods” which relate to whether they want to get on with work, make new business contacts or simply not be bothered by someone’s droning voice for the duration of the flight.

The service is an optional free extra, and can also factor in any hobbies or interests a passenger may wish to list, meaning footy fans and workaholics alike may find a friend on-board.

If only they could come up with something like that for the dreaded Australia Post queue... or personality matching in open plan offices... now there's an idea!

The 2012 Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium - register now for Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney events - SUBSIDIES AVAILABLE

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 02:24:00 GMT

I've just confirmed my registration for the Australian Women's Leadership Symposium and thought some of you may also benefit from attending (NB If you're one of my colleagues from the finance and professional services sector, you may be eligible to register at a subsidised rate of $1195 instead of $2295 . To apply, click here] Drawing on the success of prior years, the 2012 program provides an unparalleled opportunity for hundreds of Australian women to gather together to explore contemporary leadership theory and observe current best practice at locations across the country – including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide.

2012 Symposium Themes

• Leadership in Australian Politics
• Male Champions of Change - why elevating the
representation of women in leadership is key
• Board ready: taking it to the next level - leading
Australian Board Directors share their journey
• My Journey - Key Australian Businesswomen share their story
• Leadership stories from the Telstra Business Women Awards
• International development - enhancing your career with overseas experience
• Crossing the boundaries between sectors; trends, talent management & transitioning
• Out of the office – away from the desk – left of field leadership
• Corporate case study: managing the gender journey
• Leading an innovative workplace; creation, challenges & continuous growth
• Conjuring inspiration in challenging times

• Personal & Group Development session

Inspiring leaders

Ita Buttrose AO, OBE, a truly exceptional Australian woman, legendary media editor, businesswoman and best-selling author will be presenting at the 2012 Executive Women’s Leadership Symposium and joins a long list of leadership luminaries and household names that have been involved in the program including Maggie Beer, Elizabeth Broderick, Julie Bishop MP and Layne Beachley. These and other exceptional women have reinforced the outstanding quality of the program.

Dates & Registration

Melbourne, 21st & 22nd June 2012
Canberra, 3rd July 2012
Sydney, 26th & 27th July 2012

The PM's Childcare Summit: The cold, hard facts relating to childcare, working women and the Australian economy:

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 05:10:00 GMT

Prime Minister Gillard’s rushed childcare summit last week has put the spotlight back on the issue of affordable, quality care and why – like it or not – childcare is an issue for all. At my end, I’ve been in contact with Minister Kate Ellis’ office to organise a meeting to present the petition of signatures we’ve been gathering at Make Care Fair to reignite the debate on the cost and affordability of child care [so if you’re yet to sign the petition, please do so here]

There is now wide acceptance that childcare involves a learning and socialising process that provides the vital first step to life-long learning; and that affordable quality care is key to optimizing the productivity of Australia’s workforce, and particularly our women.

Yet in my experience, many Australians simply don’t understand why it matters to them. Those who don’t have kids think it doesn’t matter to them; but in truth all employers, taxpayers, parents, grandparents and – especially – our kids, have a vested interest in this debate.

If you still need convincing, here are the cold, hard facts relating to childcare, working women and the Australian economy:

Impact on a woman’s career

If you’re a taxpayer you should know that Australia ranks equal highest of all OECD countries in terms of the investment taxpayers make in educating our women and girls. And yet:

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has found that 70,000 Australian mums are locked out of the workforce solely because they cannot get affordable childcare. The ABS says a further 13 per cent of mothers were either unavailable for work or unable to work more hours because there were no childcare places where they lived.
48% of women say the cost of childcare had negatively hit their career but not their partner’s career; while 71.6% of women said their partner’s career had not been held back at all.
46% of parents say the cost of childcare for their children under school age is too high relative to their income. 36% are considering leaving the workforce; while 26% have already reduced their hours of work because of the high cost of care for children under school age. This affects the careers of women more than men.
24% of working mothers say working isn’t viable however they remain in the workforce due to independence and the necessity for career progression.
Leaving the workforce for cost of care reasons has a compound negative effect. After leaving the workforce 52% of unemployed carers feel that their skills have been reduced whilst off work, and 49% have reduced confidence in their ability to return to work.

Impact on workplace participation and the Australian economy

Childcare is now recognised a key solution to unlocking the full productivity of Australia’s workforce.

The relationship between the cost of care and employment choices affects employees on all incomes, i.e. from those on relatively high incomes (AUD$90K and upwards) to those on relatively low family incomes (AUD$50K and below). Hence strategies to address all incomes groups will have a significant impact upon choice and workforce participation for all employees.
A Senate Standing Committee found that for every AUD$1 the Government spent on childcare, the Government gets back AUD$1.86 in revenue because they have created a child-care industry which is paying taxes. If you factor in mother or father working, and therefore paying taxes, then you can sometimes get up to an eight or nine times return on the dollar spent.
50% of parents would increase their hours of work – and therefore their taxable income – if care was more affordable.

An industry in crisis?

The flip side of affordability for parents is that childcare workers – who are mostly women – earn low wages of about $18 an hour. As a result, up to 180 workers a week leave the sector.
At the same time, childcare fees have increased on average by 11.2 per cent over the past year.
While there’s an obvious need to address the remuneration of those working in the childcare sector, 51% of families say that one parent would have to quit their job if the costs of childcare increased.

Given 92 per cent of parents rate childcare cost as an important or very important as a political or election issue, it’s no surprise that the Prime Minister is finally committing to a review of childcare in Australia over the coming months. I’ll be waiting with interest – like hundreds of thousands of other parents and employers – to see what ideas the Government comes up with.

Your thoughts?

Resilience: how are you feeling right now? Need a boost? Tips and tricks to keep you on track

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:15:00 GMT

It’s been a horrible week. The worst. And I’m the kind of person who really doesn’t sweat the small stuff. One of the first string of words my son uttered as a baby was “not to worry” (amazing what you learn from what your kids repeat!) and I’ve often been known to say “well, as long as no one died…” No such luck this week, after one of my beloved beagles was killed in an accident on the farm. My husband reckons I must have been a dog in my past life, because he’s never seen animals connect so much with a human as my beagles do with me. They are my joy and a raison d’etre, so it truly feels like I’ve lost a limb this week and the last thing I feel like doing is getting on with things. But of course, I must.

We’re all challenged every day with events that dent our confidence, effect our emotions and rattle our resilience. I believe this is true regardless of gender. And yet so often I still hear people say “she’s just sooo emotional”, “he’s just more confident”, “she just doesn’t seem to cope with it all”. The talent conference I spoke at last week was no exception: many recruiters in the room held the view that women miss out on jobs due to a lack of confidence in the recruitment process, and to get ahead women need to get better at handling the emotional rollercoaster of their daily lives.

Is it fair that so much attention is paid to the emotions women display, when we know for sure that men have emotions too? Sure, they might manifest in different ways, but they’re still emotions. And the resilience of men is challenged every bit as much as that of women, particularly in these trying times.

It's true that resilience is a real issue, and a key success factor for any leader. So regardless of your gender, I'm going to ask the question: how resilient you’re feeling at this very moment? Are you ok? Is your industry under pressure? Have you been bombarded by a belligerent client or colleague this week? Or perhaps you’ve just had better days, or weeks, like me?

If you were to rate out of ten how resilient you’re feeling at this very moment (one being the lowest and ten being the highest) what score would you give yourself? Hint: if you’re having trouble picking a number, imagine you’ve just boarded a plane for an overseas trip and you find you’re seated next to a parent with a screaming baby… and with that context give yourself a score!

Now how does that score compare with how you’d have rated yourself a month ago? And a year ago? Is there any difference?

Most people will find that their resilience goes up and down over time, which is what you’d expect. Our resilience at any time will be impacted by factors that will change over time and are often influenced by factors outside of our control, as well as our choices and factors that may be within our control yet impact on our resilience nonetheless.

SO YOU WANT TO BE MORE RESILIENT?

In my work as the Chair of Peer Support Australia, I see how children thrive when they’re given the skills to build their own levels of resilience and emotional wellbeing. The Peer Support Program has run for over 30 years and is now implemented in 1,600 schools impacting 200,000 students annually. There are no secrets to its success: it’s about kids working with kids, teaching each other skills and building a strong sense of community and inclusiveness. They learn strategies for getting through the tough times, together; about making mistakes but being prepared to try again; about picking up and getting on with it.

Yes, it’s important for children to be given the opportunity to try and fail, in a safe environment so that they feel supported to try and try again. And for us as adults, the same is true.

THE FACTORS AT PLAY

If your goal is to build your resilience, you can start by understanding:

The here and now: where are you at right now, and how did you get here?
What factors of your current situation are within your control; and how can you change them for the better?
What factors are outside of your control, and how can you best respond to them?

THE HERE AND NOW

My work in dealing with resilience is in the context of career planning: individuals making choices about the work they are doing and they want to do in the future. They may have experienced burnout; they may be setting new career goals; or they may be contemplating a new role. My advice is that if you rated your current level of resilience in the previous exercise at 5 or below, it’s possibly not the best time for making important decisions – about your career or anything else. So you’re feeling a little stretched, a little like screaming or just falling into a heap and hiding under the doona for a week, what can you do about it right now?

Create silence. Step away from your desk or the central activity in your life. Go for a walk, take some deep breaths and spend a little time letting the noise in your head die down.
Focus on you. Are you being active and exercising daily? Are you eating well, or is your bin full of fast food wrappers? Are you consuming too much alcohol? Are you getting enough sleep? All of these factors will impact on your physiological wellbeing.
Lean on others. I grew up in the country where everyone pitches in and lends a hand when the going gets tough; that’s how our farmers have survived during droughts and floods. Yet in the city, there’s a shift away from people leaning on each other and being part of a community, to everyone trying to go it alone. If you’re doing it tough, don’t be afraid to phone up a friend, to confide in a colleague or to just let off steam – a problem shared is a problem halved.

WHAT CAN YOU CONTROL?

When it comes to building your resilience, you might be surprised at just how much is within your control. By focusing on choices and factors you can control, you’ll feel empowered, less stressed and more capable of overcoming challenges.

Consider your current workload and ask yourself:

Am I taking on stuff (at work or at home) that belongs to someone else?
Are there skills I could develop further to help me perform better? Or to manage my current circumstances more effectively?
Am I appreciating the trade offs I am making in my life?
Am I giving feedback to people around me about how I’m feeling, what I’m thinking and what I want?

Often it’s only when we ask ourselves these questions, that we realise just how much we can control and how much we can strengthen our resilience by making a few simple changes.

WHAT’S OUTSIDE OF YOUR CONTROL?

Of course there are always going to be factors outside of our control that have a big impact on our physical and emotional resilience. But even if you can’t control the situation, you can at least choose how you respond – and you’ll be surprised at how much better this can make you feel. Even in the most difficult circumstances you can choose your response by:

Manage your own expectations – don’t be hard on yourself and don’t expect too much. If you’ve suddenly been made redundant or been part of a major restructure at work; or if you’ve had a death in the family or have taken on caring responsibilities, you’ll be feeling a major impact for some time to come. Be kind to yourself and don’t expect to be able to operate on all four cylinders for the time being.
Setting expectations of those around you – make sure they know what’s going on, and the impact it is having. If there is something you need, don’t be afraid to ask. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Even if they say no, you’re no worse off.
Considering alternatives – in the short term and long term. Is there anything you could do to result in a better outcome for you and the people around you?

It’s been said that that which does not kill us will make us stronger, and this is certainly the case when it comes to resilience. Things will at times seem impossible; obstacles will seem insurmountable. But when the dust has settled, consider what you’ve learned, and what you’ve gained and where you’ve come from: the ability to overcome, to push on, to be a stronger person for the years to come.

Your thoughts?

Win a $3,000 scholarship to participate in WLA's emerging leaders program

Thu, 31 May 2012 05:54:00 GMT

Work in Professional Services? Want to sharpen your leadership skills? Have the XX chromosome? Then you might be interested in the scholarships of up to $3,000 available to women professionals for the WLA Emerging Leaders Program. At a time when the workforce is defined by skill shortages, this program is part of a nationwide initiative to assist Australian organisations to unlock the potential of their frontline and mid-level female managers.

Designed in response to feedback from leading employers and employer groups, the program provides a practice-based platform to enhance the capabilities of existing managers, in preparation for future advancement. For participants, the program offers an opportunity to reflect on their career aspirations and refocus on the next stage of their leadership journey. In addition to inspiring them towards peak performance, the program sets out to assist students to create powerful, life-long connections. Read more about the program here

For a copy of the scholarship application form, contact Nicole Miran-Khan by email or phone her at WLA on 1300 138 037.

Women in Business, Supporting Women's Economic Empowerment - June 6th - Register now

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:19:00 GMT

A special ½ day session with the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and industry (AACCI) Forum and Expo is being held in Sydney on Wednesday 6 June 2012 with the principal objective of supporting women's economic empowerment through trade. One third of Australian businesses are operated by women-yet only 9% of SMEs operated by women export - so if you're a business that has plans to export (or you already are) this is a great forum to get along and benefit from the konwledge being shared in the room.

This session is being held in conjunction with the leading business women's owners organisation, Women Chiefs of Enterprise International (Australia). Confirmed guests include HE Rima Ahmeed Alaadeen, Jordanian Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, and Justine Elliott, Australian Government, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade, Linda Dunkel, Elizabeth Broderick, Yasmina Azhari (Syria), Mahboba Rawi, Dr Leanne Piggott.

Click here to download the program, and here for a full list of speakers and their bios.

For more information and bookings, click here.

We have one complimentary pass to this event to give away, valued at $895. To be in the running to win, post your thoughts about women, business and trade here at our Facebook page. A winner will be drawn on Monday 28th May.

Congratulations to Nikki White at The Heart Of, winner of Suncorp's Helping Hand competition

Thu, 24 May 2012 05:53:00 GMT

A big shout out to my friend and former colleague Nikki White for her winning tip in the Suncorp Bank Helping Hand competition. Nikki is the founder of The Heart Of and is a process guru - so it's no surprise thather top - and winning - tip for running a small business was all about how to streamline processes and procedures to give business owners more freedom and better outcomes.

Nikki has developed a fantastic product to help all small business owners to streamline their business operations by developing their own procedures effectively. You can find out more about it - and her winning tip - here.

Melinda Gates says it's time to put contraception back on the agenda. Your thoughts?

Thu, 24 May 2012 05:08:00 GMT

In her capacity as Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates has seen first hand the challenges women around the world face in owning their health, happiness and opportunity. She is committed to helping women overcome their obstacles to choose a better existence. And so - despite being a practicing Catholic - she recently spoke out about why she thinks we need to rethink access to contraception, particularly in the developing world.

This is a compelling presentation on why choice remains a key issue for women. I'd love you to take a look, and share your thoughts on the politics and practicalities of Gates' suggestion:

Gender Discrimination: speak out, suffer in silence or just move on?

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:57:00 GMT

Have you faced gender discrimination at work? Know someone who has? Did they speak out? And if so, how did that work for them? A storm has erupted over comments on this very issue by Isobel Redmond, Leader of the Opposition in my home State of South Australia, earlier this week. At a women’s event in Adelaide, Ms Redmond fielded a question from the audience asking her advice on the issue. Her response – to the effect that a lawsuit might not be the best response – has been construed by certain commentators as Ms Redmond condoning gender discrimination, which I’m certain is not how it was intended.

News Limited reported Ms Redmond’s comments at the event: “I think it is easier a lot of the time to just try to ignore the discrimination and get on with being the best councillor you can be, or the best whatever it is, and ask intelligent questions and … I think you’ll find the discrimination will just disappear,” and suggested that she went even further, suggesting that women who used legal channels to fight discrimination tended to make people hate them.

Hate them? Strong words? I tend to agree. Look at the outrage heaped against Kirsty Fraser-Kirk when she commenced proceedings against Mark McInness, the former CEO of David Jones. The ire heaped against her when she filed allegations her former boss tried to kiss her and put his hand under her clothes was hard to believe. The case eventually settled out of court and McInnes has gone onto another multi-million dollar CEO role. Fraser-Kirk? At 26 years of age she was virtually unemployable and has attempted to kickstart her career… In Singapore.

What about Christina Rich, the former PwC partner who took on the boys club in her own firm, in a precedent-setting sexual discrimination case? Her business name was so tarnished that she no longer goes by the same surname, and has also had to completely reinvent her career. All the while, who even remembers the men she blew the whistle on?

Jessica Rowe has spoken out against Ms Redmond on The Hoopla today, issueing a call to action that “we need some lionesses to rage about inequality in the workplace.” Rowe then goes on to give three specific instances of gender discrimination or harassment perpetrated against her, and in all three cases she decided not to rage about the inequality.

Let me clearly state my position: gender discrimination or harassment of any sort must not be condoned, ignored or perpetrated. We all have a responsibility to speak out, demand equality and be the change we want to see in the world.

And if we’re all serious about making this a reality, we have to stop – as a society – pointing the finger of blame at the plaintiff when she speaks out.

Likewise, we need to ensure there are easy, expedient and affordable means to blow the whistle. Friends of mine have been caught up in cases that have lasted months and months before resolution was reached. It cost them thousands and thousands of dollars in legal fees, lost income and – I think – reputational impact. Some of them have never returned to the workforce.

Maybe what Isobel Redmond was trying to say is that “there are many ways to skin a cat”: being really good at what you do is one of them; blowing the whistle internally is another; going all the way to a lawsuit is another. Let’s be realistic: they all come with different costs and benefits.

Your thoughts?

7 steps to making money from LinkedIn (and other social media) and MAX your return on investment

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:02:00 GMT

There’s a lot of talk about social media and how we all need to be “connected” for business as well as pleasure, but when I’m asked what I recommend in terms of social media strategy my response is always the same: what is your expected return on investment? That will then drive the level of activity and the platform(s) you choose. For me, my goal is to make $10,000 per month in consulting and speaking business via social networking sites, and I usually achieve it (primarily via LinkedIn). In case you’re thinking about ramping up your social media efforts, here’s a few thought starters on what has worked for me:

Choose your platform wisely. My social media hinges around LinkedIn, which I was an early adopter of and because my target clients are businesses, event planners and gender diversity practitioners in the corporate sphere. These audiences happen to be on LinkedIn. A lot. Some of them are on Facebook, but many aren’t, so it doesn’t make sense for me to put a lot of effort into that. And they’re increasingly on twitter, so I link my twitter and LinkedIn profiles to synchronize updates.
Make your profile work for you. You can start with your CV, but your online profile should be sharp, catchy, BRIEF and targeted to your desired audiences. It should also be relevant to your CURRENT career focus – so while you want to include your work history, don’t go into detail on those areas where you’re not currently attempting to capture market share.
Stand out and be different. Lots of people comment on my LinkedIn tagline – “As the SheEO, I'm obsessed with achieving gender balanced leadership and Australia's thought leader on gender diversity” – which is exactly what I want them to do! They often send me a message like “you’re the first SheEO I’ve met” or “love your passion” or “what a great obsession”. Now chances are you're not a SheEO! But whatever you do, your profile should point out what is unique and different about you, and it should convey your professional value proposition.
Actively look to build your network. To do this you can search and contact former colleagues, study alumni, members of your professional associations or just friends and family. Send invitations, and get involved in their posts. Ask them to “like” or “recommend” you, and do the same for them. Follow Groups/pages/profiles that are a good fit with your target audience. Contribute to discussions that demonstrate your expertise, and attract more followers. Build up brownie points with your followers by giving them your content and expertise, and respecting them as contacts but not necessarily customers (HINT: mass mailing your contacts to directly promote your products and services is generally unappealing in the online world!)
Match your activity with your desired outcomes. If you just want your online profiles to be a simple way to stay connected with your business networks, you obviously won’t need to put in as much effort as I do to generate regular, ongoing revenue. But if revenue is a goal, you'll need to put in some effort. To meet my targets usually involves a weekly blog post, which I link to twitter, LinkedIn and a Facebook business page as updates or posts, usually using Sendible to schedule periodical links to the same article (in case my audience misses it the first time, I give them a couple more chances in the following weeks). I also comment on, or retweet, up to 20 posts from contacts I follow each week, that I consider will be relevant to my followers too. This sharing counts, when it comes to social networks.
Start with one platform, and add others if/when you’re ready. I’m of the view that it’s better to have one solid, active network than several patchy ones and this has certainly worked in my business. So if you’re not using any social media yet, then pick one. Get it right, and then consider whether you add more. I was an early adopter of LinkedIn and have been there since the very early days (there’s currently over 100 million users, and I was the 4,091,343th user to subscribe back in 2005!) So I got this profile active and working for me, before moving on to twitter. Facebook I’ve just started playing with, I’m not on Google+ yet, and I haven’t even looked at Pinterest ! There are other local networks and groups you might subscribe to, like those created by business to capture or encourage your customer engagement. I don’t do much on these, I find that generally the effort doesn’t pay off.
Just get started! Sure, it might seem like a mammoth undertaking but the only way to move forward is to… move forward! If you get stuck, ask for help! Google is your best friend when it comes to the technical questions. And there’s always going to be someone you know who can help you out.

So ... has this prompted any ideas or enthusiasm to get online? Or perhaps you have another tip you can share here?

If this sounds good in theory but you want someone to “help you do it” instead of “telling you how” then let me know – if there’s enough interest I’d be happy to run some tutorials and could do this in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Kuala Lumpur in the coming weeks and months as I have speaking trips (thanks to LinkedIn!) in each of those cities coming up.

Happy connecting!

Competition, all-girl groups and the case for single-sex schooling

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:01:00 GMT

I've been asked in the past whether single-sex schooling is appropriate in a gender balanced world, and being a co-ed kind of girl myself, I wasn't really sure. So I was interested to read the results of this new study which found robust differences between the competitive choices of girls from single-sex and coed schools. The study showed that adolescent girls were 16 percentage points more likely to enter a maze-solving tournament if they were in an all-female group, according to an experiment by Alison Booth and Patrick Nolen of the University of Essex in the UK and Australian National University.

Moreover, girls from single-sex schools behave more like boys even when randomly assigned to mixed-sex experimental groups. Thus it is untrue that the average female avoids competitive behaviour more than the average male. This suggests that observed gender differences might reflect social learning rather than inherent gender traits.

The study, which also shows that girls from single-sex schools choose to enter tournaments more than girls from coed schools, suggests that a girl's environment plays an important role in explaining whether she chooses to compete.

Access the full findings here.

Hilary Clinton: "We don't have a person to waste, and we certainly don't have a gender to waste"

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:32:00 GMT

At last week's National Assembly on Gender Equity & Inclusion in Melbourne I was reminded by Dr Anne Summers of the role Government can and should play in gender equity. As a former adviser to the Prime Minister, Anne Summers knows how to make a point about policy and productivity - and she didn't pull any punches on where she thinks the Government can improve its policies for women and workforce participation. Her reminder that gender equity is a productivity issue was timely, and she suggested we all go away and watch the speech by Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State, at the APEC Summit last year for an eloquent demonstration on the role of women in strengthening any economy.

This speech by Hilary Clinton is - I think - one of her best. If you haven't seen it, click on this photo to view it online. It's full of stats, studies and facts on the advantages of gender balance in leading our businesses, communities, marketplaces and everything in between.

Your thoughts?

RECOMMENDED: Macquarie University’s Women & Leadership Conference: Inspiration and empowerment 12-13 July 2012, Sydney

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:47:00 GMT

I'm planning to attend this year's Macquarie University Women, Management & Work Conference on 12-13 July 2012 - will I see you there? This event event will empower women to take control of their career by building on, and embracing, their full potential to become influential leaders in their field. The theme this year is Inspiration and Empowerment – Creating your future, encouraging women to achieve higher leadership roles throughout Australia.

This two day conference will provide you with practical advice on empowerment, negotiation, social networking, presentation skills, workplace diversity networking, mentoring, and career development. It is considered a key event for women and men who want to drive their own career success and become an influential leader in their field.

Key speakers:

Åse Lunde – Managing Director, Lunde Risk Reduction AB, Sweden
Holly Kramer – Group General Manager, Pacific Brands Workwear Group
Senator Claire Moore – Senator for Queensland, Australian Labor Party
Jenny Morawska – President and CEO, The Morawska Group
Innes Willox, Chief Executive Designate, Australian Industry Group
Rachel Clow – General Manager, Personal Lending, Commonwealth Bank
Robert Rodgers CSM FAHRI – Air Commodore, Director General Personnel, Air Force

Date: 12 – 13 July 2012
Event: Women, Management and Work Conference
Where: Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, 61-101 Phillip St, Sydney

For more information and to book visit www.mm.mq.edu.au/wmwc

5 tips (and loads of links) to help you score a seat at the table as Women on Government Boards hits record high of 35.7 per cent

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Last week The Hon Julie Collins MP, the Minister for Women, released the latest report on Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards. The report – though it took its time in making it’s way into the public arena – is an update on the progress all the federal Government boards and bodies are making towards the target of 40% female representation that was introduced by the Gillard Government. It shows that at 30 June 2011, the percentage of women on Australian Government boards was at 35.3 per cent – an all time high – and eleven portfolios increased the number of women they appointed to Australian Government boards and bodies. So what can you do to ride the wave onto a Government Board?

1. Are you “board ready”? Before going any further it’s a good idea to determine whether you have the skills, experience and suitability for a government board – the Government has prepeared a good checklist which you can access here.

2. If you believe you’ve got what it takes, you can submit your CV to be considered for future vacancies. You also need to complete an AppointWomen Candidate Details Form which you can download here in PDF or RTF format.

3. You can also target those portfolios with the greatest need for gender balance alignment by visiting their websites and watching out for vacancies. So far only four portfolios have met or exceeded the 40% gender balance target:

Attorney-General’s (50.7% women)
Families, Housing, Community Service and Indigenous Affairs (50.4%)
Immigration and Citizenship (50.0%)
Prime Minister and Cabinet (40.3%)

The remaining portfolios all have a ways to go and so if you have skills in any of these areas, it could be time to be on the hunt for opportunities:

Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (36.0% women)
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (35.6%)
Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (33.3%)
Defence (26.9%)
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (36.9%)
Finance and Deregulation (31.1%)
Foreign Affairs and Trade (36.8%)
Health and Ageing (38.2%)
Human Services (33.3%)
Infrastructure and Transport (28.1%)
Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (24.8%)
Prime Minister and Cabinet (40.3%)
Resources, Energy and Tourism (27.3%)
Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (29.5%)
Treasury (27.9%)

(Note: you can download the full report and details on Porftolio composition here)

4. Apart from the Federal boards, there are frequently opportunities on State Government bodies and authorities. Here are some links you can follow to your relevant State vacancy registers:

New South Wales – via Department of Premier & Cabinet
Queensland – via the Department of Premier & Cabinet
South Australia – via sa.gov.au
Tasmania – via the Department of Premier & Cabinet
Victoria – via the Victorian Women’s Register
Western Australia – via the Interested Persons Registry

Note: I was unable to find a centralized service in NT and the ACT – if anyone has suggestions on this I’d love to hear from you!

5. There are other organisations that can help you identify appropriate board vacancies for your skill set, including:

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (subscription fees apply)
Women on Boards (subscription fees apply)
mycareeer.com.au has a board vacancy category
Our Community board matching service – this has a particular emphasis on community and not-for-profit boards

As a final thought, it’s worthwhile considering what you can do to make yourself an attractive target for these Boards. What expertise can you offer and how can you position yourself to be the person they think of when a role becomes available? Of course there are official processes involved in Government Board appointments, but there’s also the opportunity to build a public profile that creates a demand for “Brand You”.

Is this helpful? Do you have any tips you can share? Or even better, if you’ve made your way onto a Government board already I’d love to hear what worked for you!

Awards: The SheEO recognised in 40 Young Business Leaders List

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:45:00 GMT

I am humbled and honoured to be included in the list of 40 Young Business Leaders announced last week by CPA Australia's premier magazine, INTHEBLACK. This recognition is a validation of the need for greater gender balance in our workplaces and communities - work that is clearly needed and that I'm only too happy to chip away with :-)

The judging panel included James Strong, the eminent Australian businessman and Woolworths chairman and John Cahill, CPA Australia President and Chair, and I'm delighted that the critical role of gender balance has been recognised in the Awards process.

Unfortunately though - and I have to say it - only 9 out of the 40 business leaders listed are women. So we have a ways to go here, too. Nonetheless, 22% is better than the female representation on our boards, executive roles and CEO positions...

Click here to view the full list of young business leaders from across the Asia Pacific region.

Women Entrepreneurs: Pitch your way to Silicon Valley! TiE annual pitching comp is on soon!

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:29:00 GMT

TiE Sydney's annual Women Entrepreneurs' Pitching Competition on May 1, 2012 is on again with a fantastic prize to Silicon Valley to attend TiEcon on May 18-20, 2012. TiEcon was named among '10 Best Conferences for Ideas and Entrepreneurship' by Worth magazine alongside TED and the World Economic Forum. This a wonderful opportunity for women entrepreneurs to refine and perfect their pitching skills at a Workshop (April 13, 2012) and pitch in front of experienced entrepreneurs and angel investors to win a great prize.

Don't miss this fantastic event! Registration details and more info here.

Have your say: Significance of the gender divide in the financial services industry

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:23:00 GMT

Finsia is currently conducting follow up research to its 2010 survey of financial service professionals about their perceptions of the gender divide in the financial services industry, and is calling for volunteers to participate by completing an online survey. This year's survey aims to see whether recent policy initiatives to improve gender equity in the industry have resulted in real cultural change.

If you work in the financial services industry, you can click here to complete the survey.

Female recruiters will penalise beautiful women when reviewing job applicants; while handsome men are favored, says new research

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:17:00 GMT

Two economists have released a report that says if a female HR professional receives a resume including a photo from an attractive female applicant, the resume is likely to land in the bin because of jealousy and rivalry. The researchers sent bogus applications to more than 2,500 real job vacancies. For each job, they sent two very similar resumes, one without a photo and one with a photo of either an ‘attractive’ or a ‘plain’ applicant.

The researchers found that while resumes with photos of physically attractive women were far less likely to land an interview than those without a photo, resumes with photos of handsome men were more likely to result in an interview than those who didn’t include a photo.

In this particular study, 93% of the HR staff responsible for hiring were female and the researchers said they tested a range of theories before coming to the conclusion: “Female jealousy of attractive women in the workplace and the negative perception of women (but not men) who include pictures of themselves on their CVs are the primary reasons for the punishment of attractive women.”

Read the full article here at HC Online.

Your thoughts? Have you seen an example of this? I'd love to include some local stories about it in my new book...

Violence Against Women: 1 in 3 Australian women in abusive relationships, 1 woman killed every week by intimate partner. Did you know?

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:01:00 GMT

On Tuesday evening I attended a welcome reception for the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Rashida Manjoo (thanks to UN Women Australia for the invitation, and to Allens Arthur Robinson for hosting this important event). It was – to say the least – depressing. To hear Rasheeda's research findings that femicide is on the increase around the world in developed as well as developing countries. And to be reminded that it’s here, in Australia, too. In Australia, 1 in 3 women are in (or have been in) abusive relationships and 1 woman is killed every week by an intimate partner. Did you know?

I sat and listened to the gloomy statistics. To the stories of violated women in USA being told by Police to “go home or go to the church to get someone to mediate – this isn’t a matter for the courts.” Of women in African nations who live with the low level warfare of sexual violence perpetuated by men in their communities. Of Rasheeda’s opinion that violence against women is simply not a mainstream issue for the societies the UN represents. And I believe her.

As I sat there listening to Rasheeda, I thought back to the talk back radio show I heard last week. A woman named Diane rang in. She sounded like a normal, well educated, middle aged woman and spoke with confidence. So much so, the image in my mind's eye was at a complete disconnect with the point of her call: to complain about the suspensions that had been proposed for two Rugby League players guilty of assaulting their girlfriends.

Diane’s argument? That what people do in their private life should be kept separate from their work – and therefore suspending the players for violence against their girlfriends was out of line. Seriously. I listened, stunned, as did the radio host as he tried to get his head around what Diane was saying. And it was clear, she thought that the public profile of these players should be protected from their personal shortcomings and illegal behaviour.

Unbelievable stuff.

Then I thought back to the story of Catherine Smith aired on Australian Story last year. If you’re not familiar, this is a story of violence and domestic abuse that defies belief. Over 20 years Catherine’s husband, Kevin Smith, attempted to murder his wife and had sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions. He also assaulted and terrorized his children, forcing them to flea, leaving their mother behind. These instances were repeatedly reported to Police who did nothing to protect Catherine and her family. And yet when Catherine finally retaliated, she was charged with her husband's attempted murder.

Kevin Smith was a dreadful man. He was obsessive with Catherine. "He had to find her, he had to have her, he had to control her, he had to own her.", said daughter Vickie. Once when Catherine had escaped, Kevin Smith came looking for her. He kidnapped their son Duncan and held him at gunpoint. He went to jail for the kidnapping, but upon release the State refused to intervene and provide protection to Catherine and her family. Catherine took the matter into her own hands, and bought a gun with the intention of killing her husband. But though she could never pull the trigger, she was charged with her husband's attempted murder.

Catherine was acquitted of the attempted murder, and charges were instead laid against her husband. It took three years – unforgivable given the life sentence she had already served - but Kevin Smith was eventually jailed in November last year for 17 years for raping and torturing his wife. A sentence that was 20 years overdue.

These two women – Diane and Catherine – are the extremes of women and violence. The one condoning the violence that men perpetrate against women; the other suffering at its hands. Both voicing their outrage through the media.

Rasheeda is right: this clearly still isn’t a mainstream issue. But it needs to be.

Your thoughts?

Lifting the lid on sexism in football

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:38:00 GMT

'While football has spent millions of pounds on campaigns to stamp out racism and homophobia from the game, sexism continues to be tolerated – whether that means thousands of fans chanting "slut" at a TV reporter during a live televised game, female employees being barred from meetings and press briefings or the nation being up in arms at the appointment of a woman to do a "man's job".'

My friend Allastair send me the link to this article - football (or soccer) fans will relate, I'm sure, to what this film talking about and why it's time to shift attitudes about women and sport. After all, we're paying customers of the game too!

Events worth attending in BRISBANE for Women in IT and Women on Boards (or aspiring to be!)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:32:00 GMT

I've received invitations to these events in Brisbane which are guaranteed to be great - pity I can't make it this time but I will be there in August for an event with CPA Australia - stay tuned for the invitations to that one!

The inaugural Women in IT - Ernst & Young ICT City Breakfast Series is being held in Brisbane on Tuesday 8th May with guest speaker Maureen Klinkert, Director of IT Services at the University of the Sunshine Coast. This is a great networking opportunity for women in the telecommunications and technology sectors, and having been involved in the Sydney series for over a year now I can highly recommend the forum and format. Tickets are just $38 or $23 for WIT members - so they will sell out fast! Book online here.

Women On Boards is holding its Learning with Leaders Lunch at The Hilton in Brisbane on 17th May - with a fantastic panel including a CEO, an entrepreneur and a new ASX Director. They have each been asked to speak about their personal leadership journey, the key influencers in their lives and lessons learnt. Find out more and register here. Discounts are available for Women On Boards subscribers.

Do you have an event to recommend? If so I'd love to hear about it - do drop me a line with all the details!

Join the Face It Facebook Campaign: How 7 white male board members is defriending women

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:02:00 GMT

Since I wrote in February about the Facebook IPO and complete lack of women on the Facebook board, it seems a lot of others have been standing up and demanding to be heard on the same issue. Women, after all, make up the majority of Facebook users and they're not happy with the all-white-male board put together by Mark Zuckerberg. The response: the Face It Campaign.

The Face It Campaign is encouraging women to sign the petition, join in the conversation on facebook and twitter... and spread the word. I'm doing all of those things becauseas one of the 58% of facebook's users who has the XX chromosome, I demand to be represented!

Why don't you join in too - and help spread the word. Because we're worth it.

Heart disease is the biggest single killer of women. Only by forgetting what we know about men, can we treat women successfully

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:39:00 GMT

I came across this fantastic TED talk by Dr Noel Bairey Merz on the single biggest health threat women face: heart disease. Did you know that one out of two women will be impacted by cardio vascular disease in their lifetime and that since 1984 up to four times more women than men have died from heart disease in the USA and around the world?

Heart disease is a woman's disease now - while the mortality line for men has been steadily decreasing because more has been understood about the symptoms men display and how to treat them. These diagnostic and therapeutic strategies were developed in men, by men, and for men in the last 50 years, and it turns out they weren't working for women.

The thing with heart disease is that it kills more women of all ages than breast cancer - due to the success of the breast cancer campaign, breast cancer mortality is down to 4%. But with heart disease, usually the first time it strikes in men and women, there is a 50% chance of death.

In terms of treating women for heart disease, Dr Noel Bairey Merz talks about the Yentl Syndrome which was first hypothesised by a Dr Healy in the 1980s. This theory was based on the role Barbara Streisand portrayed in Yentl, as a woman who wanted to be educated. To have access to education, she had to impersonate a man, in order to have the same rights as a man.

Healy realised that with heart disease, women and men were not being treated the same - because women were dying of heart disease two or three or four times as much as men. She asked if it was a Yentl Syndrome - women were getting different access to treatments than men, because they looked different, and their symptoms looked different.

So as a result of this, for the past 15 years there has been a specific study on women and heart disease - and that's identified that women have very different physiological symptoms and causes of heart attacks. It's only since these differences between men and women have been understood that advances have been made in the mortality rate of women. It's fascinating, check this out:

You know, it seems to me like this is a great example of how when you start looking at the subtle differences between men and women, you get a much, MUCH better outcome.

In the health context, it's saving lives. In the work context, it's keeping women in the workplace, improving their productivity, delivering a better return on society's investment in educating women, and delivering stronger results for business.

Hmmm... food for thought.

So what's your take?

RECOMMENDED: The National Assembly on Gender Equity & Inclusion - in MELBOURNE - 19th April 2012

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:49:00 GMT

If gender balance is a priority in your business and you're truly committed to harnessing the full potential of your female talent, you can't afford to miss this event in Melbourne in April. With a star studded line up of speakers and experts - from business leaders to journalists to politicians - this is your chance to hear first hand what is working in organisations that are winning the war for female talent, and learn about best practice strategies, policies and programs that are getting real results.

You can download the full conference brochure here - including the line up of speakers and program.

I'll be at this important event in Melbourne and would love to see you there! (if you are attending, please let me know so that we can arrange to catch up over lunch!)

Women’s rights are human rights: touching tribute as Meryl Streep introduces Hillary Clinton

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:37:00 GMT

“It’s not a simple job to be a role model” says Meryl Streep. This is a great tribute and informational piece on how Hillary Clinton has changed the lives of women all over the world – and how her influence on the policies of USA are creating real change in governments all over the world.

Enjoy this one – it’s beautiful.

Can I ask a favour? Please join Women in Focus and comment on my blog there...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:34:00 GMT

Ok this is a bit naughty and certainly against the rules of The SheEO Blog... but I'd love your indulgence in doing me a personal favor... all in the name of a competition, of course! I've joined Women in Focus and started a blog for their New York Fashion Week competition writing about my life on the farm. Could you do me a favor and sign up to Women in Focus and post a comment on my blog here?

It will take just a couple minute of your time - and if you're an animal lover or a fan of the wide open spaces you might even enjoy reading about me drenching sheep or mustering cows or training my donkeys... Thanks in advance - if I win the trip to New York Fashion week I'll bring you back some great stories to share!

Oh, and signing up to Women in Focus is free. Designed by and for women in business, it's a place to be inspired, informed or connected with other business women. Get tips and ideas from successful business women and those building the blocks for success, join discussions, ask questions, share insights, exchange opinions and connect with other members of the community.

Abbott’s nanny plan – can we all just calm down and get clear on the facts?

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:27:00 GMT

Ever since Tony Abbott, leader of the Opposition, announced his plan last weekend to consider an extension of the childcare rebate to include in-home carers – or nannies – there’s been a flurry of activity, criticism, misinformation and debate from politicians, journos and the general public. Perhaps it’s time we all took a deep breath and considered the reality of his proposition.

Last year on International Women’s Day I launched a petition – Make Care Fair – to get childcare back onto the political agenda. It came after research I conducted into the impact of childcare on women’s careers – 48% of women said the cost of childcare negatively hit their career but not their partner’s career.

And after almost two years of researching, talking about and reporting on childcare options for Australian families, I know that a lot more. I also know that what Abbott is proposing is exactly what hundreds and thousands of Australians have told me they want (in my earliest research 86% of women said they would give their vote to the party with a better policy on childcare for working families – it’s clearly a hot public issue).

Yet Kate Ellis, Minister for Childcare, has dismissed Abbott’s suggestions as nothing more than middle class welfare, a thought bubble. "I think that when we have a look at nannies we see that they're often chauffeurs, they're often chefs . . . some of them do ironing, some of them do the washing and the household chores," said Ellis on Tuesday. “This new policy is undeveloped and uncosted and will hit hard-working, low-income families who rely on childcare the hardest."

This kind of politicking drives me crazy. Who is it really appealing to? And how does it help families, kids or the productivity of Australia?

I know absolutely - from my research and experience – that there are too many myths and misconceptions about childcare and nannies and the haves and the have-nots. It’s time we set the record straight.

Myth #1: Nannies are for the super-rich. Wrong. I’ve received 2,000 signatures and comments on the Make Care Fair petition and many of the contributors paint a picture of working class families who are struggling – financially, emotionally and logistically. One woman told me she sold the family car to pay for childcare (the bond payment just to SECURE a childcare place is in the thousands of dollars at some centres). Many former defence force personnel said they left work because they couldn’t find childcare to suit their working hours. And hundreds of regular, working class families have commented saying they use nannies and in-home care because it’s the only option given their long commute times, the impossibility of navigating pre-school wait lists or of holding down a full time job when work hours and school hours are at a complete mismatch.

Myth #2: The current system is affordable and works. Wrong. Ask anyone what the greatest obstacle is to getting back to work after kids, and they’ll tell you it’s the availability of quality, affordable care. The waitlists for daycare places are out of control. The number of parents who’ve told me they cannot get places in their local daycare centres is stunning. Unless of course you can actually choose the hours and days that you work – and therefore take an odd random day that might be available – which most of us can’t). Dozens of nurses have told me they couldn’t work – even part time – after having kids because no childcare centres open for shift workers’ hours (and in any case who wants to take their child to an unfamiliar place while they’re doing night shift?) And as to affordability – yes if you’re on the lowest income levels you’ll get government subsidization of your fees. Anyone above the “average” income will pay full tote odds, which means upward of $140 per child per day in major capital cities. No wonder parents tell me that it’s not worth it – financially – for the second parent to work once childcare is factored in. Even when that second parent WANTS to continue her career.

Myth #3: Government knows best. Wrong. Parents know what’s best for their family, always have and always will. Many policy makers say that daycare centres are better for kids than the “unregulated care” that nannies provide. For the record, I’m a fan of the daycare system – which is why I currently spend 3 hours daily driving my son to and from pre-school in the nearest country town. But it doesn’t cover the after business hours requirements of my work – or the times when I’m required to travel – and I know many of you are in the same boat. And for some parents, in-home care is the only option that brings the peace of mind they need to perform well at work. Particularly with very young children who are still building their immunity, and in the early days as parents transition back to work and get used to leaving their little ones. If parents seek more individualized service, in line with their needs, during these times then who’s to say it’s a bad thing?

Myth #4: Childcare support – and nanny rebates – devalue the role of stay at home parents. Rubbish. According to some, Tony Abbott’s suggested review of the childcare system denies parents the choice of staying at home and raising their children themselves. “Why would anyone want to raise their own children if they could hire a nanny to do it for them?” This is just nonsensical. Parents who choose to stay out of the workforce while raising their kids do so for a variety of reasons, mostly personal, and no one is saying they can’t do that. And if others choose to work – and get a fraction of their costs back through the rebate system – well why should it (or would it) influence another parent’s choices. But here’s the thing: working and raising kids are not mutually exclusive. It’s 2012 – not 1950 – and we need to stop judging, take perspective and have faith in the choices we make. Irrespective of what others think, say or do.

Myth #5: Childcare support is just middle class welfare. Read any of the articles on this issue and you’ll always find comments posted along the lines of “parents choose to have kids; why should society pay for it?” Well that depends on what you’re asking society to pay for. A Joint Senate Committee into Childcare in 2006 found that for every $1 the Government spent in this area, they get back $1.86 in revenue from improved participation rates. So it does make financial sense. Limiting childcare support to those on low or no incomes removes an important incentive to get higher earners back into the workforce and contributing to the tax-funded system in the first place. But remember, it’s just an incentive, a token gesture: at present the childcare rebate is 50% of fees paid, to a MAXIMUM amount of $7500 per year. The full amount of childcare fees is not covered – which in the case of a full time place in a childcare centre will be over $30,000 per child per year (from after tax earnings) in our major cities. A nanny costs a lot more and NO ONE is considering for a moment that the full amounts be covered by the tax payer.

I could continue for days on this issue – and I haven’t even touched on the reasons why women would CHOOSE to work after kids (there are many and it’s a separate issue to why we should support that desire on their part).

Really, let’s open our eyes and ears on this issue and consider why so many have said they support Abbott’s suggestion of a complete rethink on childcare. Without doubt, it’s time.

Join Womens Network Australia and get a free DVD copy of The Help

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:00:00 GMT

Women's Network is a membership-based organisation that empowers women to reach their full potential in business. With over 15,000 members, it has been educating, guiding and supporting women in their pursuit of success for over two decades, helping them to turn their start up or newly founded businesses into profitable enterprises.

Members of WNA enjoy a balanced range of activities and benefits which are supported by live networking events with free trade tables to promote your business, the ability to publish articles in the Networks's Working Women magazine, loads of online services, educational forums and consulting services. The trade and referrals between Members is one of WNA's most recognised and valued benefits.

I've been a member of Women's Network for years now and can vouch for the sense of community that founder Lynette Palmen has created and the strong business focus that underpins its operations. If you'd like to join, you sign up today and receive a free DVD copy of The Help. And Lynette loves to know where referrals are coming from - and makes a point of telling me whenever one of my referrals signs up - so please put my name (Jen Dalitz) as the referring member on your application form.

Is it time we did away with International Women’s Day?

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 02:36:00 GMT

Women around the world today will be celebrating at morning teas and lunches to mark the occasion of the 101^st International Women’s Day. That’s a good thing, right? Well that depends. If the celebration is to recognise the contribution of women, it’s a good thing. If you want to improve the status quo for women, and mark real change and progress towards gender balance in your workplace, and community, I would argue that a once-a-year celebration does more harm than good, it creates a perception that people care about change without actually doing much.

Here in Australia we know that:

Women outnumber men in our universities and comprise more than half of business, commerce, economics, accounting and law graduates – the feeder disciplines to leadership roles in business and government – and have done for more than 2 decades.
We’ve had a female Prime Minister, Governor General, Governors and Premiers, not to mention Local, State and Federal representatives and ministers
We’ve had legislation that outlaws sexual discrimination for almost 30 years and enhancements in legislation to support women who balance families and careers.

And yet,

Women comprise only 33% of Government boards, 13% of the board directors on our public companies, only 8% of key executive roles, 3% of CEOs, and 2% of company chairs
Despite legislation that mandates flexibility for working parents, 30% of women say their career has been negatively impacted by having children and 24% say its not economically viable to work after paying for childcare
And women continue to work for only 83cents for every dollar their equivalent male counterparts earn

In a former life I worked as a business consultant in a global professional services firm. I’ve managed my share of change management programs and the one thing I know for sure is that change doesn’t happen just because the launch date has arrived. Sustainable change requires ongoing, organisation-wide commitment, day in and day out.

If we are to see an improvement on the economic empowerment of women in Australia, of the representation of women in leadership roles in our workplaces and communities, and in the productivity and engagement of women in our workplaces, more needs to be done every day. Not just today.

So what’s the alternative to a day of global recognition? It has to be a world of constant recognition of the role that women play, and the rights of women who comprise 51% of the world's population.

Every single woman needs to become an everyday activist for the rights of women to enjoy equal pay, equal career opportunities and equal access to board and leadership positions. As Wendy McCarthy AO has said - and done - you can make activism a part of your every day life. So ask for a payrise. Ask what your peers are being paid. Demand flexible work arrangements, under the Fair Work Act. Speak out in meetings. Start a petition. Say what’s on your mind – out loud! Just do it, no more apathy, no more holding back.

Almost every single company CEO and Chairman needs to appoint more women to their leadership teams and boards. How much is enough? If you’ve reached 50 percent, this won’t be your number one priority. But otherwise, just do it. If you’re one of the 87 Chairman of ASX200 companies that has no women on your board – make it the next thing you do. And don’t say you can’t find the women – they are out there! Women on Boards has a database of over 13,000 women, many of whom are qualified, educated and experienced and just looking for the right opportunity. The Premier’s office in almost every State has a similar database. Blogs like this one have a following of senior and experienced businesswomen in the tens of thousands. LinkedIn groups like Executive Women Australia has over 5,000 members that regularly discuss the barriers they face in their senior roles and appointments. The women aren’t hiding – we’re here and we’re up for it. We just need the chance.

In your business, you must create a culture in which everyone feels equally valued, regardless of their gender, the hours they work or the role that they hold. Ask yourself: when I’m allocating the salaries and bonuses in my team, do I reward part timers proportionately with full timers? Are there career paths for everyone? Do I pay people equally, for performing equivalent roles with equivalent skills?

And the media has a role to play. Too often women are left out of important public debate. Too often men are cast as the experts, the opinion makers, the ones who have a voice. Well that need not be the case. Women for Media is a new initiative launched today aimed at increasing the voice of women in Australian media. A free resource for journalists seeking expert comment on Australian business, finance and social issues, journos can now use the Women for Media website to find a source, access their details or send an automated interview request.

In this interview for the Australian School of Business, I’ve pointed out that there’s no silver bullet for creating gender balance in our workplaces. It’s a hard slog, and got to be a year round effort.

So yes – International Women’s Day is a great way to recognise the contribution that women all around you are making. So do it, for sure. But don’t let this be all that you do this year to create a world of gender balance around you.

Your thoughts?

Half The Sky - IWD celebration of women and music in Melbourne 8th March

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:50:00 GMT

If you're in Melbourne, here's an event you'll love! The 2012 International Women’s Day concert Half the Sky will be a classy cabaret-style night with a high-voltage line-up of vocal, cabaret and comedy artists - including Rachel Berger, Deborah Conway & Willy Zygier, Vika & Linda Bull, Batalie Pa'apa'a, Tina Del Twist, Flap!, The Sunshine Sisters and Briony Mackenzie... All proceeds from Half the Sky go to International Women’s Development Agency’s work with women across Asia and the Pacific.

Date: Thursday 8th March, 2012
Time: Doors Open at 7.00pm, Concert 8.00pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Forum Theatre, 154 Flinders Street, Melbourne

Click here to secure your tickets.

Tickets from $40 each.

Celebrate with Women in Focus - International Women's Day lunch in Sydney - 9th March

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:35:00 GMT

Our friends at Women in Focus are hosting a special event to celebrate the 101st International Women’s Day in Sydney on 9th March - with all ticket proceeds going to the Sydney Women's Fund. A panel of speakers - including Catherine Burn, Deputy Commissioner, New South Wales Police Force and Telstra Business Woman of the Year 2011; Kalinda Griffiths, Indigenous Health Researcher and NT Young Australian of the Year 2011; and Ronni Kahn, CEO, OZHarvest will discuss what we can do to empower women in our most vulnerable sectors to fulfil their potential both economically and socially, and Sandra Sully will MC.

Date & Time: 12:00-2:00pm, Friday 9 March 2012
Venue: Commonwealth Bank – Level 19, 201 Sussex St, Sydney

Tickets: $80 - all proceeds go to the Sydney Women’s Fund

I'll be there - if you'd like to join me, please click here to register.

Recognising mums of another stolen generation - Senate Committee releases Forced Adoption recommendations

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:36:00 GMT

Did you catch this week's Four Corners program on the forced adoption practices in Australia? (If you missed it, you can watch it on iView here - it's absolutely brilliant journalism by the FourCorners team.) The program covered the policies and practices relating to forced adoption in Australia and the tragic human impact of five decades of soul-destroying interventions of government and adoption agencies (read here: the churches). I admit to having a very sleepless night after watching it.

In case after case, mothers revealed stories of lives and dreams shattered as babies were taken from them at birth, of the life sentences they have carried, and of the loss and guilt they've been burdened with. Why? Because our society deemed them unfit, unworthy and shameful for an act that was simply unforgivable at the time: falling pregnant outside of wedlock.

The stories of women coerced into signing adoption papers, often under the influence of sedatives administered to induce compliance; of families implicit in the heartless practices, sending their young daughters "away" to convents and homes during their confinement; of case workers trained to convince women they were incapable of giving their children a "good life"; of hospital staff who facilitated the trauma.

These young mums were convinced by everyone around them that they were the source of unforgivable shame; yet what happened to them is one of the most shameful chapters of Australia's young history.

As a mother I found it incomprehensible that other mums were considered incapable of looking after their babies, purely because they weren't married. That these mums were forbidden from seeing and holding their new babies before they were taken from them is galling. Of course there was a bond that could never be broken, even if these mums were never to see their children grow. Notwithstanding the love that most adopting parents shower on their babies, when you create another living being you give a part of yourself to them forever and I really get this. So as I watched the program I held my young son, asleep next to me, and sobbed silently.

On Wednesday the Senate committee investigating forced adoption practices released it's findings and recommendations, core of which is the need for a formal public apology and funding for support groups for those affected by these practices.

So why does this matter in 2012? With so much water under the bridge, can't we just move on? Does it really matter what happened all that time ago? The answer is absolutely yes - it matters a lot. It matters because these practices reflect society's views at the time of women, our role, our rights and our responsibilities - or lack thereof. And there's a part of that still in the our socity's attitudes toward women today.

We need to reflect on what happened in the past, so that we can understand where Australian women have come from, the burden of past practices, and the pain that endures long after the act.

If you or someone close to you was involved in a forced adoption, my thoughts and feelings are with you. May you experience love, compassion and empathy as a result of the Senate Report, and may you heal in time and be at peace with yourself. I cannot imagine the pain you've endured, but I can imagine a world that supports your healing.

Telstra Business Awards - nominate your own business or one that you admire

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Two years ago my business sphinxx was a finalist in the Telstra Business Awards and it was an experience that I'll always remember. The process of being involved with an elite group of business operators; the reflection on my own business and its future direction (I changed path significantly after the awards); and just being part of the alumni community are all part of the reward. So if you are running your own business, or know someone who is kicking goals in theirs, why not nominate them now for the 2012 Telstra Business Awards?

The nomination process is really simple - just click here, enter a few simple details, and you're done. In fact while I was typing up this blog, I logged a nomination in just 30 seconds. Easy peasy!!

So go on... what are you waiting for? Let's make sure that plenty of women are in the running this year!

Who wants to be the Prime Minister? And who'd want to be the second female PM?

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:00:00 GMT

A lot can happen in a week! Although it seems like much more than a week has passed since Kevin Rudd arrived back in Australia after his abrupt resignation as Foreign Affairs Minister to announce his intention to run again for the top job. Apart from all the rain and flood warnings (I'm ready to trade the farm ute for an inflatable after more rain in one day that we have in a month!), we've had to endure a downpouring of media reports and speculation on the Labor leadership challenge, victory by Prime Minister Gillard, the cabinet reshuffle with Bob Carr's appointment as Foreign Affairs Minister, etc etc etc

Which got me thinking... who'd want to be Prime Minister? And more to the point, as Anne Summers so eloquently put it, who'd want to be Australia's second female PM? One of Australia's pre-eminent authors and feminists, Summers is well placed to comment on the public perception of our Prime Minister and why we tend to obsess about "her hair, her clothes, her make-up, her voice".

Let's see what the media have to say now about Julia Gillard's cabinet appointments (or rather, the Bob Carr appointment, since that's probably all we'll hear about...)

That is, if there's anyone still listening....

Your thoughts?

Would you like Wineselectors Offer: Receive four FREE crystal wine glasses worth $60 when you order

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Despite the flood chaos at the farm this week, there is light at the end of the tunnel for my weekend. Because my favorite delivery has arrived: my WineSelectors box! What started out as a simple airport romance... I was on a work trip, waiting for a delayed flight and I saw the wine sampler just outside my departure gate... has turned into an enduring love affair! Why?

There's a few good reasons:

1. They deliver to my door - which is no mean feat when you live on a farm where mail is delivered only 3 times a week and all the letterboxes are in a row at the start of our laneway (ok well they don't deliver the wine to my door, but the calling card tells me when to go to the post office!)

2. They have good wine. Unlike the other wine clubs I've tried in the past, you don't just get the bulk order mass marketed wines. You get lots of boutique varieties from different regions, like the WA and SA regions I love the most, along with a gorgeous magazine that all my visitors love reading.

3. They look after my friends and family with special offers when they order - which my sisters in particular thought was fantastic :-) This month, for example, you get four free European crystal wine glasses from Schott Zwiesel valued at $60.

4. I get a gift too when I refer friends - which isn't why I refer people, but is nice to be recognised. Especially for women, because we're good at referring products that we really like and use.

5. You can cancel at any time, without penalty or obligation. Which I like the idea of (and which I think is one of the reasons why the quality remains so good!)

6. They have other special offers and discounts available via the WineSelectors website that you can access once you're a member. Great for if you're planning a special event or function.

So if you've been thinking of joining a wine club - or you have a special event coming up that you need to cater for - I can definitely recommend WineSelectors and their delivery service. No obligation of course, it's just a service I know and love, and thought you might too...

Is there another service you love and would recommend? Why not share the details here on the blog...

Why Your Next (Tech) Board Member Should Be A Woman

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:42:00 GMT

Good questions have been asked lately of tech companies without gender diversity on their boards of directors. While women comprise 51% of the population, they make up only 15.7% of Fortune 500 boards of directors, less than 10% of California tech company boards, and 9.1% of Silicon Valley boards.

Why add a 30-something female to a male board with an average age of 58? Mike Maroone, AutoNation’s President and COO explained, “We looked at our board [and realized] it’s male dominated, while women make over 50% of the purchasing decisions in our business. And, the travel, music and news industries have been transformed by digital. We’re trying to transform the auto business and connect with the thinking of the digital generation, and we need this level of insight at the board level.”

Read the Tech Crunch article here

Friday Freebie: Win a double pass to We Will Rock You - Tribute to Queen - Sydney 2nd March

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:00 GMT

If you're a Queen fan then get in quick for this one... I have one double pass on offer to this event after work next Friday 2nd March - valued at $138.

Not sure if you've been to the Taronga Zoo twilight concerts before, but it's a very relaxed affair - perfect for meeting new friends with the Harbor as the backdrop - and I'd love you to join me.

Bring a friend, bring your picnic basket, bring your singing voice and dancing shoes...

The winner will be drawn on Monday 27th Feb - to be in the running simply contact me before then!

Women make better leaders in turbulent times: true or false?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:15:00 GMT

New evidence suggests that women may be better than their male counterparts in improving employee morale, motivation and performance – crucial factors that can enhance chances of organizations survival in turbulent times - according to Shabeer Ahmad on ChiefExecutive.net

Ahmad says that during turbulent times, "a management style that is more characteristic of women leaders really produces positive results", and that this is because:

Collaboration becomes vital if the organization is to capture all ideas and opinions to ensure that the best possible course is taken. Women consult more with their peers and teams than men.
Showing empathy when people are distraught will provide stability in the workplace. Women are better at expressing empathy than men.
Similarly, responding to people’s emotional needs will ensure that they continue to perform under pressure – and women are much better at using emotions in a positive way.
Women also tend to reduce or avoid hierarchical layers and to short-circuit communication channels, and this leads to improved trust and better communication.
Being less aggressive will ensure that risk is reduced. Women take fewer risks than men so the organization’s chances of survival are higher.

What's your take: true or false?

Women on Boards announces new "traffic light index" of progress on gender diversity on ASX200

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:28:00 GMT

A new report out today from Women on Boards has found that 36% of top ASX200 companies surveyed have made no progress towards Australia's ASX corporate governance guidelines on gender diversity. A total of 82 companies from the ASX200 were surveyed to evaluate their response to the guidelines and progress in achieving a gender diverse workplace. Key findings included:

Companies in the ASX100 are working harder on diversity than those in the ASX101 to ASX200 (called the ASX200
The banks are leading the way in Australia, with the big four getting a green light, and Suncorp-Metway and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank close behind with the top level amber rating of 2.3.
Other sectors doing well include diversified financials, telecommunications, transportation and insurance.
Real estate, food, beverage and tobacco are making progress as are some in the energy sector although only three (AGL, Caltex and Origin) scored above 2.1.
Commercial and professional services, consumer services and the big retailers Myer and David Jones rated poorly
The materials sector is very much in the red zone when it comes to diversity with the exception of the two big miners, BHP and Rio Tinto, and OZ Minerals.
There was little correlation between the numbers of female directors of a company and its overall rating.

The full survey results can be downloaded here from the Women on Boards website.

Women, work and leadership – will history repeat itself?

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:18:00 GMT

Thanks to those of you who commented on my post last week about Facebook shunning women on its board (and this follow up post), and my boycott request. This comment from Katie I think is worth discussing, because it’s possibly been on your mind too: “I like the idea in isolation, but in the bigger context... Not sure I get it... So will you also close down your bank accounts and associations with any other organisations who don't have women on their boards? Facebook appears to be your target because it is relatively easy. Interested in your thoughts.”

It’s a great point, Katie, and my response is an emphatic YES!! That is actually precisely what I’ve been advocating for over the past five years since I began this blog. And now, more than ever, there’s never been a better time for women to vote with their feet and their purse strings.

As a consumer, I question the logic of a company that fails to include representation on its board from its majority of users: women. Recent research by Macquarie Bank shows that 74% of women make or share all of the financial decision-making in Australian households. If a business wants to tap into this 74% of buyers, it needs to really know them well. Not just a little bit. Not just in passing. But really know them, their behaviours, their habits, what they like and dislike, how they’re likely to respond…

I believe that’s one of the reasons that companies with more women on their boards have a return on shareholders equity up to 44% higher – because they are tapping into their customers more effectively.

The Facebook example to me was worth singling out: not because it’s an easy target (actually I think the opposite is true – who can argue that Facebook hasn’t been successful? Yet who’s to say it couldn’t be a better organisation if it had more diversity in its strategic thinking?) But to me, Facebook is a perfect example of why it is wrong to assume that the future will be different for women in leadership simply because GenY will demand more.

We all know that a major barrier to progression for women in established business is the history: that most organisations were created by men, for the men who worked there, and women have had to find a way to fit into this model.

Yet the assumption that Gen Y will likely provide “the sea change we’ve hoped for” I think is flawed, and Facebook is living proof that nothing will change the gender imbalance in leadership without conscious change. If we don't consiously seek change, then I think that women are at a serious danger of history repeating itself.

There’s also an equity issue here: do you want to support businesses that aren’t giving women the same opportunities as men? For me, that is important and so – yes Katie – I would close my bank accounts if the organisations I currently bank with decided to remove women from their Boards. I hope that you would too.

I’ve put out the call to action before to understand which companies you have an interest in (directly or via your super funds), to boycott those companies with no women on their boards, to attend AGMs and ask the question “where are the women”. And generally to expect gender balance for all the advantages it delivers.

My guess is that women don’t understand just how much power they hold, how much opportunity they have to drive change.

The question is, are you prepared to do something with it?

Your thoughts?

We're at it again... JOIN ME for NETWORKING WITH A TWIST! With Queen Tribute on Sydney Harbor - 2nd March

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:34:00 GMT

Hot off the back of our Bjorn Again ABBA TRIBUTE NIGHT, we're mixing business with pleasure again with another fun networking opportunity. This time it's a tribute to Queen, at the Twilight Concert at Taronga Zoo series on Friday 2nd March at 7pm. I've organised another group booking so if you missed out last time, get in quick and book here.

What could be better? A fun get together, a chance to share some news, make new friends and just enjoy a fun night out on Sydney Harbour. Bring a picnic basket and blanket - or buy your food and wine there.

There's only 16 tickets available... so book now if you're up for a bit of Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody... who knows you might even find Somebody To Love right there!!

Happy Valentines Day :-) sending you roses and cupid and definitely no Facebook hearts

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:32:00 GMT

Ahhhh... The roses... The romance... Whether you love it or hate it, Valentines Day is upon us again. I love this day, not because I've been a serial recipient of the roses kind (though I nearly fell over last night when my man arrived home with the goods - in advance of a work trip today - unbelievable!!) - but it's the acts of love I see around me that make me smile :-)

To be clear, I've received roses on Valentine's Day 4 times now in my almost 40 years. So it's not an expectation. But thinking back to my city days, I loved walking the streets at lunchtime on Valentines Day, seeing the blokes carrying flowers for their girls... seeing the girls wide eyed and broad smile carrying their booty. The sparkle in their eyes of having something to take back to the office and onto their desk. Ahhhh... that's sweet!

Now if that's really not your cup of tea, not to worry I'm sending some good wishes and love anyway. And of course a red rose... to everyone except Facebook of course, who I am boycotting today for their boycott of women on their board... In that, I ask you to join me... otherwise today it's each to their own...

Seen a job ad like this one lately? Might not work for some of you...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:22:00 GMT

My LinkedIn buddy Connie is always sending me thought starters for the day... and I couldn't help but share this one. Have you come across a job ad like this one lately?

(Click on the image for a full-size view)

So is it just me... or is there something wrong with this picture??

Q: I was also hoping you might have some advice on how to return to work and put children in care?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:58:00 GMT

Q: I was also hoping you might advise how best to approach what is a bad situation - how do you suggest parents proceed when it comes time to return to work and put their child/ren in care? I realise there's no magic bullet but some good advice would help balance the depressing reality! Thanks, Karen

A: Ahhhh… yes well there are a few issues here Karen to be aware of:

finding childcare that you’ll be happy with
finding a job/employer that will take you after a significant career break or time out of the workforce
getting the stars and the planets to align so that you can syncronise points 1 and 2 above.

So the dilemma is that it’s incredibly difficult to commit to a preschool or early learning centre place that will cost you upwards of $120 per day per child until you’ve got a job lined up… and of course you won’t be able to start a job until you get your childcare sorted. Classic Catch22.

The alternate is to go down the nanny route… even as an interim arrangement... though I chose not to because I preferred the structure and multi-staff team at centre and was able to juggle days to meet availability (I have over the past 6 months started using Au Pairs though to help with drop offs, errands, babysitting etc and that works really well)

I’m sure there will be some clever tips on this from readers – but in the meantime this is what I did…

I went to the CareForKids website and found all the local centres in my area that had vacancies, and that had programs that met my needs (this is pretty easy to determine – just check their accreditation details).

I then went on a tour of duty, visiting all the centres and checking out what the staff were like (you’ll get a gut feel right away on which centres you will feel happy with, where you can leave your children to be safe, have fun, learn and make friends – all the things we love about our jobs apply to our kids too while we’re at work)

Then comes the hard bit… they won’t all have vacancies so you’ll have to go on wait lists which can involve paying application fees for the privilige. I decided to just bite the bullet and pay a waitlist fee for my preferred centre; and then I took a spot at my second choice in the meantime.

Then I declared this would be a positive experience for us all, and I started organising work. By the way it was a huge weight off my shoulders once I met and got to know the carers at my son's early learning centre, they adored him and I adored them for it :-)...

Now… if you have your own business, or a flexible job to go back to, you are in the box seat in terms of fitting in with the days the centre has available, versus the days you want to work.

If on the other hand you’re applying for a new job, well… good luck!

I’m sorry to say that in my experience, parents returning to work are just not the first choice for recruiters. Not really the second or third choice actually. So you’ll be pushing up hill.

Why do I say this?

Last year, after my son had turned 2 years old, I had an idea that maybe a return to the corporate world was in order. Being in frequent contact with a few recruiters that I send candidates to, I decided to put the word out that if a good opportunity came along I’d be up for it…

Within the space of days I had a number of interviews lined up, mostly in financial services which is my background, all involving senior management or executive level roles. The first interviews (with very senior exec and direct report) went pretty well; second interviews (with peers to the role), less so.

“What have you been doing during your time off?” they start (building a blog with 68,000+ page views per month, winning awards in my own business, running a farm, raising my son.....)

“Why would you be prepared to take on this role with all the experience you’ve had – it's more junior and doesn’t pay as much as your last role?” (yes, according to the recruiters I’d have to halve my last paycheck to get back on the treadmill – and take a lesser role - which I was prepared to do, I said, because I’m sure I can make up for lost time pretty quickly…)

“So how old is your son then?” (ok so here we go down the mummy track again….) And the conversation stops soon after that.

For one position, I had 2 interviews, then never heard back with a yes or a no (it obviously wasn’t a yes so I didn’t pursue the paid employment idea any further, but there you go…)

By this stage I decided not to go to any more interviews, it was clearly a waste of time or it at least felt that way... And I'm sure this happens to many women. But don't let that stop you!!

For a few tips on finding an employer that values parents, perhaps try:

starting with the EOWA employer of choice citations
asking in interviews for examples of people you will work with who work flexibly
is there an onsite childcare centre? Or vacation care program?
enquiring whether you can buy extra days of leave to help with school holiday coverage?
asking how the team celebrate milestones? (if its at the pub on Friday night you’re probably going to struggle to fit in…) and
try meeting with potential team members at their desk to see if photos or other symbols are present as an indication that kids are not a career impediment?

Look, it's just not as easy as applying for a when you have no caring responsibilities because the employer knows - quite rightly - that they'll be playing second fiddle on occasions if your child is sick, at special events, on school holidays etc.

Sure, there are some enlightened employers who don't mind this... I just say "good luck" in finding them!

Good luck with it!!

Your thoughts? Has something worked for you? Any tips to share?

Screenings of The Artist supporting women in our region - in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:56:00 GMT

If you've been holding out to see the acclaimed movie The Artist - the silent movie that has everyone talking - then here's your chance to do just that and do some good at the same time. International Women's Development Agency is holding screenings next week in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide - but be quick - tickets are limited so book now before you miss out.

Here's the trailer in case you're wondering what all the fuss is about (I hear that the dog steals the show!!)

The Australia Day Honors, why enough women aren't recognised and what you can do about it

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:40:00 GMT

This opinion piece by Carol Schwartz published this week in The Age highlights some important differences in recognition of men and women in our communities: "As in previous years, fewer than a third of the names on the Australia Day honours list are women. As in previous years, women are given more awards in the lowest grades than in the higher...." and

"It's also notable that the areas of Australian life where women are dominant are almost completely missing from the awards. If we turn our minds to people who do good for others, just about the first images that come to mind would be nurses and teachers. Both professions are weighted towards women. Yet nursing gets a bare four mentions in the Australia Day honours list, while teaching gets three (all of them in the field of teaching the arts rather than firing the imaginations of 20 unruly schoolchildren desperate for recess). There's one therapist on the list. There are no social workers. It would be easy for a foreigner to come away with the impression that Australia had more professional sportspeople than care workers."

(you can read the full article here and I've written before here about how you can nominate)

So what is it about the roles that women historically play? Why don't we recognise that contribution more? And value it?

Or do we?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this...