INTHEBLACK March 2025 - Magazine - Page 26
F E AT U R E
“We need to understand that men’s and women’s career
trajectories are different, and if we can get rid of ageism
in the workplace that will be a huge help.”
CLAIRE BRAUND OAM, WOMEN ON BOARDS
2. CREATE TARGETS WITH TEETH
A global report from McKinsey, drawn from
1265 companies over 23 countries, shows
that companies in the top quartile for gender
diversity in executive teams are 39 per cent
more likely to have above-average profitability
than companies in the bottom quartile.
With an inclusive and diverse workforce
widely viewed as a competitive advantage,
more organisations are beginning to view a
lack of gender diversity as a business problem
to be solved. Like any business problem,
results are increasingly being linked to
accountability, targets and incentives.
For example, more than 60 per cent
of direct reports to Champions of Change
Coalition members have KPIs related
to gender equality in their scorecards or
performance plans. Engineering firm Worley
has targets in place for leaders, linked to
remuneration, for hiring and promoting
women into senior positions, and has
recorded incremental improvements in
gender diversity in 2023–2024 At New
Zealand building and construction company
Fletcher Building, achieving gender targets
forms part of the executive and senior leaders’
short-term incentives, where appropriate,
and it has also seen a lift in the number
of women in senior leadership roles.
Meanwhile, the Australian public sector
is also sharpening its focus on gender
targets. In September 2024, the Australian
Government introduced the National
Gender Equity in Sports Governance Policy,
which requires that national and state-level
sporting organisations across Australia must
have an equal split of men and women on
their boards from 2027 or risk having their
funding withheld.
Freyer says that she would be hard-pressed
to find any gender equality–related business
priorities that don’t have metrics associated
with them, and consequences for leaders who
don’t deliver on them.
26 INTHEBLACK March 2025
“If you’ve got a target with teeth — which
means there are consequences if you don’t
deliver — you will be able to drive change.”
3. ELIMINATE AGEIST ATTITUDES
The intersection of ageism and sexism can
negatively affect women’s work opportunities.
According to the Australian Human Rights
Commission, older women are more likely
than older men to be perceived by their peers
as having outdated skills, being slow to learn
new things or doing an unsatisfactory job.
Data from WGEA also shows men over
the age of 55 are twice as likely to be in
management than women.
Claire Braund OAM, co-founder and
executive director of Women on Boards,
suggests that women in the 45–60 age
bracket shine in the workplace, as they have
often finished with complex caring roles.
“After the age of 40, many women are
ready to put their foot on the accelerator
in terms of their career, but that’s often when
ageism is experienced in the workforce,
and I think it’s one of the greatest inhibitors
to women achieving leadership roles.
“We need to understand that men’s and
women’s career trajectories are different,
and if we can get rid of ageism in the
workplace that will be a huge help.”
4. GET SERIOUS ABOUT SPONSORSHIP
Research from Bain & Company shows
high-potential women who are sponsored
— specifically by senior male leaders — are
more likely to receive growth opportunities
as well as the feedback they require to
advance their careers and prepare for
executive roles.
Sponsorship in this context involves
senior leaders using their influence to help
a talented team member access high-value,
high-visibility assignments, promotions or
opportunities that could lead to a leadership
role. However, research from McKinsey
