Women At Work

 

“We need to stop ‘fixing’ women, and fix the system.”

Peggy Vosloo is passionate about diversity and inclusion, employee engagement and cultural change. For the past 15 years, Peggy has applied her project management and strategic thinking skills to both the private and public sectors. In the private sector, she managed the implementation of complex people projects for a global company. In the public sector, she developed and delivered educational programs designed to create sustainable change in the gender equality space for Australian workplaces. For the past 2 years, Peggy has been working as the Creative Project Manager for Sageco, a career transition company committed to embed D&I principles in their services.

We discuss:

* Creating your village and making a commitment to the family

* How to determine whether a company has true flexibility available for employees, no matter what their policies state, because it comes down to executive advocacy

* If companies offer flexibility and work does not get completed, it’s a performance issue not a flexibility issue

* Real scripts for having the conversation with your manager to ask for flexible working

* Pay transparency and its place in removing the gender pay gap

* Australia Post completely removed its company-wide gender pay gap!

* Women are great at negotiating, and get better outcomes when we are advocating for someone else (rather than ourselves)

* The broken system and unconscious expectations and biases mean there’s a double backlash – if we negotiate hard then we’re seen as masculine, if we don’t negotiate then we get paid less

* You don’t get what you don’t ask for

Resources

We mention some resources throughout the conversation, here is where you can find links to them all!

Workplace Gender Equality Agency employers of choice

Australia Post eliminates the gender pay gap

NSW Equal Employment Opportunity Agency, NEEOPA

 

 

 

 

 

Equality starts in the lounge room before the boardroom.

Tracey Spicer is a television presenter, journalist and author. Recently appointed a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for her work in journalism and for her ambassadorships for social welfare and charitable organisations. She led the public voice of the #MeToo movement in Australia, breaking the Don Burke story. Tracey's lifelong passion is amplifying women's voices, and in today's conversation we discuss creating equality in the home and in the workplace.

We discuss:

• ½ of women experience pregnancy discrimination in the workplace
• Your job is to be prepared by finding out the state and federal legislation and creating a strategy
• The gender pay gap
  • Tracey didn't ask for a pay rise for 14 years
  • Now she says to always ask for more than you think you're worth
  • The gender pay gap in her own household
• Do your research and keep notes
  • Know when the best time to ask for a pay rise is
  • Keep a detailed diary of positive feedback, so provide proof of your performance
  • Know what the share price is, and what other people received as bonses
  • Figure out a way to make sure everyone can benefit - it's not a zero sum game
• How we can change expectations in childhood, which may lead to different outcomes in the gender pay gap
• Having difficult conversations with your partner
  • long term resentment is a huge risk to a relationship
• The 30% tipping point for sexual harassment, where it peaks and then drops off
• Quotas, targets and the inexistence of any true meritocracy
• There's no such thing as work-life balance
  • Let's change the conversation so MEN are being asked how they manage it all
• Legislative changes that could be put in place to better support families

An invitation from Tracey:

• Sit down and write out the amount of time it takes you to do your hair, makeup, buy your work wardrobe, and do all the things that come with society's pressure on women to look a certain way
• Write down how much all of these things cost you financially
• Consider what else you can do with that money and time, and be deliberate about whether you want to keep spending it on meeting society’s unreasonable expectations of women's looks
• Have a think about these cultural expectation
• If you want, then slowly start to pare it back. See if you don't start to feel more authentic and truly yourself

Resources

We mention some resources throughout the conversation, here is where you can find links to them all!

Outspoken Women, for women who want to amplify their voices within the professional environment –

Tracey's book, Good Girl Stripped Bare

Tracey's TED Talk on the topic

Mental Load cartoon; Tracey suggests women need to have more difficult conversations with their husbands

Jamila Rizvi Not Just Lucky

Gender pay gap calculator

Amy Cuddy power poses

We often have to learn to ask for what we need before others can help us.

Fiona Francis has three young children, and went through big transitions with the arrival of each of her children. She shares tips on nurturing your creativity, asking for help, and some really interesting books and resources.

In today’s conversation we talk about:

• Serotonin leaking activities – blame shame and guilt
• Serotonin building activities – eating well, exercising, sleep
• The fact that having kids makes us questions what's meaningful, and what we want to spend our lives doing.
• Annabel Crabb’s, The Wife Drought, discusses that your career is more than ‘just right now’; stay in it for the long haul,
  • But it can be difficult to think beyond the pure immediate financial argument
  • The primary carer is often the mother, who sacrifices career progression to support the family
• “Following the clues” to see where listening to your intuition will lead you
• Sunday night dread is a sign from our bodies that our lives are not ok
• Flexible work policies require buy-in from management to be successfully implemented, and we also need flexibility for husbands and men at work to alleviate the burden
• Lighting herself up, through exercise, study, creative endeavours
• Practical tips for easing the juggle
• • Sunday night weekly planning
  • Meal planning and shopping
  • Coordinating schedules and negotiating activites
  • Looking at goals and intentions, and all the activities that fall beneath those intentions
  • Habits tracking

• Asking for what you want
  • Often involves a period of adjustment as your partner gets on board
  • Put the responsibility for solutions back onto your partner â€" don’t take on the entire mental load yourself
  • Express your needs early enough that they don’t become resentments
  • You have permission to ask for what you want
• Mindfulness practice
  • It doesn't matter if it's not the same time of day every day
  • A series of resources listed below

Resources

PANDA – Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia

Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Brene Brown

The Wife Drought, by Annabel Crabb

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

Tara Brach's RAIN meditation

Dan Seigel's Wheel of Awareness meditation

Fiona’s Heartful Moment Instagram account

We often have to learn to ask for what we need before others can help us.

Fiona Francis has three young children, and went through big transitions with the arrival of each of her children. She shares tips on nurturing your creativity, asking for help, and some really interesting books and resources.

In today’s conversation we talk about:

* Serotonin leaking activities – blame shame and guilt

* Serotonin building activities – eating well, exercising, sleep

* The fact that having kids makes us questions what’s meaningful, and what we want to spend our lives doing.

* Annabel Crabb’s, The Wife Drought, discusses that your career is more than ‘just right now’; stay in it for the long haul,

* But it can be difficult to think beyond the pure immediate financial argument

* The primary carer is often the mother, who sacrifices career progression to support the family

* “Following the clues” to see where listening to your intuition will lead you

* Sunday night dread is a sign from our bodies that our lives are not ok

* Flexible work policies require buy-in from management to be successfully implemented, and we also need flexibility for husbands and men at work to alleviate the burden

* Lighting herself up, through exercise, study, creative endeavours

* Practical tips for easing the juggle

*

* Sunday night weekly planning

* Meal planning and shopping

* Coordinating schedules and negotiating activites

* Looking at goals and intentions, and all the activities that fall beneath those intentions

* Habits tracking

* Asking for what you want

* Often involves a period of adjustment as your partner gets on board

* Put the responsibility for solutions back onto your partner – don’t take on the entire mental load yourself

* Express your needs early enough that they don’t become resentments

* You have permission to ask for what you want

* Mindfulness practice

* It doesn’t matter if it’s not the same time of day every day

* A series of resources listed below

Resources

PANDA – Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia

Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Brene Brown

The Wife Drought, by Annabel Crabb

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

Tara Brach’s RAIN meditation

Dan Seigel’s Wheel of Awareness meditation

Fiona’s Heartful Moment Instagram account

When life is tough, self-care, being kind to yourself and giving yourself a break may just be what gets you through.

Dana Ingster left a 10-year career in Marketing and Branding to open her own corporate wellness business, The Massage Spot . She has two young children, and has made a practice out of being kind to herself, acknowledging that we can’t do everything all the time and making life as easy as possible through the transitions.

In today’s conversation we talk about

* Focusing on getting the job done well, rather than hours in the office

* Tips for getting consulting clients through your networks

* The difficulty of working for a working mother, while different families have different needs (working mothers offering flexibility to your employees – take note!)

* The benefit of allowing employees to design their own working arrangement

* When you have a nuclear family, there are two parents responsible for the household. Dada recommends discussing with your partner before you even start to have a family that you’re both on board with that approach and ensuring you have shared values

* The importance of giving yourself a break, which may sometimes look like getting paid help

* The adjustment periods she faced when having children

* Year 1 – if you’re totally drowning, just be kind to yourself

* Year 2 – thinking about what she wanted career-wise and stepped out of corporate

* Year 3 – focussing on her health, feeling better about herself, growing her business gaining confidence

* Focus just on what you need in any given time, things do change and eventually get easier

* Doing one thing every day that is kind to yourself

* Go for a walk

* Get a massage

* Dropping baby at parent/friend and go for a walk, give yourself a bit of space

* Get a mag and sit in the sun

* Getting nails done

* Meeting a friend for coffee

* Exercise – even when it’s the last thing you feel like you have time for, and finding time for exercise feels like it gives you more time

* Baby-swapping with a friend

* Dana takes tennis lessons with friends

* Nap

* Get organised for the week to make it easier (Dana focuses on grocery shopping, food prep, paperwork and taking a breath)

* Increasing quality time with your partner in small steps

 

No one will die if it doesn’t happen by the deadline.

 

Did you know it’s possible to reduce your work days and retain your full time salary? Neither did I!

Vern O’Sullivan is the Senior Marketing Specialist at Chartered Accountants ANZ with almost 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications, who now has one little girl and an amazing story of how she manages her career and salary.

In today’s conversation we talk about

* How Vern negotiated working four days following her maternity leave, while retaining her full-time salary

* How preparation for the week ahead helps keep things on track, and some practical tips for getting organised:

* Have a family calendar

* Communicate clearly with your partner

* How efficient working mothers are, and how the way we approach work makes us desirable

* The fact that your direct manager is potentially more important than company policy in providing flexible work options

* How we often feel like a burden when we’re asking others for help, but we are happy to offer help, so the paradigm needs to shift

* That Dads need help too, and how the workplace can make it easier for men to be involved with their families and children

* Final tip: have the conversation with your employer to start achieving more flexibility

If I was in a position to hire people I would look for working mums, because they are multi taskers, they get things done, and they’re reliable.

Further Reading

Working mothers are definitely the most efficient people in the workplace:

* https://qz.com/802254/the-ultimate-efficiency-hack-have-kids/

* https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/30/study-women-with-more-children-are-more-productive-at-work/?utm_term=.f81cabea4034

 

 

When life is tough, self-care, being kind to yourself and giving yourself a break may just be what gets you through.

Dana Ingster left a 10-year career in Marketing and Branding to open her own corporate wellness business, The Massage Spot . She has two young children, and has made a practice out of being kind to herself, acknowledging that we can’t do everything all the time and making life as easy as possible through the transitions.

In today’s conversation we talk about

• Focusing on getting the job done well, rather than hours in the office
• Tips for getting consulting clients through your networks
• The difficulty of working for a working mother, while different families have different needs (working mothers offering flexibility to your employees – take note!)
• The benefit of allowing employees to design their own working arrangement
• When you have a nuclear family, there are two parents responsible for the household. Dada recommends discussing with your partner before you even start to have a family that you’re both on board with that approach and ensuring you have shared values
• The importance of giving yourself a break, which may sometimes look like getting paid help
• The adjustment periods she faced when having children
  • Year 1 â€" if you’re totally drowning, just be kind to yourself
  • Year 2 â€" thinking about what she wanted career-wise and stepped out of corporate
  • Year 3 â€" focussing on her health, feeling better about herself, growing her business gaining confidence
  • Focus just on what you need in any given time, things do change and eventually get easier
• Doing one thing every day that is kind to yourself
  • Go for a walk
  • Get a massage
  • Dropping baby at parent/friend and go for a walk, give yourself a bit of space
  • Get a mag and sit in the sun
  • Getting nails done
  • Meeting a friend for coffee
  • Exercise â€" even when it’s the last thing you feel like you have time for, and finding time for exercise feels like it gives you more time
  • Baby-swapping with a friend
  • Dana takes tennis lessons with friends
  • Nap
• Get organised for the week to make it easier (Dana focuses on grocery shopping, food prep, paperwork and taking a breath)
• Increasing quality time with your partner in small steps

No one will die if it doesn’t happen by the deadline.

Have you wondered how to create flexibility in your career and focus your boss’ attention on output, not hours-at-your-desk?

Sarah Stores is the Regulatory Affairs Manager at a large Australian utility, with 15 years of experience in Legal and 6 years’ experience being a mum and managing the juggle. Now she balances part-time work with award-winning book day craft costumes, throwing the best birthday parties of all time and generally being a ton of fun.

In today’s conversation we talk about

* Starting as you mean to go on, and how Sarah uses that philosophy to leave work at 5pm every day since she first had a baby

* How bringing au pairs into your family helps grow your village and make your kids happier as they are surrounded by people who love them

* The required evolution of the workforce – management is still typically a particular demographic while workers’ requirements are changing

* A practical approach to managing your work perception, leaving in time to care for your children and how to have performance conversations that don’t leave room for them to say flexible work isn’t providing a satisfactory outcome

* Getting as much help as you can

Asking for help doesn’t make us a sh!t mum.

 

 

Have you wondered how to create flexibility in your career and focus your boss' attention on output, not hours-at-your-desk?

Sarah Stores is the Regulatory Affairs Manager at a large Australian utility, with 15 years of experience in Legal and 6 years' experience being a mum and managing the juggle. Now she balances part-time work with award-winning book day craft costumes, throwing the best birthday parties of all time and generally being a ton of fun.

In today's conversation we talk about

• Starting as you mean to go on, and how Sarah uses that philosophy to leave work at 5pm every day since she first had a baby
• How bringing au pairs into your family helps grow your village and make your kids happier as they are surrounded by people who love them
• The required evolution of the workforce – management is still typically a particular demographic while workers' requirements are changing
• A practical approach to managing your work perception, leaving in time to care for your children and how to have performance conversations that don't leave room for them to say flexible work isn't providing a satisfactory outcome
• Getting as much help as you can

Asking for help doesn't make us a sh!t mum.