Link: http://www.aimvic.com.au/apps/news/StoryView.php?viewNewsStory=1106

Australian Institute of Management – News Release
Melbourne, December 1, 2008

As Australia contemplates spending about $500 million a year on the introduction of a compulsory paid maternity leave scheme, a new survey reveals that only a minority of executives believe the scheme will boost the numbers of women in the workforce.

The survey, conducted by the Australian Institute of Management VT attracted 3,180 respondents from the executive ranks of private and government sector organisations. Just 33 per cent of the survey participants agreed that compulsory paid maternity leave would ‘benefit the recruitment and retention of women in the workforce.’ The survey is titled ‘Retaining women in the Workforce’.

The Australian Government’s Productivity Commission, which has made an initial recommendation that taxpayers fund 18 weeks paid maternity leave, is now working on its final report to Government following the completion of public forums on the issue last week (final report due in Feb 09). One of the goals of the Commission’s proposals on maternity leave is to achieve ‘greater workforce participation by women’.

Respondents to the survey were 55 per cent male and 45 per cent female. The minority support for compulsory paid maternity leave as a means of boosting the numbers of women in the workforce was indicated by men (only 26% support) and women (40% support).
Eighty seven per cent of survey respondents said that ‘more needs to be done to retain women in the Australian workforce’.
“Australia’s ageing population means that maximising the retention and contribution of women in the workforce is becoming a key business imperative,” the CEO of the Australian Institute of Management, (Vic/Tas) Ms Susan Heron said.

The survey identified the most important single factor to retain women in the workforce was ‘flexible working arrangements’. The second most important factor was improved childcare support (10.0%), followed by improved career path (9.5%), paid maternity leave (7.0%), pay equity (6.9 %), training and professional development (5.1%) and other (3.4%).

“Whilst the Government’s move to consider the introduction of paid maternity leave is a welcome development, it is clear that by itself, this initiative will not significantly boost the retention of women in the workforce. Australian organisations need to embrace a broad range of measures to improve the situation.

“Our survey makes clear that greater flexibility in workplace arrangements is a key priority. The greater demand by women - and their partners – for options such as flexible working hours, the ability to work from home when required and job sharing point to the changes underway and indicate what lies ahead for Australian employers.”

Significantly, 63 per cent of participants believed that Australian organisations were not supportive of women ‘who seek to achieve seniority equivalent to their male counterparts.’

“This survey finding about lack of support for women helps us to understand why less than 15 per cent of women occupy the senior executive ranks of our major companies despite the fact that more than 50 per cent of tertiary graduates are women,” Ms Heron said.
“It is clear that Australia can no longer sustain such a poor return on its investment in tertiary education for women.”Eighty per cent of survey participants supported the view that having a child impacted ‘on a woman’s ability to achieve her career goals.’

The survey revealed that 64 per cent of respondents had never worked in an organisation run by a woman CEO (or equivalent position).

However, respondents who worked in the public sector or in the not for profit sector were much more likely to have worked for a woman CEO (or equivalent). Fifty five per cent of respondents in the public sector and 62 per cent of those working for a not for profit entity reported they had worked for an organisation run by a woman.

SURVEY RESULTS – SOME KEY FACTS
• Only 33% of respondents believed that compulsory paid maternity leave would boost the recruitment and retention of women in the workforce
• 58% of respondents said the most important factor in retaining women in the workforce was flexible working arrangements
• 63% felt that Australian organisations were not supportive of women who seek to achieve seniority equivalent to their male counterparts
• 87% believed that more needs to be done to retain women in the workforce
• 80% said that having a child impacts on a woman’s ability to achieve her career goals
• 54% indicated that if compulsory paid maternity leave was introduced, it should be paid by a combination of ‘Govt. and Employer’
• More than 55% of respondents said that if compulsory paid maternity leave was introduced, it should be for a longer period than the 18 weeks nominated by the Productivity Commission
• 55% said that if compulsory paid maternity leave was introduced, that it should not replace the $5,000 Baby Bonus.

For further information
W www.aimvic.com.au
E lfunston@aimvic.com.au

Here is the latest from one of my favourite reference sites, enjoy!
If you don't subscribe to the following, I would strongly suggest that you do, or at the very least, subscribe here on the RSS feed, and know each time I update this blog. That way you will stay across all trend type information that you need.

As there are no indications that 2009 will be any less turbulent than 2008, you'd better get ready for another challenging 12 months. How? Start by knowing where Australian consumers are headed. Here’s how:

Get an instant jolt of inspiration from our current Trend Briefing, highlighting half a dozen trends for 2009. From ECONCIERGE to MAPMANIA, these recession-proof trends can be applied today.
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trendwatching.com's sister site Springwise and its network of 8,000+ Springspotters have just released their overview of top 10 new business ideas, across 10 industries. All of these business ideas offer plenty of opportunities in 2009, whether by partnering with these ventures or being inspired to add similar offerings to your own brand. More >>>

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Oh, and please make sure you don't miss our new briefing, to go live on January 20, highlighting ‘GENERATION G’.

Happy spotting,
Reinier Evers
founder, trendwatching.com

Link: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5917.html

Q&A with: James Heskett and W. Earl Sasser of Harvard Business School
Published: December 22, 2008
Authors: James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, and Joe Wheeler

Organizations with strong, adaptive cultures enjoy labor cost advantages, great employee and customer loyalty, and a smoother on-ramp in leadership succession. A book excerpt from The Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage by HBS professors Jim Heskett and W. Earl Sasser and coauthor Joe Wheeler. Key concepts include:

* Organizations with clearly codified cultures often become better places to work.
* An operating strategy based on a sturdy, effective culture is selective of prospective customers.
* High-performing organizations periodically revisit and reaffirm their core values and associated behaviors... read on

Link: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Innovation/Googles_view_on_the_future_of_business_An_interview_with_CEO_Eric_Schmidt_2229

One of the top interview of 2008 for The McKinsey Quarterly is the following one with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. I thought it timely to revisit this... enjoy

Few would dispute that Google sits at the center of the Internet. As the leader in search, Google is now the Internet’s premier brand and the planet’s most potent free service. Managing that commanding position falls largely to seasoned technology executive Eric Schmidt, who in 2001 was tapped for the CEO post by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

In his years at the company, Schmidt has delivered steady growth while expanding Google’s reach. By anticipating the ways in which people would expand their use of Internet applications, Schmidt has introduced new products from the popular Web-based e-mail service Gmail (Google Mail in Germany and the UK) to the recently unveiled G1 mobile phone. And as Google’s audience and influence have increased, so too has its appeal among advertisers worldwide... read on

Thank you to all who participated in the
2008-09 aCE talentNET Global Consultant Study

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS,
and a warm ho ho ho to the winner of the iPod Nano ...

Alison Faruk of VIC Australia

We encourage you to take the time over these next "quiet" weeks,
& give yourself a chance to contemplate your consulting life ...
...If times do get tough over the next 12 months,
what is it you need to make you successful?
What problems do you need solved?
Feel free to drop us a line if you wish to share your thoughts.

Our commitment is that we will be doing the same.
Based on the continued analysis of the Study's findings,
we will be introducing wonderful initiatives to help address
some of what you have already (collectively) highlighted as areas you wish to work on, plus any others you let us know about.

The final 2008-09 aCE talentNET Global Consultant Study report
will be ready in the near future, for your viewing pleasure!
For those of you requested a copy, it will land in your inbox once it's completed.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas,
an even better New Year,
and may all your aspirations come true.

Train, share values, share information,
and invite "outsiders" to participate in everything...
Tom Peters