Creating Change for Women The Westpac Case Ann Sherry May 2004

2 What I will cover  Why would a bank like Westpac be involved in creating change for women  Key Market Opportunities  An overview of Small Medium Enterprises in New Zealand  Initiatives to support Women in their careers and business  Westpac Partnering Women  The Potential of Women  Personal and Collective Power  Summary

3 Westpac involvement – the base case  Recognition of women as key influencers in business and financial decision making  Establishment of key initiatives to succeed in this market and reflect the value of women as customers and employees  Promoting Westpac’s partnership approach to meet both the personal and business needs of women and in turn to acquire, grow and retain business for Westpac  Assisting women to unleash their potential and help both themselves and the wider economy  An investment in New Zealand’s future as Small Businesses are the powerhouse of economic growth

4 The Drivers and Key Market Opportunities  Women are leading the way for new business start-ups for reasons including - innate affinity & enjoyment for creativity & innovation - flexibility of lifestyle - disillusionment with employers and large organisations  NZ women rank in the top 3 countries globally for entrepreneurship  Women own and operate almost 40% of small businesses in NZ  Women are more conservative in investment and business decisions  Women influence 82% of household purchasing decisions  Westpac has created first mover advantage

5 An Overview of NZ Small Business Enterprises  Over 270,000 business enterprises in New Zealand are Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)  87% of businesses employ 5 or fewer full time staff  97% of businesses employ less than 20 full time staff  SMEs are a powerhouse of economic growth employing 43% of the full time staff in the economy and generating 39% of the output  They created a net 130,000 additional jobs between 1995 and 2001(compared to a small decline for non-SMEs)  Source: Ministry of Economic Development, 2002 “SMEs in New Zealand: Structure and Dynamics”

6 Initiatives to Support this market  Elevation of women to senior decision making roles in Westpac (now 4 out of 12 on the Executive team)  Sponsoring the publication of the book Woman 2 Woman - a guide for those looking to change careers or develop their own business  Promotion of the book as a catalyst to confirm Westpac’s commitment to all women and development of future alliances with women in business  Facilitating networking opportunities for women – W2W website  Providing business, investment and financial skills improvement seminars and courses  Mentoring programmes for women’s groups and industry  Partnership approach to build strong relationships with key groups

7 The Partnership for Westpac and Women  Senior Westpac Women in management plus gender split is 72% women across the organisation and across age groups.  Establishment of a specialist team of women champions across all business groups – SME, Investment, Rural, Govt, Property, Maori  Availability of an experienced team of financial and industry experts  Mutual understanding of needs and how to add value  Open and honest two way communication  Recognising and extending relationships with key influencers to ensure win – win outcomes for all parties  Understand what you want and make sure what you get works for you

8 Unleashing the Potential of Women  Recent research confirms women can both deliver improved financial results and be inspirational leaders  The development of women in careers and business is a serious issue for long-term economic sustainability eg 72% of our own business  Encourage women to go for the big jobs and the big organisatons  Women leaders can implement change from the top  Force business to reconsider the way they are organised and how they operate  Today business needs smart, sane, competent people

9 The Personal and Collective Power  Understand yourself, your business and your passion  Channel your energy into owning your business rather than your business owning you - take the holiday test  Maximise your strengths and call in experts to assist when needed  Employ, reward and retain great people  Recognise, promote and celebrate the fact that small businesses are the backbone of the economy for most countries and women play a key role  Ensure Women’s creativity continues to change and enhance the status quo both in careers and business

10 Summary  Westpac has recognised the current and future power of women as a key customer group  The profile of Westpac has increased and confirmed the commitment to all women  We recognise and celebrate the fact that small businesses are the backbone of the economy for most countries From Business survival… to excellence  Partnering is the key to maximising the group strength of women  You owe it to yourselves to realise the potential and grow the economy of your country BUT most importantly remember the women coming behind you!