Home and people Trading banks still male management domain

Press, 12 July 1984, Page 8

Home and people

Trading banks still male management domain

The poor performance of New Zealand’s trading banks in creating a climate of equality of opportunity for women employees is probably very similar to that of commercial, business, and Government activity.

This is the conclusion reached by a discussion document prepared for the Human Rights Commission by the former Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Mr Pat Downey, and a former H.R.C. officer, Mr Jim Begg. The authors of the report say they are not in the business of singling out the banks from other employers. “It is likely that much of what has come to light would apply in various degrees, and in some no doubt more seriously, in other areas of commercial, business, and Governmental activity.” Neverthless, the report spells out very clearly what the briefest exploration of Hereford Street, or any New Zealand financial centre, will tell anyone.

tain snortcomings outlined in the report. Angela Fowke, president of the Bank Officers’ Union says that the discussion paper mirrors findings made by a union survey. She wonders why the New Zealand trading banks have been so conservative, unlike those in Australia, where affirmative action programmes have been introduced. “One bank sponsored an equal opportunity seminar recently as part of the Federal Government’s anti-dis-crimination campaign, following Australian ratification of the United Nations’ anti-discrimination convention,” she says. She considers that women in banks have great obstacles to overcome if they are to be promoted. “Too often women learn to do a job, train a man to do it, and the man is promoted,” she says. Ms Fowke blames the banks for not taking action on the position of women employees following the Human Rights Commission Act of 1978. “They would have looked at any other form of legislation and seen what they had to do to put themselves right. “All they did was to give equal pay, put ‘person’ instead of ‘male,’ and go on as before,” she recalls.

Pat Downey . . . "the issue of women on boards of directors is of much greater significance to women, inside and outside the employment sphere, than the commercial world has yet realised.”

There are almost no women in executive positions in the trading banks. Almost no women sit in cosy private offices. Almost no women make decisions on loans, investments, and business operations. The report was prepared independently of a study recently undertaken by the Bank Officers’ Union.

bury, the West Coast, Murchison, and Kaikoura.

Westpac claims “a much higher than usual” ratio of women to men at the Grade 4 and 5 levels, with 10 of 22 junior appointees being women. Two branch accountants are women. The National Bank has one woman assistant manager. She heads the Christchurch office’s business development department.

Its findings have, however, been supported by those of the latter.

The report arose from a complaint against Westpac Banking Corporation, which the authors found had substance, but which required no further action; and one against the Bank of New Zealand, which it considered had no substance.

The Australia and New Zealand Bank has one executive woman in the Canterbury district. She is an accountant. What is it with the trading banks? Why are they so sacrosanct?

‘B.N.Z. has no women executives in Canterbury’

As well as examining the two complaints in detail, the report looks at the general recruitment and promotion of women in the trading banks.

Mr Downey notes that the first woman graduated from a New Zealand university in 1877, the first woman medical graduate was in 1896, and the first woman lawyer graduated the following year.

Spokesmen for the trading banks in Christchurch contacted were tight-lipped and refused to comment on any aspect of the report. Even obtaining figures for the numbers of women executives in their Canterbury areas involved making calls to head offices in Wellington. The Bank of New Zealand has no women executives in the Canterbury district; which covers all of Canter-

The report was presented to the Human Rights Commission as a discussion document in May 1984, and formed the basis for a meeting between the Bankers’ Association and commission officers last week. The bankers have undertaken to report back to the commission on future policies designed to meet cer-

By 1982, however the four major trading banks between them had produced only one woman manager. “As with so many other aspects of our commercial, political, and social life, business in New Zealand reflects the organisational structures, staffing patterns,

Women are still largely absent from decision-making positions in New Zealand trading banks. JACQUELINE STEIN CAMP looks at how the recent Human Rights Commission report’s call for affirmative action applies to Christchurch trading banks. She also finds Canterbury Trusteebank employment policies offer a contrasting approach. .

and general ethos of such countries as England, the United States, and Australia. “To ignore the situation of careers for women, and the experience and knowledge gained in other countries in the business world and other allied fields of endeavour, is to fail to face reality,” the report says. The banking system is a substantial employer, and a very powerful influence in the community. Its policies and practices in recruitment and promotion are therefore of very considerable significance. Of the four trading banks surveyed, only one bank had a woman with managerial status. This was Westpac—with one woman out of 353 managers.

Between them, the four banks were able to produce 34 women at executive level, compared to 2326 men.

Women are most concentrated at the grade 2 level, making up 74 per cent of workers, as opposed to 26 per cent of men. From then onwards, the percentage of men rises steadily—42 per cent at grade three, 73 per cent at grade four; 92 per cent at grade five, and 99 per cent at the executive level.

Handicaps to the advancement of women in the banking system include a turnover rate in one bank of 25 per cent compared to 11 per cent for males. This is particularly marked in the 25 to 29 years old age group, with eight male to 72 female resignations.

Another factor is the reluctance of many female personnel to be transferred.

One bank checked on the attitude to mobility of all staff aged more than 20 years. Ninety-two per cent of married women and 49 per cent of single women declared themsleves unwilling to transfer, compared with 28 per cent married men and 15 per cent single men.

The banks do make provision for maternity leave in accordance with the Maternity Leave and Protection Employment Act, 1980. This leave, however, is related directly to the period of the birth, and the months thereafter. It does

not allow for the situation of a woman who has children and takes some years out of the paid work-force to bring them up. Nor do extended periods of leave without pay meet the special needs of women. the report thinks it unrea-

sonable for women who have taken time off to rear children to be expected to start again without their previous employment and added maturity being fully taken into account

“Such a policy effectively prohibits a woman from contemplating a career in banking unless she is prepared not to have a family, or to be severely limited in the time available for rearing young children. “In my view, this is a dilemma that young women should not be faced with for reasons of general social policy.” Substantially more men are undertaking studies in banking than are women in all banks although women recruits have superior academic qualifications.

“There needs to be more specific encouragement for women to take study courses, and for management to make it clear that such studies will not be a waste of time, the report says.

All seven senior women interviewed by Mr Downey expressed the feeling that women had to work harder, and that they would not be positively identified for promotion unless they pushed themselves forward.

Surveys conducted by two ■■ banks included questions relevant to promotion and advancement. “The difference in atti-' tudes between men and women were so substantial as to be remarkable,” the report says. The authors suggest that this indicates a totally different assessment of advancement opportunities for the sexes. In one bank men saw better chances of promotion for themselves than women,

‘Traditional staffing policies should be modified or abandoned

67 per cent to 29 per cent; and the desire to reach an executive position was 78 per cent to 38 per cent. In the other bank, promotion opportunities (on a positive/negative scale) were seen as: managers plus 64, men plus 40, women plus 6.

the same survey asked if women in the bank had equal opportunity. The results: managers plus 13, men plus 6, women minus 16.

Responses to the question “should the bank promote more strongly career opportunities for women?”, were: women plus 55, managers plus 37, men plus 25. The Human Rights Commission says what is needed is clear and definite policy statement from banks at the highest level. This should be followed up by training courses to ensure that those

bank officers who have responsibility for hiring staff are fully aware of the implications of the Human Rights Commission Act. The report highlights what it sees as important social policy issues related to mobility of women employees, and the effect that motherhood and child rearing have on career patterns. The problem “is the right of women to pursue a career (underlined) of their choice and not just to have a job, and at the same time the social importance of marriage and the family. These are not, and should not be seen as necessarily opposed,” the report says. The report says that banks, like all employers, should be prepared to modify their staffing practices to meet the reality of changing social needs and patterns. “Since women are going to continue to be employed, and since more women are probably going to wish to have careers, employers must accept that maternity is a major social value that has to be allowed for.

“A greater degree of flexibility is called for. Traditional staffing policies should be modified or abandoned altogether if equal opportunity for women is to be a reality.” Interrupted service for family reasons needs to be considered as a separate type of leave. The consequences should be worked out between managements, the union, and the Human Rights Commission. The banks must be prepared to look again at the whole question of mobility, even to the point of asking themselves how sacrosanct is the principle that positions and not officers are graded.

The assumption that mobility is the normal way to promotion should be reconsidered. The lack of women executives in the trading banks is emphasised by the fact that only one of the banks has a woman on its New Zealand board of directors. This is the Bank of New Zealand, and her appointment was made in 1978 by the Government as the sole shareholder of the Bank. “The issue of women on boards of directors is of much greater significance to women, inside and outside the employment sphere, than the commercial world

has yet realised,” the report says.

Such appointments could be expected to assist in staff-management relations, in the public image of the bank, and add something of value to the working of the board itself.”