Significant evidence across the globe is demonstrating positive impacts on company performance with greater female representation in senior leadership, a report by the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency has found.
However, The Business Case For Gender Equality report says that while Australian companies are making increasing efforts to drive gender equality across all industries, women remain under represented at every stage of the career pipeline in Australia. They make up just one quarter of executive roles and the annual growth rate is slow at just 2.8 percent.
Allister Logan, Training and Development lead for empowerment program, Women in Commsec, says Commsec is working to turn this around through strategies including empowerment of female staff at all levels, encouraging women to back themselves and lead in an authentic and feminine way, and providing structures and guidance for male staff around how to better engage with and support female colleagues.
“We’ve found men have been quite open to this but they just don’t necessarily know how”, Allister said.
Allister is speaking at When Sleeping Women Wake, Mountains Move Community Leadership Conference at The J, Noosa on Wednesday March 6 as part of the WINDO International Women’s Week Festival.
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