All the major banks have done it. Most of the professional services firms have done it. I'm talking about setting targets for greater female representation, specifically at senior management levels. These companies aren't the only ones setting goals; many large organisations now have aggressive targets to get more women into management roles and on board by a given date. ANZ, for example, have set a target to have women making up 40% of management roles by September 2011. To achieve this, they have had to reform how they recruit and promote women.

Whether your organisation has set gender targets or not, the business case for increasing your company's female talent is clear. Not only does it make sense to see women, who represent almost half of the Australian workforce, equally represented at all levels, but companies who do have greater gender balance have higher productivity that those who do not. However, using the same old recruitment methods is not going to bring more women to your door. So what are these companies doing differently to attract more women to their workforces?

One of the biggest misconceptions we hear at Optimiss is 'but there aren't any women out there'. That's a myth. There are plenty. We speak to them every day and they are often stuck in roles they were ready to move out of long ago, having been overlooked by their current employer for further opportunities.

Qualified, skilled and ambitious women are ready to join your organisation now. But these savvy women are not going to jump ship to just any employer, which is why you need to change your recruiting tactics.

Changing your approach
Firstly, what message are you sending potential female recruits? As any job candidate will do, women will be visiting your website, looking at your promotional materials and talking to their connections about experiences with your company. What does your employer branding say about your commitment to women? A careers page on your website showing only pictures of men and with no mention of women isn't going to cut it. What sort of language are you using in your jobs ads and other public material? Women will be looking for signs to show them that they will fit in with your company's culture, so you need to ensure those prompts are there. Women want to relate to the brand you promote and the vision you espouse.

You will also need to consider the job design of your positions. Elizabeth Broderick, Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner, often talks of the traditional view of what an 'ideal worker' looks like. Usually this is a person who is available 24/7, with no visible caring responsibilities. How realistic is this image for women, particularly those who are mothers? Regardless of whether a woman is a parent or not, a selection criteria that just describes the last person who held that role (and let's face it, it was probably a man) is going to rule out a whole cast of potential women. Take another look at those job descriptions; are they really portraying what is necessary in the role? Could you be ruling out women just because they've had a parental break in their working history or took a side step to gain experience in another industry?

So how about sourcing these women? Some companies have already put in place mandates to include at least one woman on every shortlist, but will this help? One of our clients told us that, despite requesting that women be included on every CV shortlist, all of their recruiters still failed to bring them any female candidates. If you work with recruitment agencies, make it clear what your expectations are in relation to women on shortlists and in interviews. If they fail to bring qualified and experienced women your way, swap to a specialist recruitment service that already has talented women who are ready for a new role.

If you handle most of your recruitment in house, and are struggling with getting more women into roles, it's possible that an unconscious bias is occurring. One simple way to target these biases is to use blind CVs - when all names are gender-identifying information is removed from CVs before they go to a panel to shortlist. By doing this, you will ensure that the shortlist is determined on merit alone. You may also want to consider having both male and female representation on your selection panels, as this will also help to tackle any biases that might exist.

Now we've got them, how do we keep them?
It doesn't matter how great your recruitment campaign is, if you can't retain your female talent, the recruitment will have been a wasted exercise. These women are not going to stick around while you fumble with their careers. This is especially true of those at the $200K+ package level, which is where we have seen the most women drop off.

This is where you need to look at what's currently going on inside your organisation. Who are the female role models at senior levels that other women can look to? It is important that there are forerunners so that women can see that this is not just another company where their careers will be stifled after so many years. If you have few women in leadership positions, or none at all, think about how crucial that next senior appointment will be.

In fact, your entire female talent pipeline needs to be considered if you want to see sustainable growth of female-held positions across the company. It needs to be ingrained in your workforce planning and professional development activities. This will have more than one positive effect: women will see opportunities for advancement and want to stay with the organisation, and seeing these great initiatives, more women will want to leave your competitors and join your workforce.

Building a pipeline of female talent will take time, but it can be achieved. Ensure that you have the right networks in place. Talk to a specialist who has seen success stories, and can bring this knowledge to your organisation. When you do have successes, talk about it, and others will follow.