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Our
experiences in elevating the representation of women in leadership

A letter from business leaders

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Dear
Colleague

Women in
leadership—we talk about it, we work to make it happen. But how do we
truly achieve it?

The Male
Champions of Change (MCC) is a collaborative initiative of corporate and
institutional leaders convened by Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination
Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission. We are committed to discussing
and promoting strategies and actions that elevate women’s representation
in leadership.

Why men?
To make a difference, men and women need to work together on this issue. As CEOs
and board members we believe we have a responsibility to support and drive
change.

In that
spirit, we aim to share with you, a fellow business leader, our experiences of
tackling the practical aspects of elevating the representation of women in
senior roles in our companies. These experiences were gleaned from our own
companies’ efforts to progress this issue. We do not have all the answers.
However, we trust that these experiences will add insight to a debate which
often centres on theory and wishful thinking.

For this
exercise, the Male Champions of Change were joined by three additional
institutions—NAB, Pacific Brands and The Westpac Group. McKinsey &
Company supported the effort pro bono by helping with case studies, and
conducting discussions with each CEO.

What did
we learn? Which cases delivered impact? What patterns might your companies
follow? As Exhibit 1 illustrates, we find there is a common journey that
companies take as they seek to elevate women’s representation. In this
letter, we organise examples from our collective experiences into three phases
that bring that gender diversity journey to life:

Phase
1: Getting in the game. The journey begins
once the CEO gets interested. Early on this interest drives analysis of the
numbers. Barriers and challenges to elevating women’s representation in
leadership are surfaced. The typical focus here is programs and enablers to
support women, and therefore HR is central to the effort. However, despite
energy and investment, the impact on women’s representation in this phase
is low.

Phase
2: Getting serious. The point of difference in moving from Phase 1 to Phase 2 is when a CEO shifts
from being interested to truly committed. As a result, the issue of
women’s representation in leadership is given the same treatment as other
transformational business objectives. This is a shift in how the issue is
approached, and not all our companies have worked through this phase. It leads
to a transition in responsibility from HR to the line, starting with the top
team and then working to embed accountability across the organisation. The same
measurement and management disciplines are put in place as for other business
priorities. In this phase, we often make appointments that break the old
paradigm.

Phase
3: Capturing diversity
advantage. The shift
from Phase 2 to Phase 3 takes women’s representation as a business issue
to a higher level—by regarding it as a cultural imperative. This describes
the highest aspiration. The prime movers are engaged people from all parts of
the organisation who have signed on to work towards the goal of creating an
inclusive leadership culture. Most of us view ourselves as far from this end
state.

Throughout
this letter, we highlight actions our companies have taken that illustrate the
journey. It is important to be clear that many of these actions were taken some
years ago—references to our companies in any given section are not
intended to reflect their current progression on gender diversity.

We trust
that these pages will stimulate thought and discussion within your organisation
on the issue of women in leadership.

Signed
by:

Mike
Smith, CEO, ANZ

Stephen
Roberts, Chief Country Officer, Citi Australia

Ralph
Norris, CEO, Commonwealth Bank

Giam
Swiegers, CEO, Deloitte Australia

Stephen
Fitzgerald, Chair, Goldman Sachs Australia Pty Ltd

Alan
Joyce, CEO, Qantas

Andrew
Stevens, Managing Director, IBM Australia and New Zealand

Stephen
Sedgwick, Public Service Commissioner

David
Peever, Managing Director, Rio Tinto Australia

David
Thodey, CEO, Telstra Ltd

Michael
Luscombe, Former CEO, Woolworths Ltd

Grant
O’Brien, CEO, Woolworths Ltd

Kevin
McCann AM, Chair and Non-Executive Director

Glen
Boreham, Chair and Non-Executive Director

Gordon
Cairns, Chair and Non-Executive Director

 

Our Research
partners:  

Australian
Human Rights Commission , NAB, Pacific Brands, The Westpac Group

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Exhibit
1: Elevating women’s representation in leadership–a
journey

‘The
case for greater gender diversity is obvious for Australian leaders. The
opportunity to leverage untapped talent, and the productivity imperative, means
that gender should be on the national agenda for years to come. There is just no
justification for not...“getting in the game”.’

Mike
Smith, ANZ

‘Women
in Australia are an under utilised resource. We need to be tapping more heavily
into the other half of the resource pool. It’s that
simple.’

Stephen
Roberts, Citi

‘Women
in leadership. It’s just good business. There’s no difference in
leadership potential between women and men; making sure you can capture a better
share of high performing women is better for the organisation.’

Ralph
Norris, CBA

‘We
need to get the best talent for our Firm. Everyone is competing for female
talent and we aim to get more than our fair share. If we attract and retain
great people, we succeed in better serving our clients. Without talent we
can’t serve our clients effectively.’

Giam
Swiegers, Deloitte

‘Women
are Australia’s hidden resource. The gains that we could make as a country
by elevating the representation of women in leadership is substantial. We are a
long way from realising the full potential of our workforce. We need to make
this a priority.’

Stephen
Fitzgerald, Goldman Sachs

‘I
believe that having women in leadership is important for businesses. In the
past, I’ve worked with people who don’t share my conviction. That
doesn’t mean I give up. I just make them accountable and push until they
take action. Once they start, their conviction is bound to
grow.’

Kevin
McCann AM, Chair & Non-Executive Director

‘The
big ticket, the single biggest issue facing Australia is that we have more
opportunities than people. That’s the business case.’

Glen
Boreham, Chair & Non-Executive Director