Corrs named EOWA Employer of Choice For Women

18 March 2009

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Corrs has received an Employer of Choice for Women citation from the Federal Government's Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) for the third successive year.

Corrs is one of a select group of organisations nationally to receive the citation, which recognises organisations embracing gender diversity and taking steps towards generating positive outcomes for women and the business in areas such as pay parity, workplace flexibility, parental leave and proportion of women at senior levels.

Today’s citation adds to the firm’s growing list of acknowledgements in the employment area, which include: being voted the No.1 Law firm to work for in Australia in the 2008 Asian Legal Business Employer of Choice survey, receiving the Employer of Choice Award at the last Australian Law Awards and voted as the best law firm in Australia for work environment and career advancement prospects in an independent survey undertaken by Asialaw magazine.

Partner and Chief Executive Officer, John Denton, believes recognition by EOWA is an important endorsement of the firm’s continuing efforts to create an inspiring workplace for all staff. “The citation provides an independent benchmark for the firm and our initiatives,” he says.

Corrs continues to build on its achievements – to date: 38% of our Board and 23% of Partners and Senior Managers are women; 16% of our workforce is part time (including 15 men); 74% of our workforce (including 29% of men) are now taking advantage of some form of flexible working arrangement or remote working tool.

“Attracting and retaining women is also a fundamental part of our business and its long term sustainability. It is a strategic goal for Corrs to have an inspiring workplace where people are both challenged and fulfilled. Workplace flexibility is just one component. Nature of work, a culture of teamwork and collaboration, career development opportunities and performance-based remuneration are all equally important”, said Mr Denton.

Mr Denton notes it is particularly encouraging that 9.9% of the organisations receiving the citation this year were law firms.

“The profession as a whole is tackling issues such as career path hurdles for women, workplace diversity and flexible working arrangements for both genders. This is a positive step for our profession and its commitment to achieving cultural change and bridging the gap between policy and practice in this area”.

Corrs Highlights

• 75% of our internal partner appointments in 2008 were female.
• 40% of our partner appointments in 2008 were female.
• 55% of our senior associates (78) and 64% of our special counsel (14) are female.
• 38% of our Board and 23% of our partners and senior managers are female.
• 68% (17) of our promotions to senior associate in 2008 were female.
• 74% of our workforce (including 29% of men) are now taking advantage of some form of flexible working arrangement or remote working tool.
• 8 partners are working part-time, including 4 male partners, demonstrating the uptake of flexible working arrangements amongst partners.
• Total female legal attrition is lower than total male legal attrition and lower than the industry average.
• Staff satisfaction with our efforts to retain women has increased, according to the latest Corrs internal “Pulse Check” survey.

Corrs Programs to promote the advancement of women in the profession

Corrs has recognised that women do not position themselves for promotion to partnership in the same way as men. In addition, they are often trying to balance personal and career objectives at a critical time in their career.

Corrs initiated a female Talent Pipeline overseen by our Diversity Council and Partner Admission Group, along with a Women Leading Change and coaching program for women with the potential to become a partner at Corrs. Women for whom the next stage of their career would be partnership, or who are senior business services managers, are eligible to attend the training.

The Women Leading Change program is designed to position women to maximise their career potential. It is accompanied by a Gender Awareness program for supervising partners to help them understand gender differences and teach them how to mentor and sponsor women to become partners. Results are monitored.

Women Leading Change program: A comprehensive program designed to help senior women maximise their potential. As part of the most recent program the women participants attended three workshops, led a strategic program to enable them to practice their leadership and strengthen Corrs as an employer of choice for women, and participated in group coaching sessions. The program assists senior women with high potential to develop their leadership capability, strengthens collegiality and resilience, and provides them with tools, strategies and support to maximise success in their careers.

Executive Gender Awareness workshop/ Women Leading Change Supervisor Briefing: Workshops run for supervising partners and managers to support the Women Leading Change program. The workshop provides managers with a greater awareness of gender differences in the workplace and an increased capacity and commitment to coach and support the careers of women.

Flexible work practices: We offer flexible career paths, including international internships, secondments, pro-bono opportunities, in-house special counsel roles, and inter-office and practice group transfers. Flexible work practices are a normal part of our working arrangements. We offer part-time working, job sharing and extended leave, and provide tools to support this such as remote access and 24/7 technical support for all staff as well as BlackBerrys for senior managers, senior associates and partners.

Networking program: Corrs has developed a networking program to support women. It operates at different levels within the business and provides networking opportunities for women in the internal environment, as well as the external business community. Corrs also profiles senior women in our quarterly internal magazine ‘One Corrs’, in order to provide women with role models. Many of the senior women profiled work part-time and manage career and family commitments.

Executive Coaching: Is available for high potential senior women in the partnership pipeline, as well as other high-potential women, to help support their career development.