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A Practical Guide to Achieve Gender Equity in Your Workplace and Improve Your Company’s Performance Businesses with men and women represented equally at all levels of the organisation perform better. That’s a fact. The economic imperative Growth in the South Australian economy relies in particular on certain key industry sectors – resources, defence and advanced manufacturing – where women continue to be under-represented, particularly in senior leadership roles. If South Australia is to position itself as a dynamic economy and global leader in business, we need to move beyond talking about gender and the workforce and start taking action. Words into Action: A Practical Guide was developed by the South Australian Premier’s Council for Women1 in partnership with local industry and the Office for Women. The Guide sets out Five Key Principles (with supporting actions) for businesses to achieve equal representation of women and men in senior leadership roles in the workplace. The Guide is aimed at boards and executive managers who realise the need for gender equity in their business but seek guidance on how to take practical steps to achieve a more dynamic and progressive workplace. The Five Principles: Principle 1: Commitment Principle 2: Audit and Evaluation Principle 3: Leadership Principle 4: Workplace Culture, Diversity and Equity Policies Principle 5: Recruitment and Retention If your business is looking to embed policies and strategies to promote women to leadership roles, refer to this Guide when reviewing your existing practices and identify at least one action under each Principle as the start of your change process. Closing the gap between male and female employment rates would boost Australia’s GDP by 11%. Closing the gap between male and female productivity rates has the potential to boost the level of economic activity by as much as 20%. Companies with three or more women in senior management roles or on boards deliver better financial performance than companies with no women at the top. There is growing evidence that the companies with the highest representation of women in top management perform better financially than companies with fewer female senior executives. An international Catalyst study of 353 companies noted those with senior women produced better returns on equity (35% higher) and total returns to shareholders were up 36%. A longitudinal study of 800 Australian companies (Kulik 2011) has found senior managers in diversity conscious organisations reported higher financial performance, productivity and employee retention. The world's biggest companies, worth more than $10 billion, with women and men on their boards, outperformed by 26% comparable businesses with all-male boards over the past six years. Ref: www.wicl.com.au 1 The Premier’s Council for Women is an advisory body to the Premier of South Australia and the Minister for the Status of Women. Established in December 2002, the Council provides independent advice on issues relating to women and assists in facilitating a whole of government approach to meeting the needs of all South Australian women. The Council comprises leaders across a range of areas such as health, law, education, industrial relations, defence, business, government, sport and arts. Members are all committed to improving the opportunities, well-being and services for South Australian women. We are committed to improve workplace diversity and equity. We will: Show genuine leadership to create and support change everyone has a role to play in ensuring behaviours enable a supportive culture for women to participate and achieve at all levels. Identify the advantages of a diversified workforce within the business (particularly women in senior roles) and ensure the message is understood throughout all levels of the organisation. Develop workplace diversity and equity policies and programs. We will identify diversity and equity issues within our business and establish proactive strategies and targets to address those issues. We will: Undertake a participatory gender audit to identify issues within the business including: o Numbers and proportion of women staff at all levels and across all areas. o Male and female remuneration levels. o Attitudes of staff and senior managers towards women employees in different areas of the organisation. o Analysis of programs/initiatives so far undertaken (if any) aimed at improving diversity and gender equity in our organisation. Examine the performance of comparable organisations in the same or similar industries with respect to employment of women at all levels and identify policies and programs that have contributed to better representation of women. Set targets for the number of women at all levels including senior leadership positions, and assign responsibility for achieving these targets to the CEO and senior managers. Measure the performance of our strategies and programs aimed at increasing female participation in the workforce, the number of women in senior leadership positions and gender pay equity. Analyse what measures were successful and why. Our executive management team will take a leadership role to ensure true cultural change. We will: Identify the advantages of a diversified workforce within the business (particularly having women in senior roles) and ensure the message is understood throughout the business. Adopt best practice to influence cultural change. Champion and acknowledge female role models and leaders in the organisation. Shift the focus from the ‘pipeline’, ie attracting women at low levels of employment or areas of traditional female participation eg marketing and human resources, to the “trickle-down effect” of appointing and retaining women in senior roles where the impact is far greater to the organisation. Encourage all leaders, men or women, to take an active role to create sustainable solutions. We expect to create legacy that demonstrates how men in senior roles lead by example to support opportunities for women. Educate senior managers of the benefits to business in embracing gender equality and ensure staff engaged and those leading gender equity strategies are rewarded. We will design workforce policies and conditions that recognize the particular needs of women and other underrepresented groups in our workplace. We will: Develop and promote flexible work arrangements to support men and women, ensuring primary caregivers are afforded opportunities whilst maintaining a life balance. Encourage flexible employments which could include: o Paid or unpaid parental leave. o Graduated return to work. o Breastfeeding breaks and facilities. o Carers’ leave. o Purchased leave. o Tailored work hours or compressed weeks or annualised work hours. o Flexi-time or part-time. o Job-share. o Tele-work or work from home. Encourage innovate approaches to supporting equity and diversity across the workplace. Recognise and celebrate progress as it is made through internal and external marketing. Consider nominations for formal Awards or registering as an Employer of Choice for Women such as Workplace Gender Equality Agency www.wgea.gov.au. We will increase the number of women who apply for and are appointed into positions across our organisation. We will provide career development opportunities to our female staff. We will: Ensure that job advertisements are inclusive of all potential applicants and avoid stereotyping. Specifically engage and target qualified female candidates to apply for roles. Ensure interview panels are comprised of at least 33% women. Adopt mechanisms to ensure gender pay equity for all employed staff. Identify, mentor and promote talented women. Consider shadowing and other leadership programs for women, and offer women the opportunity to work on cross-functional teams inside and outside the parent organisation. Encourage and support professional networks amongst employees, including female focused networks. Ensure rigorous exit interviews are undertaken, to seek understanding of how women may be further supported and encouraged to participate and progress in the business.