TE MANA WĀHINE HEI ARA WHAKATIPU | RECOGNITION OF WOMEN’S MANA IS THE PATHWAY TO EQUALITY
1
‘Workplace flexibility is a tool that, if used
strategically, improves both business and
profitability. Lost profitability for individual
firms means lost profitability for the
New Zealand economy. We cannot afford
to be wasting our talent in this way. ’
Accounting firm BDO Taranaki’s managing
partner Steve Waite told the audience
how the company had adopted a flexible
working structure and it is now the fastest
growing of all BDO offices in New Zealand.
The Ministry was assisted with the study
by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered
Accountants and the Equal Employment
Opportunities Trust.
Continued on page 2
TE MANA WĀHINE HEI ARA WHAKATIPU | RECOGNITION OF WOMEN’S MANA IS THE PATHWAY TO EQUALITY
1
A PUBLICATION OF THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS
June/ pipiri 2010
Flexible work works
The benefits of flexible working practices include greater productivity; higher profits;
improved customer satisfaction; cost savings and increased efficiency; and the ability to
recruit and retain top staff.
For industries that face serious skills and demographic challenges, like the accounting sector,
the Ministry of Women’s Affairs believes adopting flexible work practices could be the answer.
A
paper by the Ministry, Workplace
Flexibility in the Accounting Sector,
launched by Hon Pansy Wong,
Minister of Women’s Affairs earlier this
month, outlines the findings of case study
research we undertook into flexible work
practices in the New Zealand accounting
sector, which is experiencing skills shortages.
A key finding is that the majority of
accountancy staff from graduates to senior
managers are women, while the majority
of partners and associates are men, and
many qualified and experienced women
leave long before making the step up to
partnership. Also, the concept of working
long hours is the norm in the sector
and regarded as fundamental to career
progression and to business profitability.
In her address at the launch, the Minister
spoke of how women and men are
increasingly making work-life choices that
may cause them to leave the workforce
for a time, for example, raising children
or taking part in extracurricular activities
such as sport or community involvement.
‘So what happens when these women
and men leave the sector to take on other
responsibilities? When they leave, even for
short periods, there is an impact.
And it is significant. Their skills, talents
and experience disappear from the sector.
‘And some of them don’t come back.
Others would, if they could, but they don’t
always get the chance. If they do return
to work, they often get put into lower
paid jobs, at levels below their actual
experience and expertise. ’
The answer, the Minister said, may be
flexible work.
‘Workplace flexibility includes
arrangements that can cover when, where,
and how much one works. It includes
options such as flexible arrival, departure
and lunch times, reduced hours or parttime work, telecommuting, and job sharing.
Workplace flexibility
is a tool that, if used
strategically, improves both
business and profitability
Hon pansy Wong launching Workplace Flexibility in the Accounting Sector
1
‘Workplace flexibility is a tool that, if used
strategically, improves both business and
profitability. Lost profitability for individual
firms means lost profitability for the
New Zealand economy. We cannot afford
to be wasting our talent in this way. ’
Accounting firm BDO Taranaki’s managing
partner Steve Waite told the audience
how the company had adopted a flexible
working structure and it is now the fastest
growing of all BDO offices in New Zealand.
The Ministry was assisted with the study
by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered
Accountants and the Equal Employment
Opportunities Trust.
Continued on page 2
TE MANA WĀHINE HEI ARA WHAKATIPU | RECOGNITION OF WOMEN’S MANA IS THE PATHWAY TO EQUALITY
1
A PUBLICATION OF THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS
June/ pipiri 2010
Flexible work works
The benefits of flexible working practices include greater productivity; higher profits;
improved customer satisfaction; cost savings and increased efficiency; and the ability to
recruit and retain top staff.
For industries that face serious skills and demographic challenges, like the accounting sector,
the Ministry of Women’s Affairs believes adopting flexible work practices could be the answer.
A
paper by the Ministry, Workplace
Flexibility in the Accounting Sector,
launched by Hon Pansy Wong,
Minister of Women’s Affairs earlier this
month, outlines the findings of case study
research we undertook into flexible work
practices in the New Zealand accounting
sector, which is experiencing skills shortages.
A key finding is that the majority of
accountancy staff from graduates to senior
managers are women, while the majority
of partners and associates are men, and
many qualified and experienced women
leave long before making the step up to
partnership. Also, the concept of working
long hours is the norm in the sector
and regarded as fundamental to career
progression and to business profitability.
In her address at the launch, the Minister
spoke of how women and men are
increasingly making work-life choices that
may cause them to leave the workforce
for a time, for example, raising children
or taking part in extracurricular activities
such as sport or community involvement.
‘So what happens when these women
and men leave the sector to take on other
responsibilities? When they leave, even for
short periods, there is an impact.
And it is significant. Their skills, talents
and experience disappear from the sector.
‘And some of them don’t come back.
Others would, if they could, but they don’t
always get the chance. If they do return
to work, they often get put into lower
paid jobs, at levels below their actual
experience and expertise. ’
The answer, the Minister said, may be
flexible work.
‘Workplace flexibility includes
arrangements that can cover when, where,
and how much one works. It includes
options such as flexible arrival, departure
and lunch times, reduced hours or parttime work, telecommuting, and job sharing.
Workplace flexibility
is a tool that, if used
strategically, improves both
business and profitability
Hon pansy Wong launching Workplace Flexibility in the Accounting Sector