Workforce diversity must go farther than just hiring and promoting women, writes Angela Priestley
If diversity was based on nothing more than com
parisons between the number of women and men
in a company, then many organisations, particu
larly in the legal profession, would appear to have
made considerable progress. Although there is
still a long way to go, the ratio of women in senior
positions has risen dramatically over the last couple
of decades.
But could the focus on the number of women in
senior positions within a company detract from the
wider issue of diversity?
For more than a hundred years, the face of cor
porate Australia has predominantly presented a pic
ture of a white Anglo-Saxon male who presents to
his fellow employees as heterosexual. The profession
has long been accused of maintaining a “boys’ club”
– one that also captures a picture of acceptable socio-
economic status in its net.
On a superficial level, things have changed. Many
organisations now have diversity policies. They even
have individuals who have the word “diversity” within
their job titles. In the brochures and information para
phernalia of big organisations – on their graduate pro
grams, employment opportunities and the like – many
companies also claim they hire individuals from all
walks of life.
While many organisations appear to live up to such
claims, one need only look around the boardroom
table to quickly determine the extent of diversity in
the upper echelons of corporate Australia.
The focus on women
A recent study from Equal Employment Opportunity
Network of Australasia found that, for most organi
sations, gender diversity is a much bigger priority than
other elements of diversity. The study of best practice
organisations found that 75 per cent have a focus on
women, but only 5 per cent a focus on sexual orien
tation, and just 14 per cent focus on nationality as
well as religion. Another study by the Economist Intel
ligence Unit revealed similar results, indicating that in
most parts of the world, most diversity efforts rely on
the hiring and promotion of women.
According to Juliet Bourke, a consultant at
Aequus Partners, diversity has been on the agenda for
some time in professional services firms, but it’s often
narrow in focus. “It’s really been focused around
gender diversity and it hasn’t focused more broadly
than that,” she says.
Not only that, diversity is often focused on numbers:
how many women are on the board, how many
women are entering the firm. Could such a focus on
statistics be distracting us from the real diversity game?
Bourke believes that numbers can provide the
“canary in the coalmine” for the progress of a diver
sity initiative, but not necessarily an all-encompassing
analysis on what’s actually going on.
A matter of inclusion
More importantly, such female-centric numbers may
not necessarily reflect other facets of diversity. Accord
ing to Dawn Hough, director of the newly launched
not-for-profit group, Pride In Diversity, Australian
firms are significantly behind their US and UK coun
terparts when it comes to comprehensive workplace
diversity programs.
Hough’s organisation helps employers facilitate
programs that extend diversity initiatives into the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) com
munity. Such initiatives do not talk directly to sim
ply upping the number of people who are “out” in
organisations, rather they aim to assist the gay and
lesbian community in feeling a sense of inclusion
within their workplaces.
According to Hough, addressing the needs of
gay and lesbian employees is simply not on the
agenda of diversity programs. “You typically find
that most diversity practices in organisations [are
about] women in leadership, flexibility, indigenous,
disability, and then more and more we’re getting
into age,” she says. “LGBT is the one that is most
commonly left off.”
But LGBT might be just the group of individu
als that law firms should be seeking to address.
Hough points out that studies indicate that up to
10 per cent of the population may fit within the
LGBT group – accounting for the fact,
she says, that many individuals would
not openly tell their colleagues that they
identify with this group. In terms of staff
retention, ensuring that this group feels a
sense of inclusion – no matter how open
an employee chooses to be about their
sexuality – must surely be important for
a law firm that wishes to stay ahead in
the talent war.
Even more important than the talent
war is the wellbeing of staff within a law
firm – particularly for LGBT individuals
who choose to not disclose their sexuality
at work. Those individuals that cannot be
easily be identified, may go through a
process of self-editing their conversations
to avoid personal questions or even to the
point of creating false identities – a process
that may lead to added stress and anxiety
in the workplace.
With alarmingly high rates of depres
sion already present in the legal profession,
a lack of diversity programs around the
gay and lesbian community could further
exacerbate this issue.
The shifting face
When it comes to cultural diversity in Aus
tralian workplaces – including law firms –
says a representative from the Diversity
Council of Australia, Catherine Petterson,
cultural diversity appears to be a low pri
ority at the senior management and board
levels. A 2009 study by the Australian
National University found that a barrier to
entry into Australian organisations for
minority cultural groups is common, and
the recruitment process itself presents
notable levels of discrimination for partic
ular cultural groups – which means that
individuals are affected before they even
turn up for a job interview.
Flexibility in the workplace is another
area of diversity that must be addressed.
It’s easy to automatically assume that flex
ibility should apply to women with chil
dren, but that sells the issue short. A culture
of flexible working in Australian law firms
will impact on many groups – both male
and female.
While some law firms manage flexibil
ity well, the very culture of private practice
can hinder progress in this area. Law firms
are often known for their long working
hours, which usually come back to the
process of hourly billing. Can flexible work
places truly be accepted if such structures
remain in place?
The introduction of the Fair Work Act’s
National Employment Standards may
help, with all employees now able to access
“flexible” working arrangements.
The impact on the bottom line
In today’s current employment environ
ment, diversity is certainly a welcome
ideal for an organisation to have, but
does it actually make a difference to the
bottom line?
According to a recent study by the Uni
versity of Illinois on the business case for
diversity, it does. The study compared 506
for-profit US organisations on their sales
revenues, customer numbers, market share
and profits in relation to the gender and
racial make-up of their employees. It found
that those organisations with greater racial
and gender diversity performed better on
all measures of organisational success.
Bourke believes this research shows that
diversity is linked to innovation, creativity
and better customer service.
And with increasing business being
generated for Australian law firms in
Asia, the business case for diversity is fur
ther enhanced. Firms can no longer afford
to merely hire individuals to fit in with
the “old boys’ club”. Firms require
expertise in language, cultural sensitivity
and religion – elements found in a diverse
workforce that cannot simply be taught
to employees.
Then there is also the need to keep up
with the desires of clients. “Companies
are wanting to engage lawyers who have
a similar approach and philosophy to the
company in a number of respects,” says
Petterson. “This includes diversity in the
people law firms employ. Increasingly, in
tenders, law firms are being asked to
show a commitment to diversity and var
ious CSR initiatives. If they don’t align,
they won’t get on the panel.” A diverse
group of lawyers should also assist in
allowing them to better deal with a
diverse range of client briefs.
The club still exists
While a good majority of graduates coming into the legal profes
sion these days are women, a quick look at a top-tier law firm’s
“people” section of their websites will reveal significant dispari
ties in numbers that exist between men and women at partner
levels. However, that’s not to say that law firms are not making
significant progress.
While a 2008 study by the Economist Intelligence Unit found
that diversity in Australian workplaces centres on the hiring and
promotion of women, Petterson says that there is still a dearth
of women in leadership positions within such workplaces – and
she maintains that the situation over the last couple of years has
actually been getting worse.
“The gender pay gap persists despite decades of EEO (equal
employment opportunity) programs, strong anti-discrimination
legislation and significant pubic discussion,” says Petterson. If we
can’t even equalise opportunities for women in the workplace,
can we count on much hope for other minority groups?
Modern-day lawyers come in all shapes and sizes. While the
progress of women in law is an achievement that should be
applauded; it should not for a moment fool us into believing that
diversity in law actually exists.
