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Property Male Champions of Change driving measurable progress on diversity

  • September 19, 2017

All Property Male Champions of Change (PMCC) organisations have now adopted formal flexible work policies or strategies, and 75% of PMCC organisations have achieved balance or progress towards balance in the percentage of women in Key Management Personnel, according to a new report released today.

The 2016-17 PMCC Progress Report details the real change that is being made towards achieving gender diversity in the workplace in these organisations, which are among the largest and most significant employers in the property industry in Australia.

The PMCC group consists of 21 of the property industry’s senior leaders, convened by business leader Carol Schwartz AM, who are taking action to drive gender diversity at all levels in their places of work, particularly in senior and executive roles, where women are under-represented.

The report uses performance benchmarks to assess the extent to which PMCC organisations are increasing the representation of women in leadership positions. This 2016-17 assessment is the second annual report of the PMCC.

It found advancements were achieved in these PMCC workplaces during 2016-17 as follows:

  • Leadership on addressing pay equity – 75% of PMCC organisations conducted a pay equity review in the last 24 months with all PMCCs committed to conducting a review every 2 years.
  • Achievement of a 40:40:20 target (i.e. 40% women, 40% men and 20% either gender) for the Property Council of Australia committee nominations and appointments with women appointed to 43% of the 1600 Committee roles (up from 29% two years ago).
  • Flexible work and caring – the number of PMCC organisations with formal flexible work policies or strategies increased from 74% to 100% over the last year; PMCC organisations invested in flexible work training for managers; and a survey of approximately 2000 employees across PMCC organisations was conducted about the uptake, perceptions and impact of flexible work and caring.
  • Supporting carers – PMCC organisations have introduced new offerings to carers over the last 12 months including: additional weeks of primary and/or secondary carer’s leave; removal of qualifying periods for parental leave; return to work bonus; superannuation on unpaid leave; and ensured long-service leave is accrued during unpaid leave.
  • 72% of leadership categories across all organisations achieved gender balance or progress towards it.
  • Implementing innovative initiatives to retain female talent and grow the talent pool in the  property industry – in 89% of PMCC organisations, women made up more than 40% of appointments.
  • A host of organisation-specific achievements are also listed throughout the report.

These results were determined by assessing achievements against each of the six PMCC Action Plans, which were established by this collaboration of employers in 2015. They are the ‘Own a Leadership Action Plan’, ‘Lead on GenderReporting’, ‘Grow the Talent Pool’, ‘Build an Inclusive Industry’, ‘Mainstream Flexibility’ and ‘Enable Workers to be Carers’. The report is an open and transparent account that both measures progress to date and helps determine the priority areas which must be the focus of sustained, future efforts by the PMCC Group.

“Achieving a significant and sustainable increase in the representation of women in leadership in the property industry requires a dedicated and multi-faceted approach,” said Ms. Schwartz. “The PMCC are committed  to achieving across these areas because they understand that, as industry leaders, they can step up  and  work alongside women and drive gender balance in leadership in their organisations, to create a more inclusive industry.”

Libby Lyons, Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) said, “it is fantastic to see the progress towards gender equality in the property industry. The PMCC are sending a very clear message that gender equality is a key business priority. Their continued commitment will help the industry thrive by attracting and retaining top talent, fostering innovative thinking and by driving better business outcomes and returns for shareholders.”

Since inception, the Founding MCCs, founded by then Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, have inspired several groups across Australia. There are now around 150 MCCs who together employ roughly 600,000 people (approximately 5 per cent of Australia’s workforce.)

Progress Report 2016-17 is available at http://malechampionsofchange.com/groups/property-male-champions-of-%20change/

Media contact: Fiona Benson ([email protected], 0407294620)