Women & Leadership Australia eNewsletter

May 2010

CEOs step up to offer hand to women in business

In the last month two bold initiatives from traditional bastions of male hegemony have risen to the occasion of supporting the advancement of women in top tiers of business life.

As March came to a close, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) bravely initiated a program to mentor high-achieving women.

BCA President Graham Bradley announced the establishment of the ‘C-Suite’ Project, a pilot scheme in which leading CEOs who are BCA members will personally mentor high-achieving women employed by other BCA member companies.

The initiative will identify talented women and open up pathways for them to rise to the top of the corporate ladder. The 12-month pilot, conducted in partnership with the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI), provides a model for other businesses to follow.

“There is a lot of attention at the moment on the unacceptably low levels of women on Australian boards, but women are too scarce at all senior levels of Australian business,” Mr Bradley said.

“We need to open up pathways for our best women to take on senior positions and open up a strong pipeline of success all the way to the boardroom,” he said.

Significantly, Mr Bradley acknowledged the BCA's own skewed membership in terms of gender representation.

“The Business Council of Australia’s current membership of the country’s leading CEOs is 97 per cent male. A simple mark of the success of this project will be seeing more women in the room at BCA forums like this one.”

Members of the Business Council of Australia initiative

Left to right:
· Business Council of Australia President Graham Bradley
· Peter Wilson, CEO of the Australian Human Resources Institute
· Catriona Noble, Managing Director and CEO of McDonald’s Australia
· Jack Percy, CEO of Accenture Australia
· Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Katie Lahey
· Michael Rose, CEO of Allens Arthur Robinson
· Tim Ebbeck, President and CEO of SAP Australia and New Zealand
· Matthew Quinn, Managing Director of Stockland
· Robert Milliner, CEO of Mallesons Stephen Jaques

CEOs involved in the pilot will each support one senior woman from another BCA member company identified as having the potential to become a CEO or CFO themselves within the next five years.

“The potential of the scheme goes beyond supporting individual women,” said Mr Bradley. “It will also facilitate a valuable exchange of views and ideas between mentors and mentees on barriers to workforce participation and promotion.”

And then some ...

Only a couple weeks after the BCA announcement, a new initiative – spear-headed by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) – was announced with similar enthusiasm.

At a meeting with the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, in Sydney, a new leadership group of male CEOs and chairmen was formed to elevate the issue of women’s representation in the corporate sector.

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, the leadership group will use its collective influence and personal commitment to develop and drive strategies to progress gender equality in the Australian corporate sector.

The formation of the group was prompted by the ASX Corporate Governance Council recommendations on diversity, which require each listed entity on the ASX to adopt and disclose a diversity policy that includes measurable objectives relating to gender.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick applauded the formation of the group, saying it was an enormously important development.

“The commitment and enthusiasm of these men will be one of the most significant factors in achieving success and building momentum toward the adoption of the ASX Council reforms, which are due to be implemented in January 2011,” Commissioner Broderick said.

Compared to the abovementioned Business Council of Australia pilot program, the AHRC initiative seems light on specifics. Three factors, however, lend the initiative promise and worthy of attention.

First, the initiative is headed by Elizabeth Broderick. As a previous lawyer and businesswoman, Ms Broderick has a strong track-record of initiatives that mesh the needs of public and private sector domains. (Read more on Ms Broderick.)

Second, the leadership group includes some of the nation's top corporate blokes, including:

Glen Boreham, Managing Director, IBM Australia and New Zealand
David Thodey, Managing Director and CEO, Telstra Ltd.
Robert Elstone, Managing Director and CEO, Australian Securities Exchange

Finally, three of the men on the AHRC initiative have also put up their hands to become ‘C-Suite’ mentors in the BCA program.

For more, see:

The Business Council of Australia news release
The Australian Human Rights Commission news release

May survey and give-away

With so much talk about the low numbers of women in senior roles in Australia, it's time to share you thoughts on the role men can, do and should play in changing the gender imbalance at senior levels.

Yes, it's a sizzling topic – one that we anticipate will get some of you passionately engaged! But we here at Women & Leadership Australia feel it's too important and timely to ignore.

So dive in and share your two cents, and go into the running for great give-aways. Enter here

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