On Board December 2007

Email Newsletter of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs Nominations Service

Click here for a PDF version.

In this edition:

• A Message from Our Minister – Steve Chadwick
• Vacancy Alert! Ministry of Health Vacancies – deadline 3 January 2008
• Queen’s Birthday Honours – deadline 1 February 2008
• New Appointments of Women to Government Boards and Committees
• Women Board Directors Align with Strong Performance at Fortune 500 Companies – the latest study
• Women on Board Website – top tips and information for women looking for directorships
• An Arrival

A Message from Our Minister

I wish all readers of On Board a very happy Christmas and a successful year in 2008.

I am looking forward to meeting many of you as I settle into my new role as Minister of Women’s Affairs. It’s a great privilege and challenge for me to be Minister of Women’s Affairs. I’m proud to be at the Cabinet table working to improve the status of women in New Zealand.

We’ve come a long way, and there are many policies that have helped New Zealand women and families, like paid parental leave, Working for Families and 20 Hours Free Early Childhood Education. However, there’s still a lot more work to do.

New Zealand has one of the smallest gender pay gaps in the world. We’ve just been ranked fifth out of 128 countries in the 2007 Global Gender Gap Report. We still have to work together to close that gap even further.

Another challenge we face is getting more women onto government sector boards and committees, as we work towards our goal of equal male and female representation by 2010. It would also be great to see more of you on private sector boards. It makes no sense to overlook the skills and experience of half the population if you want to run a successful business.

So please have a happy, relaxing and safe holiday break and come back refreshed and looking for new challenges – we just might have some for you.

Our New Minister

Steve Chadwick was promoted to Cabinet in October 2007. As well as the Women’s Affairs portfolio, she is Minister of Conservation and Associate Minister of Health. Steve’s working background is in health. She has more than 30 years experience as a nurse, midwife and health services manager before becoming an MP for Rotorua in 1999. She is married to lawyer John Te Manihera Chadwick and has three children and three mokopuna.

Vacancy Alert! Ministry of Health Board and Committee Vacancies – application deadline 3 January 2008

The Ministry of Health (MoH) recently advertised a significant number of 2008 council and committee vacancies. We are in the process of contacting women who broadly fit the criteria to prompt them to apply. If you are interested in governance roles in the health sector, and we haven’t been in touch, then please check out the council/committee vacancies onthe MoH website. Just use this link:

http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/sbc-appointments-to-health-statutory-bodies

Note:MoH requires applicants to apply in person. We cannot do this on your behalf.

Queen’s Birthday Honours for Women – increasing the number is in our hands

We urge you to consider nominating a woman for the next Honours round. If we want more women honoured, then we have to take action to identify and then nominate them.

For example, in the 2007 Queen’s Birthday Honours list:

• 193 people received awards
• 67 were women (35 percent of the total).

We are sure that there are many more women out there who deserve recognition.

The main requirement for nominations is "Service to the community or nation, going beyond the normal requirements of duty or office..."

The nominating process is straightforward. There is a form to complete, and letters of support required, but the main thing is to provide ‘evidence’ of service and achievement. What did they do, or achieve...

You can find out everything you need to know about the nominating process at http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/nominations/index.html

The closing date for the next round is 1 February 2008.

New Appointments of Women to State Sector Bodies

Congratulations to all the women recently appointed to statutory bodies.
They include:

A list that includes reappointments as well as new appointments is up on our website in the ‘What’s New?’ section.

Women Board Directors Align with Strong Performance at Fortune 500 Companies – Catalyst Study (2007)

Since 1995 Catalyst have been conducting benchmarking surveys on the diversity profiles of executives to track the status of women on boards. Here are the results of the most recent study.

The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards

• Return on Equity: companies with more women board directors outperform those with the least by 53%
• Return on Sales: companies with more women board directors outperform those with the least by 42%
• Return on Invested Capital: companies with more women board directors outperform those with the least by 66%.

Important note: correlation does not prove or imply causation; the comparison is between the quartile with the most women Board directors and the quartile with the least.

To see or download a copy of the summary chart, click on this link:
The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards

For more information on the study and on Catalyst, click on this link:
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/bottomline2.shtml

Feel free to pass on this data to all interested parties, particularly any commercial entities, or boards and committee members you know.

Women on Boards – a website with top tips and information for women looking for directorships

Women on Boards (WOB) is Australia’s leading online network for women seeking directorships in Australia.

While it won’t help us find directorships in New Zealand, the site is a gold mine of tips, ideas, information and case studies.

It currently has a piece with good practical information on ‘Finding the Right Board Position’. The author, Denise Aldous, currently on her own directorship journey, writes from experience. She says that getting on boards requires constant hard work and planning. She offers information on: working out a strategy and writing a plan; the need to constantly research the market; and the need to build your networks and make contacts.

Another very relevant section is tips and strategies for writing a CV.  Check it out at http://www.womenonboards.org.au/

An Arrival

We are delighted to announce that the Nominations team has been augmented by the power of one. We have an additional staff member, Chris Gilman, our new Nominations Assistant. Some of you will have already been contacted by Chris ... you will recognise him by his light American accent.

So we of the Noms team, look forward to another perfectly splendid New Year in 2008, and wish you a festive and restful holiday season!

Updating CVs

And please remember to keep your CV up-dated with us – just email us with any additions or amendments.

We are always happy talk with you either by phone or in person about your CV and your potential for nomination. If you are going to be in Wellington and would like to meet, then give us a call on (04) 916-5814 to set it up.

The Team

Joan Isaac,
Nominations Manager
(04) 916 5849, email isaac@mwa.govt.nz

Sean Molloy
Nominations Advisor
(04) 916 5814, email molloy@mwa.govt.nz

Chris Gilman
Nominations Assistant
(04) 916-5824, email gilman@mwa.govt.nz

Joy Aberdein, and
Steve Hickey
Executive Assistants
(04) 916 5820, email noms@mwa.govt.nz

If you have any queries about the information in this newsletter, or the Nominations Service in general, please contact Joan or Sean.