We all know there is a large gender gap in the finance and accounting sector. A recent report showed that in financial institutions, women are holding
only 19% of senior positions, 14% of board seats, and a shocking 2% of CEO roles.
Many firms are struggling to reach appropriate levels of diversity, even though gender-diverse workplaces have been shown to perform better. While this gap has been shrinking in recent years, it is still an issue when looking at leadership positions. At Prosperity Advisers, you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at our senior roles. Over 47% of our leadership team are women. We sit squarely within the finance sector, and hold a total staff count of 60% women.
We have celebrated rapid growth within the company across our offices in Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane. With this growth, there has been a strategic shift in management and staffing requirements. Prosperity is proud of our eight recent internal promotions, of which five went to women within the company – from accounting to the management team to Human Resources. The current promotions will bring the leadership team to almost 50% female.
Chief Executive, Allan McKeown said, “Our goal at Prosperity has always been to foster an environment that supports the growth and involvement of our people. We provide challenging professional experiences and deliver the right tools and support to assist our people to drive their careers forward.”
We are proud to have created a working environment in the financial sector that builds women and men up equally. Our unique work environment fosters the growth of the individual and business together.
One of the recipients of the new internal promotions is Kelly Chard. Kelly has elevated from the Business Services and Tax team to become a new Associate Director. Having worked for the firm for 10 years, Kelly is a role model to others, representing Prosperity’s equal love for mentoring others and promoting the firm’s vision.
We are proud to have created a working environment in the financial sector that builds women and men up equally.
Kelly’s career has evolved over time: “At the start of my career I thought a great accountant would just get the numbers right or find the best tax outcome. With the internal training and mentoring through Prosperity I was able to extend this mindset and focus on getting to know my clients on a more personal level so that I now advise them in far broader areas including growth planning, managing their time efficiently and financially protecting their families.”
Stephanie McCauley is another great example of the career diversity evident in Prosperity. Having worked for the firm for many years, Stephanie initially started in administration, and then moved through marketing before landing in Human Resources. She has just been promoted to Manager within the HR team. She was able to test her strengths and support our growth plans across many different departments. Highly capable, Stephanie has earned her promotion through dedication and a strong work ethic.
Katrina Brooker has been promoted to Team Leader within the firm’s Smart Drive group. Her expertise and management prowess ensures efficiency and high quality service to our clients. Kerry Kreutzer in the SMSF team has been promoted to Supervisor, and Ashley Read from our Outsourced Payroll team has been promoted to Payroll Officer. These promotions show the range and extent to which we are dedicated to raising all of our employees to their best potential selves.
When considering where to work, flexibility is a big part of the equation for professionals in today’s world. Prosperity strives to make this possible for both women and men. Kelly said, “I’ve worked part time and at times remotely to juggle my study and family commitments during my time with Prosperity which has been really important to me and my family.”
Prosperity’s Director of Human Resources, Tanya Craft says “the right cultural fit is integral to our success. We have clearly articulated our Prosperity DNA so we closely align values and beliefs with those of our team and prospective team. This alignment supports our high standards of performance and ethics and a strong culture of learning, development and achievement.”
Women are thriving in all offices at Prosperity Advisers, proving that the gender gap within the financial sector will hopefully soon be a problem of the past.
