EDITORIAL www.hcamag.com OCTOBER 2015 EDITORIAL
SALES & MARKETING
Editor Iain Hopkins
Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway
Journalists Chloe Taylor Miklos Bolza Production Editor Roslyn Meredith
ART & PRODUCTION
Business Development Managers James Francis Steven McDonald Lisa Tyras
CORPORATE
Design Manager Daniel Williams
Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley
Designer Marla Morelos
Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley
Traffic Coordinator Lou Gonzales
Managing Director Justin Kennedy Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au
SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES tel: +61 2 8011 4992 • fax: +61 2 8437 4753 subscriptions@keymedia.com.au
ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES james.francis@keymedia.com.au steven.mcdonald@keymedia.com.au lisa.tyras@keymedia.com.au
Key Media Regional head office, Level 10, 1–9 Chandos St, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia tel: +61 2 8437 4700 • fax: +61 2 9439 4599 www.keymedia.com Offices in Sydney, Auckland, Denver, Toronto, Manila
Human Resources Director is part of an international family of B2B publications and websites for the human resources industry HRD MAGAZINE CANADA iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au T +61 2 8437 4703 HRD SINGAPORE hrdmag.com.sg
Less talk, more action required I’VE NOW SPOKEN to countless HR directors within prominent organisations who keep circling back to one key challenge – and in 2015 it’s both surprising and shameful that this should be an agenda item: gender inequality. Michelle Ridsdale, profiled in this issue, suggests the root cause of gender inequality in the IT sector is multifaceted and has no easy solution. Fundamentally, in this industry sector at least, there are simply not enough women studying what they need to study to gain entry. This is not just at university level but earlier, at primary and high school. Young girls are still simply not expected to enter such a profession, and are led towards humanities subjects. Indeed, she notes it’s a much bigger issue than one organisation can hope to change – any solution will require input from the government and the broader community. A second HRD, this time from the manufacturing industry, surprisingly suggested that, somewhat to her chagrin, the oft-maligned notion of gender quotas was actually working in her organisation’s global operations. While she is a staunch advocate of women being
Prescriptive measures like quotas do have one possible benefit: they are not forever hired, promoted and developed based on merit alone, she did concede that prescriptive measures like quotas have one possible benefit: they are not forever. Indeed, she noted that once critical mass is reached – in other words, once the number of women in senior roles is reached – it will become self-sustainable. There will be no going backwards. She also suggested, correctly, that HR plays a critical role in making this happen, whether that’s through encouraging and ‘normalising’ flexible work practices, or acting as mentors for others in the organisation. With women making up a fair percentage of the HR workforce, this seems possible. “If not us, then who?” she asked. “Bit by bit, we’ll get there.” Let’s hope there’s less talk and more action in the immediate future.
HC AUSTRALIA ONLINE hcamag.com HRM NEW ZEALAND hrmonline.co.nz Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept, as HRD Magazine can accept no responsibility for loss
01_Editorial_SUBBED.indd 1
Iain Hopkins, editor
www.hcamag.com
1
24/09/2015 2:27:23 PM