Our Experiences in Elevating the Representation of Women in Leadership

Our experiences in elevating the representation of women in leadership

A letter from business leaders

Dear Colleague

Women in leadership—we talk about it, we work to make it happen. But how do we trulyachieve it?

The Male Champions of Change (MCC) is a collaborative initiative of corporate and institutional leaders convened by Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission. We are committed to discussing and promoting strategies and actions that elevate women’s representation in leadership.

Why men? To make a difference, men and women need to work together on this issue. As CEOs and board members we believe we have a responsibility to support and drive change.

In that spirit, we aim to share with you, a fellow business leader, our experiences of tackling the practical aspects of elevating the representation of women in senior roles in our companies. These experiences were gleaned from our own companies’ efforts to progress this issue. We do not have all the answers. However, we trust that these experiences will add insight to a debate which often centres on theory and wishful thinking.

For this exercise, the Male Champions of Change were joined by three additional institutions—NAB, Pacific Brands and The Westpac Group. McKinsey & Company supported the effort pro bono by helping with case studies, and conducting discussions with each CEO.

What did we learn? Which cases delivered impact? What patterns might your companies follow? As Exhibit 1 illustrates, we find there is a common journey that companies take as they seek to elevate women’s representation. In this letter, we organise examples from our collective experiences into three phases that bring that gender diversity journey to life:

Phase 1: Getting in the game. The journey begins once the CEO gets interested. Early on this interest drives analysis of the numbers. Barriers and challenges to elevating women’s representation in leadership are surfaced. The typical focus here is programs and enablers to support women, and therefore HR is central to the effort. However, despite energy and investment, the impact on women’s representation in this phase is low.

Phase 2: Getting serious. The point of difference in moving from Phase 1 to Phase 2 is when a CEO shifts from being interested to truly committed. As a result, the issue of women’s representation in leadership is given the same treatment as other transformational business objectives. This is a shift in how the issue is approached, and not all our companies have worked through this phase. It leads to a transition in responsibility from HR to the line, starting with the top team and then working to embed accountability across the organisation. The same measurement and management disciplines are put in place as for other business priorities. In this phase, we often make appointments that break the old paradigm.

Phase 3: Capturing diversity advantage. The shift from Phase 2 to Phase 3 takes women’s representation as a business issue to a higher level—by regarding it as a cultural imperative. This describes the highest aspiration. The prime movers are engaged people from all parts of the organisation who have signed on to work towards the goal of creating an inclusive leadership culture. Most of us view ourselves as far from this end state.

Throughout this letter, we highlight actions our companies have taken that illustrate the journey. It is important to be clear that many of these actions were taken some years ago—references to our companies in any given section are not intended to reflect their current progression on gender diversity.

We trust that these pages will stimulate thought and discussion within your organisationon the issue of women in leadership.

Signed by:

Mike Smith, CEO, ANZ

Stephen Roberts, Chief Country Officer, Citi Australia

Ralph Norris, CEO, Commonwealth Bank

Giam Swiegers, CEO, Deloitte Australia

Stephen Fitzgerald, Chair, Goldman Sachs Australia Pty Ltd

Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas

Andrew Stevens, Managing Director, IBM Australia and New Zealand

Stephen Sedgwick, Public Service Commissioner

David Peever, Managing Director, Rio Tinto Australia

David Thodey, CEO, Telstra Ltd

Michael Luscombe, Former CEO, Woolworths Ltd

Grant O’Brien, CEO, Woolworths Ltd

Kevin McCann AM, Chair and Non-Executive Director

Glen Boreham, Chair and Non-Executive Director

Gordon Cairns, Chair and Non-Executive Director

Others (logos provided)

Australian Human Rights Commission

Research partners: NAB, Pacific Brands, The Westpac Group

Exhibit 1: Elevating women’s representation in leadership–a journey

‘The case for greater gender diversity is obvious for Australian leaders. The opportunity to leverage untapped talent, and the productivity imperative, means that gender should be on the national agenda for years to come.There is just no justification for not…“getting in the game”.’

Mike Smith, ANZ

‘Women in Australia are an under utilised resource. We need to be tapping more heavily into the other half of the resource pool. It’s that simple.’

Stephen Roberts, Citi

‘Women in leadership. It’s just good business. There’s no difference in leadership potential between women and men; making sure you can capture a better share of high performing women is better for the organisation.’

Ralph Norris, CBA

‘We need to get the best talent for our Firm. Everyone is competing for female talent and we aim to get more than our fair share. If we attract and retain great people, we succeed in better serving our clients.Without talent we can’t serve our clients effectively.’

Giam Swiegers, Deloitte

‘Women are Australia’s hidden resource. The gains that we could make as a country by elevating the representation of women in leadership is substantial. We are a long way from realising the full potential of our workforce. We need to make this a priority.’

Stephen Fitzgerald, Goldman Sachs

‘I believe that having women in leadership is important for businesses. In the past, I’ve worked with people who don’t share my conviction. That doesn’t mean I give up. I just make them accountable and push until they take action. Once they start, their conviction is bound to grow.’

Kevin McCann AM, Chair & Non-Executive Director

‘The big ticket, the single biggest issue facing Australia is that we have more opportunities than people.That’s the business case.’

Glen Boreham, Chair & Non-Executive Director

Getting in the game

The typical journey we observe in our companies starts with us, as CEOs or business leaders, putting diversity on the agenda. The reasons for this vary. In some cases, it is personally important to us. In other cases, it is a business imperative. We can also imagine it being mandated by the board or motivated by compliance requirements. The guidelines from the ASX Corporate Governance Council have certainly provided motivation.

Our experience is that once you make efforts on gender diversity, its benefits become clearer, and that conviction naturally builds.

At this stage of the journey, the commitment of senior management is a signal that change is expected. Exhibit 2 shows that our HR leaders nominated CEO commitment as by far the most impactful action in increasing the representation of women in leadership. This is consistent with results from McKinsey & Company’s Women Matter global survey, as seen in Exhibit 3.

We demonstrate our commitment in this phase in ways that symbolise that elevating the representation of women in leadership truly matters—to us personally, to our organisation and sometimes to shareholder value. Specifically, we tend to do five things:

1. Get under the numbers. We typically start by improving our understanding of our gender diversity performance, the root causes, issues and barriers, and the potential for improvement. By conducting a ‘deep dive’ of our numbers we become familiar with our company’s ‘diversity maths’. To do so, some of us used the Chief Executive Women’s (CEW) CEO Toolkit. Diversity surveys and focus groups are other favourite approaches. Exhibit 4 shows how you might better understand your own diversity performance.

2. Set up a diversity council. We set up or strengthen our diversity council with the aim of identifying what can be done to elevate the representation of women in leadership. In its first incarnation, the diversity council serves as an advisory body, bringing together a few executives with those who have personal experience in diversity. ‘In the early days, our diversity council were the people who could tell us what was really going on, and what barriers people were facing’, says Ralph Norris, CBA.

3. Make it personal. We all invest our time. To differing extents, we start to discuss diversity both inside and outside the organisation. For some, we renew commitments or ‘put more teeth’ into programs. A number of us participate in women’s leadership activities. Says David Peever of Rio Tinto, ‘leadership commitment is key—if you have the genuine intent, you will find solutions’.

Says Stephen Roberts of Citi, ‘I don’t think there is a substitute for getting personally involved and spending real time.’ Being visible and active at Citi’s skill development programs for women is a priority for Stephen. He regularly attends women’s leadership programs to engage with groups. Stephen also dedicates significant time to graduate recruiting efforts, particularly those that target women. This sends the message to both internal and external audiences that Citi is focused on women in leadership.

exhibit 2: Most impactful actions for driving gender diversity

exhibit 3: The most important differentiator in gender outcomes is CEO commitment

Exhibit 4: Understanding your gender diversity

exhibit 5: Our companies have invested in women’sskill developmentprograms

4. Ensure well-functioning women’s skill-building and networks. As Exhibit 5 shows, most of us invest conscientiously in programs and activities that focus on ensuring women have the confidence, skills and exposure they need to be considered for leadership roles in a traditionally masculine environment. These learning opportunities are in addition to our companies’ standard curriculum—women continue to attend general leadership programs along with their male colleagues. The additional programs are a manifestation of our commitment to women in leadership.

Exhibit 6 details some of the development programs offered to women at The Westpac Group. Exhibit 7, Deloitte’s Business Woman of the Year Award—based on the Telstra Business Women’s Awards—offers a twist on traditional programs. The original Telstra model, launched in 1995, recognises outstanding business women from around Australia. The Deloitte contest, which runs internally, creates exposure for women. The benefits of the program are significant. Being entered into the contest typically translates into both improved performance and positive promotion outcomes.

There are companies in our group who chose a lower level of investment in programs than the others. They did so out of a belief that singling out women for skill-building can be unproductive. ‘I worry about sending a message that we want to ‘fix’ our women or that all women are the same’, says one executive. Instead, these companies work to build more awareness and appreciation of a range of leadership styles. The focus is on reducing biases and stereotypical assumptions.

In this phase, most programs offer limited engagement with men. In retrospect, many of us believe we didn’t sufficiently reach out to the men in our organisations.

5. Ensure hygiene factors are in place. We develop or enhance our workplace policies–paying particular attention to those that impact women. This goes far beyond just simply complying with regulations. There are various examples of how this is applied practically.

A number of us invest in providing better support before and after parental leave. For example, NAB’s ‘reConnect’ program keeps employees in touch with the business and their colleagues while they are on parental or other extended leave. This also extends to ‘Virtual reConnect’ utilising web-based technology, ensuring equity of access to all employees across Australia.

We pay more attention to our work environment. Some of us improve security or focus on ensuring that breastfeeding facilities are convenient and welcoming spaces.

We renew our efforts to ensure a safe workplace for all, reviewing our policies and processes relating to sexual harassment. We emphasise that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.

We also pressure test our mechanisms on pay equity, to ensure that we are correcting biases. We enhance our policies regarding flexible work, for example part-time programs or remote work. We explore ideas around support for family life, providing subsidies or finding ways to help our employees access childcare. Exhibit 8 profiles Qantas’ investment in The Joey Clubs—a series of onsite childcare centres.

It is clear from our collective experiences that an important step to elevating the representation of women in leadership is the initial commitment at CEO level. In this first phase, we become aware of the issues and build the conviction to act.

There are risks in this phase, namely that efforts will be viewed as ‘lip service’, or seen as patronising. There may even be a sense of ‘over-programming’.

If you need to elevate the representation of women in leadership in your company, your own commitment is the place to start. Then—as you would with any other business challenge—identify the issues, barriers and potential solutions, before deciding on actions. You will need to invest your own time, pay attention to women’s development processes, and enhance policies that make roles more attractive to women.

Many of our companies spend years navigating through this phase of the journey. Many of us had moments of discouragement—where we felt we’d done it all, and that perhaps the situation wasn’t fixable. We do believe lessons from the first phase are essential. However, we also see that the ad hoc, and sometimes tentative approach employed, can prolong this phase unnecessarily. We believe that for other Australian companies yet to embark on this journey, the time spent in this phase can be significantly reduced.

To do this, we encourage you to first get the facts, understand the issues and build your own commitment. Think about how you want to tell the story of gender diversity in your organisation. How will you describe the case for attracting and developing women leaders? Second, ensure that your HR department draws on the experience of other companies by implementing leading programs on skill development, and policies that do not undermine women.

exhibit 6: Development programs for women: The Westpac Group

Learning/
objectives / Programs / Format
Relationship building / ■Support through
–Advice and counsel
–Identification of role models
–Advocacy and sponsorship
■Expand women’s profile (internally and externally)
■Build awareness of networking as a lever in career progression / ■Individual mentoring
■Group mentoring & sponsorship–‘Women on the Move’
■Networking action groups–
‘Women at Westpac’ / ■Monthly 1:1 meetings
■Cross-company monthly meetings with 12 women facilitated by an Executive Coach
■Cross-company networking events:
–Skill development
–Actions to support women
Advice & Career advancement / ■Education
–Articulating and realising career goals
–Career principles and patterns
–Career next steps
■Building support and increasing networks
■Self-mastery (e.g. barriers, steps to overcome) / ■Leadership Development for Junior Women–‘Advancing my Career’
■Leadership Development for Senior Women–‘Making my Mark’
■Executive coaching / ■5 weeks
■Women with 5-7 years work experience
■3 month program with facilitated sessions, coaching and action learning projects
■Focused on achieving a specific personal or professional result
INTEGRATED WITH
Skill-building (for both men & women) / ■Tailored for each leadership level
–Managing self through ambiguity, challenge and change
–Leading and engaging others
–Business leadership to create the best outcomes for customers / ■Leadership development programs
■High potential programs
■Capability modules to increase skills
■On-line support tools–leadership, coaching / ■Various formats including
–Face-to-face learning, supported by action learning
–Coaching
–On-line tools
■2 days to 9 months with focus on assessment and experiential learning
SOURCE: The Westpac Group HR leader interview and survey

exhibit 7: Deloitte Business Woman of the Year

Context and Objectives
Deloitte invests significantly in skill-building and mentorship programs for women. Inspired by Telstra’s Business Women’s Awards, the Deloitte Business Woman of the Year program was launched in 2004 to identify and create exposure for women leaders.
Actions Taken
■Championed by CEO Giam Swiegers, and led by Senior Partner Margaret Dreyer
■70 practice groups submit a candidate in two categories (below and above manager level), based on their achievements within and outside Deloitte
■At each stage, there are development interventions for participants e.g. ‘Maximising your Potential’
■Nominees and their achievements are showcased in forums, including the National Partners Conference, where women speak about their achievements
■Winners receive funding to pursue courses at a leading university of their choice, e.g. Harvard and INSEAD / Lessons Learned
■Since the Inspiring Women program began in 2000, Deloitte has increased women partners from 5% to 17%, and women in the level below partner from 30% to 39%. 11 new women partners were finalists in the program
■Powerful role models have been created where women are comfortable talking about their achievements
■Organisational leaders, all of whom are expected to participate in the program, build greater knowledge and understanding of their talent pool
■Showcasing talent leads to greater ‘pull’ for women talent by senior leaders
■Strong support from senior leadership has a cascading impact, encouraging all leaders to develop and nominate high quality entrants

exhibit 8: The Joey Clubs

Context and Objectives
■Qantas identified an opportunity to enhance its employee value proposition and retention by providing additional support for family life
■Childcare was identified as a significant way to support working families, and particularly women, for whom the ‘double-burden’ is particularly heavy
Actions Taken
■In 2003, Qantas opened its first Joey Club in Mascot, NSW, in partnership with KU Australia, a leading provider of childcare services
–Purpose built, high standard facilities
–High quality, qualified teachers
–Significant subsidy and option for employees to salary sacrifice / Lessons Learned
■Success led to the development of centres in Melbourne (2007) and Brisbane (2008)
■Extremely popular with significant waitlists
■While the Joey Clubs are a significant cost, management believes the benefits are clear
–Strong contributor to improved retention rates, particularly of women
–Employees who access the centres are among Qantas’ most engaged
–Strengthened value proposition to new recruits, particularly women
■Critical to understand employee needs, and what locations will serve to support family life
–Airport as a ‘hub’ has worked well for Qantas
–Urban settings can be more difficult to manage based on other company experiences
–Salary sacrifice offers a significant benefit enhancement

Questions we would encourage you to think about: