Finding the right balance

Heather Smith is returning phone calls in the carers’ room. She’s also expressing milk for her young son, Oskar. Oskar spends four days a week at home with his dad while Heather runs the CGU Safety and Risk business, which provides safety consultancy services to employers.

Heather is also one of a small group of high performing women from across IAG who take part in the Women’s Leadership program. The program involves a combination of coaching, mentoring, networking and career assessment and planning.

“Through programs like Women’s Leadership, we hope to strengthen our female talent pools and continue to build an inclusive culture,” says Sara Rasmussen, Diversity Manager.

“We’re facing a shrinking labour market and it’s only going to get harder to find good employees in the future. With our plans for expansion, we need to ensure we have the leaders who can take our company into the future. And it has been proven that companies benefit financially when the workforce is more diverse.”

Heather has benefited not only from the Women’s Leadership program, but also from IAG’s focus on helping employees balance their work and personal commitments.

“I had been interested in a career change after working in OH&S for many years, but put my plans on hold when I got pregnant,” says Heather.

“While I was on leave I was offered a challenging role in the business, reporting directly to a Group Executive. There’s a cliché that women will only go for a job if they think they can do 120% of the job and I think there’s some truth to that.”

“However the Women’s Leadership program gave me a huge amount of confidence, and I accepted the role. It was really gratifying not only to be able to come back part time after I had Oskar, but to be promoted to a challenging role in the business.”

“I enjoy the time I have at home with my son even more because I also have a fulfilling career.”

The Women’s Leadership program forms the backbone of IAG’s initiatives in Australia to attract, develop and retain top female talent. There is also the IAG Women's Forum, which meets quarterly and is chaired by the CEO, and the Chief Executive Women (CEW) mentoring program, which involves 24 women – four from IAG – who have been identified as leaders in their field and who would benefit from mentoring and connecting with the CEW network.

For the second year in a row, IAG in Australia was awarded Employer of Choice for Women status from the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA). This acknowledges our commitment to advancing women in the workforce through initiatives such as those above but also providing employees with access to dependant care referral services; providing a range of flexible work arrangements; and developing the 'Stay in Touch' program for parents on leave.