Professional success comes in many forms. Lisa Chung defines it as bringing the best of your knowledge to the fore.
“I think it’s about bringing all your perspectives, experiences, wisdom and knowledge to a place or a situation and making the best contribution that you can to that,” she told SBS News. “Hopefully by doing that you make a positive difference.”
Ms Cheung, a fourth-generation Chinese-Australian, is a non-executive director on several boards, including early childhood education enterprise The Front Project, as well as the former Chair of The Benevolent Society, Australia’s oldest charity.
She says diversity within companies “undoubtedly” brings about success.
“Diversity, whether it be gender, cultural or anything else, it’s about an organisation bringing its full arsenal to a table. If a company brings diverse talent to its table, it’s going to bring better outcomes.”
New research released on Friday by Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) found that by appointing more women on their boards and in leadership roles – and therefore creating a greater gender balance - helps to drive company performance.
The Gender Equity Insights 2020: Delivering on Business Outcomes report found an increase of 10 percentage points or more in female representation on the boards of Australian ASX-listed companies led to a 4.9 per cent increase in the company market value, worth the equivalent of $78.5 million for the average company.
The appointment of a female CEO led to a 12.9 per cent increase in the likelihood of outperforming the sector, as did having more female key management personnel.
“Increased representation of women in leadership directly leads to improved company performance,” said co-author of the report and director of BCEC Alan Duncan.
“The report has been successful in that regard to the extent that we were able to capture an association whereby companies who have moved to a female CEO … have led to a five per cent increase in the company’s performance."
Libby Lyons, director of WGEA, echoed Mr Duncan’s sentiment.
“With gender balance in leadership, gender balance on your boards, you will do better in terms of your company’s performance and do better than other organisations in your industry,” she said.
“Women bring the voice, the idea, the creativity of 50 per cent of the population, if we don’t have diversity on our boards, we are not getting diverse views.”
Ms Lyons said as Australia faces a recession, the country’s first in 29 years, companies should be looking at growing their diversity to help strengthen market value.
“At a time where, we need to ensure we are driving our business for the best financial outcomes possible. Research now shows us that having gender balance at the top will give you those better company results.”
Sue Morphet is the president of Chief Executive Women (CEW), an organisation representing senior women leaders in Australia, and holds several non-executive positions on other boards.
She said gender diversity and equality in business is vital. 
Sue Morphet said gender diversity and equality in business is vital. Source: Chief Executive Women
“It’s not just equal opportunity to do things, but it’s also equal opportunity to decide things,” she said.
“If we have our workforce and we are only looking at it through the eyes of men, then we are not seeing the needs of women and we are not able to bring out the best of such a significant part of our population, a significant part of our workforce.
“If there is a woman at the top, it means that the company has reviewed a full spectrum of candidates and not just the men."
In December last year, Australia reached its target to appoint women to 30 per cent of ASK200 board positions after a four-year push by the 30% Club. But Ms Morphet said much more needs to be done.
Only 12 of Australia’s top listed companies have a woman chief executive, accounting for just 6 per cent, CEW’s ASX200 Senior Executive Census revealed last year. That figure dropped from 14 in 2018.
The survey also found 17 of the companies had no women in their executive leadership team.
“I wish I could say that there is gender diversity at the top but there isn’t,” Ms Morphet said.
“Women leave university in greater numbers with the same ambitions as men and yet they are not getting through to the top and there are lots of reasons they are not.
“One is unconscious bias, people in leadership often promote people like themselves ... if the childcare system in Australia was more user friendly for women to go back to work full time, we would have more women in leadership roles.”
Ms Cheung agrees there is a long way to go in closing the gender gap.
"At times our company leadership has not kept up with [social] change,” she said.
“There are signs we are changing … but we aren’t there yet.”
