Women in the workplace: show a little respect

Essential Research has found men are more respected in most professions than women.

A little respect

Despite a push towards greater gender diversity and equal rights and pay in the workplace, Essential Research has found men are more respected in most professions than women. Essential Media communications director Peter Lewis says the only professions where more than 50 per cent of Australians thought there was equality between the sexes were teaching and television presenters. The report shows 61 per cent of Australians think there is “a lot or some” sexism and discrimination against women in the workplace. The research found 74 per cent of responders thought men were more respected than women in building and construction, 70 per cent thought men were more respected in the military, and 63 per cent thought men were more respected in politics. Lewis says the findings highlight the prejudice against women in many industries. “The survey conclusively found Australians believe men are more respected not only in male-dominated professions, such as building and construction and the military, but also in professions where there is arguably a greater representation of women, including politics, sport, finance and banking, and the law,” Lewis says.

Away with words

If you are passionate, motivated, focused on leadership, have extensive experience and are strategic, as a jobseeker you are channelling the most overused buzz words for this year. LinkedIn has released its annual list of the most overused words and phrases on its networking site, and says people are likelier to be noticed if they avoid the buzz words. Candidates are overusing creative, driven, successful, track record and dedicated. LinkedIn head of communications Shiva Kumar says people normally steer away from buzz words in everyday conversations but fall back on cliches online. Kumar says candidates should demonstrate experience and show people their creative side through presentations or examples of design work. He says publishing reports is more effective than writing about communication skills.

Execs on the money

International human resources consulting firm DDI has found that having senior executives with money skills is the best asset to enable companies to create higher profit and increased revenue. DDI’s High-Resolution Leadership report found highly competent executives who demonstrate specific business and leadership skills drive profit and revenue by up to 45 per cent. Study author Evan Sinar looked at more than 15,000 leaders internationally and found organisations with leaders scoring higher in business management and people leadership, as described in five competencies, showed significantly greater net profit and return on assets. The report found the fastest growing, most profitable companies had executives with wide-ranging leadership skills showing the importance of developing money skills at lower levels.

Hudson in DD link

Hudson and DeakinDigital have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on a series of candidate assessment tools. Hudson Asia Pacific chief executive Mark Steyn says the partnership will give Hudson’s clients access to a range of assessments focused on career fit, preferences and leadership style that can lead to greater employability. DeakinDigital chief executive Allyn Radford says there is great value in working with an international talent solutions leader with a model complementing its credentialling program. The MOU also will allow Hudson to embed DeakinDigital credentialling services.