More Women Needed In Senior Roles in NZ

Media release
24 April 2013
More Women Needed In Senior Roles
New Zealand Management Teams Trail In Gender Balance

The latest Randstad Workmonitor Report shows New Zealand organisations trail much of the world when it comes to the proportion of women in leadership positions, with only 37% of Kiwis surveyed saying female employees make up at least half of leadership positions in their current employer.

While over half of those New Zealanders surveyed (54%) said it is more difficult for women to be promoted to leadership positions, this is less troubling than in Australia at 65%.

Randstad’s Workmonitor, which surveys over 13,000 employees across 32 countries each quarter, shows gender diversity in New Zealand leadership teams has fallen behind many Asian countries, with a larger number of respondents in India (63%), Hong Kong (54%), China (48%) and Singapore (47%) citing an even gender split in their management teams.

Globally, a greater number of employees in the USA (48%), UK (43%) and Italy (58%) report that female employees make up half of their organisation’s leadership team.

Paul Robinson, New Zealand Director of recruitment & HR specialists, Randstad, says it’s vital New Zealand remains focused on advancing women into leadership positions and creating a gender balance across all industry sectors.

“In an increasingly global and mobile marketplace, it’s vital New Zealand doesn’t fall behind the rest of the world when it comes to having balanced leadership teams in organisations, whether large or small.

“While we have traditionally embraced diverse working environments, New Zealand employers must ensure we remain competitive locally and internationally, otherwise we risk losing our top talent overseas, or to a competitor. The key here is for business leaders to recognise, develop and reward the best person for the leadership role every time. If the best decision is made regardless of gender, the balance will naturally follow.”

Promising news from Randstad’s Workmonitor is New Zealand companies (69%) are active in encouraging female employees to pursue leadership positions. This compares to only 57% of employees globally who say their current employer encourages females to pursue promotional opportunities.

New Zealanders are also overwhelmingly in favour of diverse management teams with (88%) saying they believe in balanced leadership groups.

Paul Robinson says promoting and embracing diversity and gender balance amongst management teams must form part of an organisation’s culture with a strong commitment from all levels of the business.

“If you look at the most successful organisations in terms of achieving balanced leadership teams, you’ll find they have well designed recruitment, recognition, reward and development programs catering to the needs of employees from diverse backgrounds.

“Building a truly diverse workforce is the best way to organically develop a strong and integrated management team; ensuring your organisation remains attractive to a wide range of people and continues to innovate and improve by seeing the business from different perspectives,” says Robinson.

Gender quotas, yes or no?
Globally the overall number of respondents who believe men (38%) or women (40%) are better suited to lead a company do not differ greatly. However, several countries are much more outspoken on a preference for male senior leadership (China, Hong Kong, India, and Malaysia), while Spain, Chile and Mexico share a higher preference for female leadership.

When asked if gender quotas would work as a lever to promote more women in leadership positions, globally, more than half of the employees agree (57%). This belief is especially strong in China (78%), India (75%) and France (70%).

In New Zealand, however, employees are not so convinced quotas are the right approach to the issue of women in leadership positions (46%).

Employee perceptions of flexible working remain mixed
Perceptions over the impact flexible and part-time working arrangements can have on career opportunities are still mixed, with just under half (47%) of New Zealanders surveyed believing part-time work hinders career progression. This compares to 54% of workers globally who believe taking on a part-time role will harm their career.

Paul Robinson says the figures show more needs to be done to allay fears of managing flexibility at work.

“Flexible working arrangements are a vital element of many workforces and more needs to be done to remove the stigma still attached to these roles, particularly as more employees embrace remote working and flexible hours. As flexibility increases in appeal, people will be looking for companies which can cater to their needs without hindering their career prospects,” says Robinson.

Getting there, and getting paid
Globally, over half of employers (57%) encourage women to pursue leadership positions. This figure is higher in New Zealand, where 69% of workers say their employer is supportive of women pursuing leadership positions.

While Canada, the USA and UK have similar figures, there is much less encouragement in Hungary (25%), Japan (36%) and Czech Republic (38%).

And while 75% of employees globally state employers reward men and women equally, New Zealand respondents were on par with this attitude with 75% of Kiwis also agreeing.

Randstad Mobility Index & employee confidence drops
The Randstad Mobility Index which reveals jobseeker confidence each quarter has dropped slightly in New Zealand from 106 to 105 points, reflecting that less employees are expecting to be employed elsewhere in the next six months than in Q4.

Internationally, mobility and confidence has increased in China, Argentina and Brazil and declined in Italy and Hong Kong. Thirteen percent of employees globally are actively looking for a new job which is 2 percentage points higher than in Q4 2012. Numbers have increased in Spain and Japan, and the highest percentage of employees looking for a new job can be found in Sweden (28%).

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Employee confidence decreases slightly globally, increases in New Zealand
Employee confidence of finding a comparable job within six months has slightly decreased over the quarter globally. In New Zealand, confidence is up 8% on Q4 2012.

Job satisfaction
72% of New Zealand employees remain satisfied in their current positions, with 31% extremely satisfied and a further 41% satisfied. Only 6% of the working population report feeling dissatisfied in their current role.

In Europe, employees in Norway (81%) and Denmark (79%) continue to exhibit the highest satisfaction levels, while Greece (52%) and Hungary (41%) are the least satisfied. Outside Europe, Indian and Malaysian workers are the most satisfied with their job.

Personal motivation
In New Zealand, 64% of employees admit to being either very or somewhat focused on achieving a promotion.

This figure is relatively low compared to global markets, with 90% of employees in India, 86% of those in China, and 80% of Malaysian workers focused on achieving a promotion.
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A global press report is available on http://www.randstad.com/press-room/research-reports

The Randstad Workmonitor
The Randstad Workmonitor is published four times a year, in 32 countries around the world, making both local and global trends in mobility regularly visible over time. The Mobility Index, which tracks employee confidence and captures expectations surrounding the likelihood of changing employers within a six month time frame, provides a comprehensive understanding of job market sentiments and employee trends. In addition to measuring mobility, employee satisfaction and personal motivation, topical issues are reported on each quarter.

The quantitative study is conducted via an online questionnaire among a population aged 18-65, working a minimum of 24 hours a week in a paid job (not self-employed). The minimal sample size is 400 interviews per country, using Survey Sampling International. Research for the first wave in 2013 was conducted from January 18-31, 2013.

About Randstad
Randstad is one of the world’s largest recruitment & HR services providers, employing over 570,000 people every day with the aim of “shaping the world of work”. Randstad is passionate about matching people with organisations that will develop their potential and matching organisations with people that will take their business to the next level. Visit www.randstad.co.nz for further information.

ENDS

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