Chief executives and directors of leading Australian companies are joining forces to elevate the issues of gender equality and women’s representation in leadership.
In ‘Our experiences in elevating the representation of women in leadership’, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith and business leaders from 14 other Australian companies share their own experiences, and lessons learned, in creating and benefiting from more gender balanced businesses.
The business leaders, collectively known as 'Male Champions of Change' (MCC), acknowledge there is no 'silver bullet' and that different companies are at different stages in elevating women in management. They describe the importance of:
- Genuine leadership commitment on this opportunity as a business imperative.
- Signalling change by identifying and appointing more women into senior line roles without compromising meritocracy.
- Setting and monitoring specific targets for the organisation, while also building equality into recruitment, talent and development programs.
- Addressing the inherent gender biases that are often built into legacy processes.
- Encouraging senior leaders to 'sponsor' top talent, particularly in the first 3-5 years of their career to positively influence career confidence, aspirations, expectations and development.
- Rewarding and promoting inspiring leaders who are truly inclusive and understand how to get the best out of all employees.
- Taking flexible work practices from marginal to mainstream, particularly to enable both men and women to more effectively balance work and family commitments.
The MCC is a collaborative initiative of corporate and institutional leaders convened by Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick. The members are using their individual and collective influence to support and promote gender equality in our communities and elevate women’s representation in leadership.
Improving gender balance has been a priority for ANZ for many years. Currently 38.2% of all management positions globally and 39.6% of management positions in our Australian business are held by women. Our goal is to reach 40% overall by 2012.
Learn more:
- Read the report: 'Our experiences in elevating the representation of women in leadership' (PDF 5.0MB)
- Male Champions of Change Charter (PDF 84kB)
- Our approach to gender balance
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© Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) 2013 ABN 11 005 357 522. ANZ's colour blue is a trade mark of ANZ.
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