We need to talk about recruitment. Specifically it seems we need to talk about recruiting women into key leadership roles, because still I keep hearing there aren’t enough suitable women out there.  So who makes this assessment anyway?  The recruiters? Business leaders? The women? Read More

At a networking event recently a businessman mentioned that his wife – a highly educated, highly experienced professional – had left her role in an accounting firm after their children were born because “after the cost of childcare it was hardly worth her while to continue to work”.  Their children are now in school and with that, a new challenge: how to deal with the months of combined school holidays throughout the year, when the average worker in Australia gets four weeks leave a year.  So she continues to manage the household, and having been out of the workforce for several years now is uncertain when or if she will return. Read More

From 1^st January 2011, Australia's first universal Paid Parental Leave scheme will be available to employees and the self employed alike – heralding in a new era for Australia’s working families. While many employees of large companies and government agencies have had access to varying forms of paid and unpaid parental leave programs, many small business owners and self employed will be getting their first taste of paid parental leave under the scheme.   Read More

Panty hose.  Make up.  Hair cuts and colours.  And an ever changing wardrobe.  Being a woman is expensive - don't we know it.  And made all the more so by the increasing gender pay gap in Australia.  This article not only points out what we've long known about the costs of being a woman, but also gives some good tips and resources to help you plan for the future without relying on the Cinderella Syndrome for your retirement plan. Read More

Women may be perpetuating the gender pay gap through their attitudes towards asking for money, according to a survey of 250 men and women conducted by authors of Sheconomics, a book that examines women and their attitudes towards managing money.  The survey - conducted earlier this year - found that women are two and a half times more likely than men to find pay negotiating humiliating, and that men would rather ask another male for money - and women would too.  Other survey findings include: Read More

If you’ve ever been responsible for establishing employee development programs, conferences or leadership offsites, you’ll know just difficult it can be to find fantastic, out of this world, leading-edge service providers.  In a sea of social media and spin, my vast network send me calls for help every day – by email, LinkedIn, twitter and the sphinxx website - all looking for advice about who they should hire for their own professional development needs, or to supplement their in-house women's programs. Read More

Now that we are seeing more people change jobs I’m consistently asked for salary negotiation advice: something near and dear to my heart, because it can be the source of much mis-understanding, frustration and disappointment on the part of the employee.  There is nothing worse than starting a new job feeling as though you are being underpaid.  This issue is especially prevalent for women.  We have a hard time asking for what we deserve and backing ourselves when challenged.   Read More

Not only do women earn 16-18% less then men working similar jobs, Australian women are also have much lower superannuation pay outs then men as many women move in and out of work to have children. What action is being taken at a government and corporate level to fix this issue? Read More

Okay girls... for those of you working in banking and finance and professional services firms: brace yourself!  A survey of 2095 accounting and finance professionals by recruitment firm Marks Sattin Australia found 360 had resigned at least once in the last six months and of those 31 per cent had received a counter offer from their employer to stay.  The survey found that the number of men and women offered more money to stay was about equal.  However, of those, 25 per cent of the men were offered 20 per cent or more to stay compared to just 15 per cent of the women. Read More

I posted a blog a while back about post-career considerations and why it’s important that we’re active in addressing the pay gap that women will get in retirement, primarily because they take time off paid work to have kids. But with an increasingly aging population, women are usually the first ones to step up to take care of their aging parents who require support. This can also cause a paid work gap that can devastate one’s super. This can be a game changing opportunity for employers, who can quickly implement initiatives to solve this issue for their female staff, and become one of the best places for female talent to work. Read More