Breaking Gender Barriers

Breaking Gender Barriers

by | Jan 10, 2023 | Finance, Uncategorized

Grant Thornton is a world-leading organisation made up of independent assurance, tax and consulting advisors. Operating within the accounting industry, they have traditionally faced a lack of female participation, which notably declines as senior leaders move to the Partner level.

To drive change, the firm decided on a purposeful and proactive approach to their gender equity goals. Hollie Coleman, National Diversity and Inclusion Lead noted that the Gender Equity Action Plan is to achieve and maintain gender equity at all levels of the career structure within the firm by removing structural barriers to gender equality.

Although the talent pipeline is relatively balanced up to the Director level, the number of women advancing to Partner was disproportionate to their male colleagues. By listening to their people through targeted focus groups and direct feedback channels, they were able to understand the real and perceived barriers to advancing to Partner as a female at the firm. The focus is on driving cultural change, improving internal networks and visibility of female leaders, as well as raising awareness of gendered issues in the workplace more broadly.

 

Key initiatives

One of the initiatives under the Gender Equity Action Plan is an inclusive sponsorship program where each Sponsor supports a future leader through their career journey by providing active sponsorship, as well as (but distinct to) mentoring and coaching. The program focuses on upskilling sponsors first and foremost, while supporting and encouraging future leaders.

A Gender Equity Network (GEN) group was also set up to support women and gender diverse people by building a strong network of members and allies working together to create awareness and understanding, promote conscious inclusion, advocate for gender equity, and strengthen the pipeline of diverse talent for leadership roles. GEN was established on the basis that gender equity is everyone’s business – today one third of the members of GEN are male allies.

GEN launched GENerator Circles, which are “lean-in” groups of up to 12 individuals in local offices where women can meet to expand and strengthen internal networks, grow skills and confidence, and help each other achieve personal goals. This has helped participants discuss and strategise issues from imposter syndrome, and managing their mental load, to identifying their individual circle of advisors. Whatever the challenge, the circles provide support, empathy, understanding and a safe space to speak. For Daniela Baggio, a Manager in the Corporate Tax team, the initiative has been incredibly positive, “Having a dedicated way to channel interest in gender equity in the firm, and to access the support shared in these circles as part of my normal working day is unreal to me. I have personally benefited so much from being part of our GENerator circle and the deeper relationships I have formed has been helpful for day-to-day work activities.” 

The importance of allyship

Other key barriers to women stepping into Partner level identified were the lack of informed and proactive allies, and the need to build networks to generate business and the team at Grant Thornton Australia has set about to systematically remove these barriers.

The concept of allyship was important to provide understanding, encouragement and support across the organisation. “Allyship at Work” training was piloted to build a greater understanding of gender equity issues, the role that privilege plays, and how men could be better allies at work. According to Jarrod Lean, Partner in Risk Consulting, the training has been very beneficial for him, ”The Allyship at Work training was thought provoking and engaging. I think everyone came out of it learning something, and most of all having more awareness of how to be a better ally. It has changed the way I approach interactions at work for the better, and I highly recommend other allies to attend future sessions.”

 

Business development initiatives

Demystifying business development is a key element of the Gender Equity Action Plan, with one of the major initiatives of the program being the internal and external networking opportunities. The Adelaide office has partnered with a local law firm and a Big 4 bank to provide networking opportunities for professional women to regularly meet, allowing the team to build local networks, form potential collaborations, and share cross-business referrals.

The Sydney Financial Advisory team have also set up a women’s network where they regularly meet to discuss topical issues or hear from guest speakers. Holly Stiles, FA Partner and the Executive Sponsor of GEN says, “We have seen very powerful results from our ’Women in Leadership series, including career progression, increased confidence and higher retention rates. Many women have commented that it has been incredibly helpful to discuss issues and to realise that others share similar challenges. The circles have provided a forum for women to share strategies to overcome barriers in their careers and a network of colleagues who support each other.”

The team at Grant Thornton Australia are proud of their work that aims to systematically remove the barriers holding women back.  They are at the leading edge of action with their Inclusive Sponsor Program, Allyship program, GENerator Circles, business development support and networking opportunities. Other initiatives include 26 weeks of paid parental leave including superannuation on the 26-week unpaid portion, flexibility, support and resources for caregivers, and domestic & family violence support.

All these initiatives mean they are well on their way to achieving their gender equity goal: to create an inclusive environment where career aspirations can be realised regardless of gender, and where women and gender diverse people are as equally represented as men all the way through to Partner level. 

If you would like to learn more about the other finalists then click this link.

Balancing Gender for Optimal Emergency Response

Balancing Gender for Optimal Emergency Response

by | Jan 3, 2023 | Emergency, Uncategorized

Meet Dr Faye Bendrups, currently Vice Chair of National SES Volunteers Association. She is well known for her work to increase diversity and improve the workplace culture of the SES. As an emergency services frontline responder for over 17 years, she has served in multiple leadership roles and is proud to have supported numerous women into leadership roles at all levels. Her advice to women considering joining the emergency services is, “You can’t make the change if you are not in the room.”

Many would consider the SES a male-dominated organisation based on a hierarchical military structure. Today that is changing. Dr Bendrups says, “I have advocated for and strengthened the input of women and others from diverse backgrounds.”

It all starts with recruitment where they aim is to have a gender balance across the total force. A key initiative to enable this has been the presence of women on interviewing panels and showcasing them as roles models. Another is the emphasis on providing training to everyone, regardless of their gender. These days, no one is excluded for not having skills so both men and women who do not know how to use a chainsaw or drive a truck are trained to do exactly that.

Once engaged, all recruits are offered training opportunities in a safe and supported environment. Mentors are provided and all recruits are supported to succeed. For example, one young woman recently completed her Cert. 4 in Leadership and was encouraged to lead her unit. She had excelled as a self-starter and always delivered yet did not see her own potential. Through mentoring, she was encouraged to step up. Eventually, she became confident earning the respect of her team as a good leader. In her day job, she has embraced leadership too and her training in the SES was integral in giving her the confidence to go for a promotion interstate. She got that job and continues to progress her career. She is now leading multiple statewide divisions.

Dr Faye Bendrups meeting with General Murgueytio, Chief of Civil Defence, Peru

Dr Bendrups has been a truly inspirational leader. She is one of only a few women nationwide to be trained as an Operations Officer, a Safety Officer, and a Base Camp Manager for bushfire response operations. For her service during the 2019-2020 bushfires, she received the National Emergency Medal.

A particularly influential and controversial project she developed was a survey on Culture and Conduct in the SES. This revealed hundreds of cases of bullying, sexual harassment, coercive control, and other discriminatory behaviours. It led to a complete renovation of SES systems and a determination by the whole organisation to commit to organisational change, greater diversity, and an overhaul of cultural practices.

Being in the SES is not easy as it requires a time commitment of training one night every week as well as time on call. This is particularly challenging for single parents. One unit decided to overcome this hurdle to provide childcare. Whilst getting this approved wasn’t easy, they are proud to be able to provide this opportunity to single parents.

The benefits of inclusiveness were evident to Dr Bendrups when she was the recipient of an Emergency Services Foundation research grant and was seconded to the National Institute of Civil Defence, Lima, Peru. Peru suffers from 400 earthquakes a year and they have developed a unique approach to emergency response. Four times a year, the entire nation stops to participate in a drill. So when the alarm goes off to indicate the drill, everything stops (schools, businesses, even the cars driving along the roads) so everyone can get to their appropriate station. Bendrups found it an amazing experience as she realised emergencies are everyone’s problem and everyone has a part to play.

She has learnt from this experience and is looking to collaborate with councils to establish a series of community action plans in Australia. She recently cited the flood problems we had in Melbourne with the Maribyrnong River overflowing and flooding various homes and businesses as one typical situation in which the community could have played a bigger part. Although she quickly points out, she is not suggesting they all become SES volunteers. What she saw in Peru was the community doing simple, achievable tasks that freed up the emergency workers to concentrate on the complex and critical activities.

Today the SES promotes inclusiveness across the board including race, sexuality, and gender. A sign of this culture of tolerance and trust is that several gay and lesbian recruits have felt comfortable to “come out” with their teams. It is this confidence and trust that builds the team cohesion leading to better outcomes when under the pressure of an emergency situation.

To see the other finalists go to https://aij.dzr.mybluehost.me/website_40de3b07/

An Informed Voice for Change

An Informed Voice for Change

by | Dec 20, 2022 | University

Professor Lucy Taksa has spent her working life being an informed voice for change. She has worked with, numerous universities, various NSW Government bodies and not-for-profit organisations and today is a Professor of Management at Deakin University’s Business School in the Faculty of Business and Law, after having been a Head of Department, Associate Dean, and Research Centre Director at the University of NSW and Macquarie University. Besides these leadership roles, she also chaired the Board of the NSW State Archives and Records and was a non-Executive Board member of Settlement Services International Ltd. To date, her research has focused on the organisation of work, equity and diversity management, migrant employment and entrepreneurship, representations of women leaders and heritage management.

Lucy arrived in Australia as a child with her parents so understands many of the challenges facing migrants. Throughout her education, she was lucky to be supported by some amazing women role models who promoted economic and educational aspirations for young women. Their encouragement played an important role in supporting her to become the first in her family to attend university. “They taught me the value of advocacy and thought leadership and in turn, I have worked to emulate these mentors,” says Lucy.

Her appointment as a member of the NSW Equal Opportunity Tribunal (later part of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal) gave her first-hand exposure to many cases of discrimination. These varied from sexual harassment and race discrimination to disability discrimination and increased her understanding of the complexity and inequity that many women face in our society. This motivated her to take action to promote equitable outcomes for women in every organisation she has worked for. She developed and taught a course on Managing Equity, Diversity and Disability at UNSW and included diversity issues in all the industrial relations, human resource management and organisational behaviour courses she taught.

At the University of NSW, she was proud to chair and administer the Vice Chancellor’s Childcare Assistance Fund for Women Researchers. This fund made it easier for women academics to maintain their national and international research profiles after having children. It supported their career aspirations by enabling them to travel to conferences. The exposure of their research had a hugely positive impact on their career and faster progression.

Still at the University of NSW, she was a member of the Gender Equity Strategy Committee and played a pivotal role in the introduction of a mid-career women’s mentoring scheme at the Australian School of Business. The mentoring helped women navigate the system and gave them the confidence and social capital needed to progress their careers.

At Macquarie University, she introduced the NSW Government’s Lucy Mentoring Program to the Faculty of Business and Economics. This enables young women to learn from government and industry leaders. “Lucy” is an innovative leadership program with a primary focus on women in university studying business, finance, economics, accounting, and law. Lucy explains, “It is not named after me, but it does an amazing job of providing opportunities by widening their network and connecting them to possible jobs.” 

“If we have a voice, we must exercise it.”

Lucy does not mind being controversial. In her role as MC for the NSW CEDA Women’s Leadership program some years ago, she sought to challenge some of the norms relating to gender and age. She believes this is important, especially in public forums. A great example of this was when she opened events with a  “Welcome everyone” greeting, deliberately dropping the reference to ladies and gentlemen. Something simple that was appreciated by many of those attending. In another example, she questioned the phrase “bringing your whole self to work”. She believes that for some people there are important aspects of their lives they would be happier leaving in the privacy of their homes. Ultimately, she can see a need to continue to challenge the norms that support male stereotypes and masculine behaviour in the workplace, and she hopes to see some new inclusive norms being created.

Much of her recent focus has been on ‘diversity washing’, a term that describes when organisations market and brand their support for diversity but on deeper inspection do not embed inclusion into their processes or accountability for ensuring it is practised. In an OECD survey of 432 human resource managers conducted with the AHRI (Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) in 2018-19many respondents commented on the need for leaders not to just to talk the talk but also to walk the walk.

Today, she can see changes happening within academia as more women are being employed in leadership roles. In the past, women were expected to fill highly feminised roles. Now it is important for women in leadership roles not to be seen solely as ‘mothers’ who can fix operational problems, care for others and mediate between staff and students. Women leaders can make important contributions to strategy, she argues. Deakin University is progressive in this regard. She continues to play an active role in collaborating with scholars from around the world to expose the history and importance of women in a variety of leadership roles and women’s corporate networks. She has become a role model and mentor to many women across the organisation.

When asked what drives her, she mentions her migrant background and the importance of her family placed on dreaming of a better world in Australia far from the war-torn Eastern Europe they grew up in. She believes no single person can change things alone. It takes a community. However, those with the knowledge, commitment and capacity should be the change makers. Lucy says, “If we have a voice, we must exercise it.”

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The Consistent Diversity Champion

The Consistent Diversity Champion

by | Dec 19, 2022 | Technology

Sheeza Shakeel has consistently championed and supported women from the time she left school.

Though she was born in India to an orthodox Muslim family not known for modern educational pursuits, she showed exceptional academic talent early on to receive support from her parents to focus on and value education. “She went on to not only complete an engineering degree in Computer Science and master’s in management (MBA) but graduated with distinction by topping the university”

One of Sheeza’s early endeavours at championing women’s cause came while she was at the university, where she chose to do a project that would make a difference. She collaborated with the Sri Ram Foundation to set up low-cost Sanitary Napkins production for poor and disadvantaged tribal women. The challenge was twofold, how to convince them of its usage benefits and find resources to invest in sanitary products, both very hard asks for those more in need of food and lacking basic education. However, against the odds a factory under the CSR initiative was set up where these women were trained & employed to help generate income and with that access to food and sanitary products. Today, it is still running successfully.

After completing her MBA, she took up a sales career in India working in technology. A career that would enable her to interact with people, travel around the globe and explore new things every day. After a year Sheeza was transferred to Australia. Her sudden move was fraught with a few challenges because Indian Muslim women do not leave the country generally unmarried. Despite these challenges, Sheeza eventually made it through the gender-biased red tape to come to Australia. “where she didn’t know a soul”.  

In Australia, Sheeza was keen to champion the cause of women. She started working with the Australian ABCN Accelerate program, an online mentoring program supported by Accenture.  It involved mentoring exceptional girl students who are facing significant economic, family and/or social challenges in society. One of Sheeza’s mentees was a young girl who had fled from Syria with her family and struggling to fit into Australia. Her challenge was having to work with her siblings to support her family because her father was ill & unable to work. Between school and work, she had little time to herself but dreamed of being an engineer or an architect. Exhausted and overwhelmed she found motivation & encouragement from her mentor and made the effort to study. Today, she has made it to the university. Sheeza comments that “Mentoring is a two-way street; she is inspired by this young person’s drive and determination.” Whenever Sheeza feels demotivated, she reflects on what this young girl has had to do to achieve her dreams.

Other initiatives Sheeza embraced involved coaching and counselling housewives towards entrepreneurship. Given her knowledge of technology, she encouraged them to use social media platforms and to sell through registered kitchens on Facebook and Online Marketplaces. She also worked with the Smith Family and other social organisations as a volunteer to promote social and workplace diversity.

After working with a couple of global multinational organisations, Sheeza joined Accenture to be part of large-scale transformational cloud deals. It was quickly evident that Sheeza was passionate about gender diversity & inclusion, and she was encouraged to be involved with many of the programs offered by Accenture. She has delivered multiple social service engagements that promoted inclusiveness and equality across geographies and organisations. For her work and initiatives, she has been recognised as Accenture’s global champion of Diversity & Inclusion in 2021.

All great actions take inspiration and Sheeza says she was inspired by Accenture’s CEO Julie Steel.  She is keenly supporting Accenture’s targets to get 50:50 by 2025. Her effort to drive diversity and inclusion initiatives included the creation of net new STEM jobs in the Australian market.   When asked, “what’s next, she shares that as the newly appointed Social Mobility Lead, there are lots of possibilities to bring in more women into senior technology roles.”

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Angela Advocates Another Way

Angela Advocates Another Way

by | Dec 17, 2022 | Legal

Angela Smith loves being part of the non-traditional law firm, SLF Lawyers. The environment has given her the confidence to advocate for another way beyond the cigars, cognac and wood panelling.

Law is a very traditional, male dominated sector. Right from law school, lawyers are channelled down a path to do things the “way they’ve always been done”. To be successful, you must do what you are told and compromise on your personal life.  For instance, male norms of business demand that informal meetings are still held on the golf course. Angela openly admits she does not like or play golf yet she has (attempted to) play on numerous occasions early in her career because she felt she had to. She also talks about hiding the fact she wanted to have a family because it would be a career breaker.

Today she knows that there is another way.

Angela is passionate about mentoring others and helping them get the most from their careers. This started early when she worked with young graduate lawyers. She shows them they do not have to limit themselves to the “way things have always been done”. Instead, she works to help them build their skills, so they have the tools they need to do things on their own. She believes too many are thrown in the deep end and sent out to deal with clients by themselves with very little training. Whereas Angela routinely goes out of her way to bring them to client meetings and business functions so they may shadow her and see another way of getting things done.

As the partner heading up the Sydney office, she has been able to create a haven for growth with her own team. She runs a predominately female-based office with over 66% of employees being female.  Many have been attracted because Angela has been a strong advocate for flexible work arrangements including part-time and remote working. She is a champion and a role model, openly saying her family and their health come first and encouraging others that it’s fine to have work and life in balance. She has altered the company’s culture significantly, allowing younger female professionals to excel in their career whilst balancing other commitments outside of work.

Her team is very supportive of one another, empowered and they regularly check in to see “how everything is going” showing genuine interest and support. A sure sign of a problem is when someone’s door remains closed for too long. This usually indicates the person is drowning. If that happens, anyone of the team will step in to ensure the workload becomes rebalanced.

Ensuring that SLF is a safe environment for female employees to grow and develop skills is very important to Angela. There is still a lot of inappropriate behaviour in the legal sector from both clients and suppliers. Angela works to support her team should this occur. Sometimes they cannot avoid the communication, but they have a system to ensure it’s all in writing and channelled straight to her. Often, this alone works to the diffuse the situation.

Angela actively mentors’ young females both within the office space and outside. Within SLF Lawyers, both in the Sydney office and nationally, Angela is an active participant in mentoring young lawyers and guiding their professional development. In this respect, Angela promotes and encourages career growth within the organisation and is supportive in all employees’ professional endeavours. She loves creating opportunities for them to step up.

Externally, Angela is a frequent mentor through Business in Heels Mentor Mornings, connecting likeminded professional women of all demographics. Through these events, Angela empowers other professional women, within and without the legal sector, to collaborate with each other, be confident in their professional abilities and courageous in their career pursuits. “I have assisted and mentored approximately 50 female individuals, assisting them in forming other professional connections and ensuring they have a safe platform to learn from like-minded females,” says Angela.

Another of Angela’s activities is her board position at Humanity Matters, a charity aimed at supporting at-risk and vulnerable youth. The charity focuses on engaging with them to facilitate positive interactions with their community, families and other vulnerable youth. This is turn promotes their development so they can acclimate and succeed in society and all other aspects of their lives.

When asked why she is a great advocate and mentor Angela comments, “In order to promote equity in society, it is important to equip people with the means to succeed and the confidence to pursue their goals.”