Embracing Equity: What it means at the ADC

“Having women in leadership is critical and if we are serious about changing the statistic, we need to take a look at the barriers women are facing – what is holding them back from leadership roles – and remove those barriers.”

The statistic Kathryn McKenzie, Director Operations at the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission refers to is the Public Service Commission 2021 Workforce Profile Report, identifying that while 66% of the NSW public service workforce are women, only 43% are in leadership roles.

So, for International Women’s Day we’re discussing how organisations can better support women of all levels to further their careers at any stage they enter the workforce.

Flexible work arrangements are essential – so why delay the discussion?

Flexibility, if done correctly, shouldn’t be an entitlement, but a given. To attract and support women in leadership roles, organisations need to provide and clearly communicate flexible work arrangements at all levels, including part-time and job share options.?

“The ADC has fantastic women in management positions, who have different flexible working arrangements to support their individual circumstances, and are at different points in their careers. On a daily basis, we reap the benefits of having a supportive and flexible approach for employees at all levels in the organisation.”?

“If you are not openly communicating that you provide flexible work arrangements throughout your recruitment process, you are likely to deter talented, dedicated women from applying for positions in your organisation.”??

You have to create and promote leadership opportunities.?

To increase the number of women in leadership roles, we need to look at how we are fostering women at all grades and differing work arrangements to identify and take up development opportunities in line with their career aspirations.

“In our experience, women tend to downplay their skills and expertise and don’t always recognise their leadership capabilities. We use the performance development planning (PDP) process as one way to have specific conversations about what direction they want to take, and work together to identify opportunities that can help set them up for leadership roles.”

Opportunities are easy to uncover when you lead with a culture of support, not competition.?

At the ADC, some of the opportunities realised through the PDP process includes external training and leadership development courses, but also opportunities to act in more senior roles, and encouraging and supporting secondments to other agencies.?

“While we are a small agency, we recognise that it’s not just about fostering women as leaders in our agency, but investing in women and all of our staff who can go on to be brilliant leaders within and outside of the public service.”?

#Embraceequity is about recognising and providing what people need to succeed.?

Equity means providing people with what they need to succeed, including to become leaders in the workplace. It’s also recognising that we’re not all starting from the same place with access to the same opportunities.

“We are missing out on a lot of talented leaders when we fail to embrace and uphold equity. We need to consider the lived experience of individuals, and look at what adjustments, support, and opportunities are needed to enable them to succeed, and to address the broader barriers that hold women back.”?

While the principles of equity are important for everyone, we know that embracing equity in the workplace is particularly important for women with disability, Aboriginal women, and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.?

Finding solutions to break down barriers benefits everyone.?

We know that among other things there are barriers for women often associated with carrying the primary load of caring responsibilities; the influences of conscious and unconscious bias, particularly in male-dominated industries; social pressures that could feed negative self-belief and foster imposter syndrome.?

“We all benefit from equity in the workforce. Addressing barriers for women at individual and systemic levels, and making the adjustments that are needed to achieve genuine equity in the workplace for current and future employees serves everyone.”?

If we do this at all levels, invite open communication about the values and principles of a workplace upfront and invite people to share what can work for them, embracing equity can be easier than you think.