Business in Heels, an organisation that aims to empower women in business, has launched an award geared towards achieving gender equality among businesses.
The Recalibrate Gender Equality Awards aims to encourage competition between businesses especially in the ‘War for Talent’. Through the award, the organisers hope to create a groundswell of activity driven by best practice and inspired by the stories of individuals.
“Every little bit counts and maybe this will be the tipping point in driving change. I would like to see some major change in my lifetime,” Business in Heels CEO Lisa Sweeney said.
A March 2022 report from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) highlighted the fact that women currently hold 17.6 per cent of chair positions and 31.2 per cent of directorships, 19.4 per cent of CEO roles and 34.5 per cent of key management personnel roles, still a long way from its target figure of 50 per cent.
Commentary around International Women’s Day highlighted the fact that women are becoming progressively more frustrated and vocal about the lack of security and the gender pay gap. They certainly are not keen to wait 135.6 years, which is how long it will take to close the gap at the current pace of advancements.
To accelerate the pace of gender equality in business, WGEA recently announced its 150 citation holders, a voluntary leading-practice recognition program designed to encourage, recognise and promote organisations’ active commitment. Similarly, The Champions of Change Coalition continues to gain advocates, as does Work180.
The Recalibrate Award looks to augment such efforts with the support of prominent organisations and leaders, including Paul Zahra, CEO of the Australian Retailers Association; Paul Guerra, CEO of the Vic Chamber of Commerce; Patrick Walker, CEO of the Australian Sports Foundation; Peter White, MD of Finance Brokers Association of Australia, and Mary Aldred CEO Franchise Council of Australia, among others.
Nominations for the Recalibrate Awards are open until 1 September.
