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Technology people What do women want? An OFF button!
Technology people What do women want? An OFF button! | What do women want? An OFF button! |
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| by Lia Timson | |
| Thursday, 22 May 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 2 “The tech is there to enable us to work and interconnect with others. But we have to have off times. These are the personal decisions we have to make,” Liu, a blogger and avid-Twitter user said.Patricia Scott, secretary of the Federal Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, and one of several females in senior government roles, said the public sector was an ideal employer of women. “We’re happy to see you in the Commonwealth sector. We’ve got opportunities for you! Give us a call,” Scott told the audience. She later told iTWire the government was genuine about flexible tele-working practices. “Within my own department – and that’s just one small part of the bigger public sector - we have people located in Adelaide - we don’t have an office in Adelaide - they are able to work from Adelaide and liaise, do all their work using technology. We even make use of video conferencing between our office in Canberra and Parliament House because we can save 15 or 20 minutes travelling backwards and forwards. “I think we can demonstrate we are seizing all the opportunities that technologies bring,” Scott said. Dr Marianne Broadbent, former senior vice-president with Gartner and co-author of the book The New CIO Leader, was in the audience. She told iTWire the need for work-life separation was true to both women and men. “At senior levels there’s a lot more respect for people who are assertive and switch off. Senior people have to model that behaviour. If you can’t disengage, what kind of team have you developed?” Broadbent, now managing director of global executive search company Edward W Kelly & Partners, also said IT professionals needed to demonstrate flexibility in their thinking and understanding of their employer’s culture. “Unless they work for an IT company, IT people are not in IT. They are in banking, in logistics, in retail. That is a very important factor. When employing mid to senior people now we look at what extent they can take on the mantle of the company they want to work for. “My message is immerse yourself in the business and show a good level of curiosity (in order) to come to grips with the new business quickly. Try to speak to others who work there – use Facebook, LinkedIn, the search company, whatever – to understand the culture of it.” |
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