INTHEBLACK March 2025 - Magazine - Page 28
F E AT U R E
shows entry-level women are less likely
than men to have managers who act
as their advocates and help them identify
opportunities to pursue.
“Research shows that women are
over-mentored and under-sponsored,” says
Freyer. “Mentorship is about talking to
you and advising you, whereas sponsorship
is about talking about you when you’re not
in the room to seek and find opportunities,
then put you forward for them.”
A sponsorship program between senior
leaders and potential future female leaders
is part of the Women in Leadership Action
Plan at ANZ Bank, which has committed
to a target of 40 per cent of women in
leadership roles. Meanwhile, the Property
Council of Australia’s 500 Women in
Property sponsorship program aims to
accelerate more women into leadership
positions in the property industry through
sponsorship of high-potential talent.
It requires a personal commitment from
sponsors to identify and champion women
in their organisation or business sphere.
When the program started in 2016,
it had a goal to sponsor 100 women
annually. In 2023, the cohort had grown
to 650 participants and their sponsors.
Its cumulative participation since launch
has exceeded 3600 women.
28 INTHEBLACK March 2025
5. EXTEND FLEXIBILITY
TO ALL EMPLOYEES
Normalising flexibility can open
opportunities for all workers, particularly
women. Viva Energy provides a good
example of how it can work.
In 2017, its refinery workforce consisted
of 84 per cent men and 16 per cent women,
with most of the women in corporate roles.
A significant barrier was the assumption that
operator roles needed to be performed on
a full-time, 24/7 shift roster.
To incorporate more flexibility, roles were
redesigned as job shares. A new part-time shift
was also created within the framework of the
current enterprise agreement. Operator training
modules were adapted to align to shorter shifts,
and the company purchased personal protective
equipment appropriate for women and invested
in amenities.
Viva Energy saw women’s overall
representation in the refinery increase
to 24 per cent in four years.
“In terms of our motivation, it really
is the gender pay gap,” says Dr Jessie Lyons,
head of people strategy at Viva Energy.
“We’ve realised that the best way we
can impact that is to get more women into
operational roles. First of all, they’re very
well paid and they attract overtime, but there
are very few women in them.”
