WGHA

How to spend with a gender focus At WGHA we believe the organisations that make up our industry can utilise their purchasing power to advocate for change by adopting procurement principles that actively support gender equity. The United National Women’s Empowerment Principle number 5 states: Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women Next month we will detail more information on marketing practices, our focus for now is why and how you should adopt gender smart procurement in your organisation. An important part of empowering women is via corporate procurement. Gender-smart procurement will allow female owned businesses greater opportunity to supply to our industry. It will encourage our industry suppliers to consider their own internal workforce and policies to ensure they are promoting gender equitable work practices and addressing gender imbalances. In today’s global economy, “less than one per cent of spending by large businesses on suppliers is earned by women-owned businesses” (UNWOMEN). The sheer size of and volume of corporate purchasing means that corporations have the potential to dramatically influence the way suppliers and supply chains operate. Why adopt Gender focused Procurement Policy? 1/3 of global businesses have female owners, they received 1% of corporate [...]

What is a mentor and how does it differ from sponsorship? A mentor is someone who serves as a guide for a defined period of time in your career journey. Mentors can be internal or external to your organisation, they assist by enabling you to see issues more clearly by asking thought provoking questions to work through workplace issues. A mentor can help you determine your strengths and what sets you apart. A mentee-mentor relationship is a two way street and both parties benefit from the process. A sponsor is usually internal to your organisation and use their network and influence to get you stretch assignments, project roles or exposure that lead to promotions. A sponsor highlights your achievements. To read more on sponsorship see our blog from last month. Why is mentoring good for career growth? Mentoring provides clarity on your strength and career goals. It allows an external, more senior person to guide you through current workplace issues and help see the bigger view of your career. The mentor acts as a sounding board with constructive feedback and encouragement. A recent survey indicated 56% of respondents have had a mentor and the majority (57%) of people experience [...]

Sponsorship is active support by someone appropriately placed in the organisation who has significant influence on decision-making processes or structures. A sponsor is someone who can spot talent and is willing to advocate for, protect, and fight for the career advancement of an individual. The WGHA December 2020 survey indicated 67% of females had considered leaving their current role for another industry with the highest ranking reason “lack of opportunities and or no pathways to leadership.” This is where sponsorship can help break this cycle in your organisation and reduce this barrier that females face in career progression.  As an industry we need to address the challenge of female representation at senior levels by targeting the career advancement of women in general and advocating the progression of high performing women in particular. Your action: Senior member of any gender – sponsor a female Female employee – seek out a sponsor in your organisation Sponsorship has the potential to breakdown some of the barriers women face in the workplace and when done effectively, it can: Create career acceleration Help individuals meet the unique challenges of new higher level roles and alleviate the perceived risks associated with moving into new areas [...]

WGHA supports gender diversity targets of 40:40:20 for all levels in organisations. The board of the organisation should oversee the monitoring and progress of these targets. 40:40:20 allows organisations to pursue gender equitable outcomes for women, with flexibility in the leadership makeup of a range of 40% to 60% female. The 20% is viewed as open, it is the remaining from the candidate pool. It ensures we stay focused on advancing gender equity and not entering the gender identity debate. 40:40:20 is contemporary business practice, the target allows a range of 40 to 60% of male or female, based on the best people for the need, with the intention that 50:50 is the desired outcome 40:40:20 will deliver real benefits to gender equality it can be coupled with other initiatives like: Constitutional requirement for chair and deputy chair to be gender balanced 50/50 shortlists ‘if not why not’. So you have adopted a gender representation target and not achieving it? What’s next.  At the WGHA Australasian Gaming Expo Luncheon in 2019 we heard from Aristocrat Non Executive Director, Kathleen Conlon she stated “implement a rule whereby your next promotion is only available if you have two potential successors, one male and one [...]