This year's International Women's Day theme, Balance the Scales, feels unusually literal. An article by our Chief Executive Officer Claire Thomas.
In our world, we are constantly looking at scales.
- Maturity scales.
- Risk scales.
- Weightings in evaluation criteria.
- Judgements about value, credibility and cost.
Right now, those scales are shifting in the market's use of professional services.
Commonwealth procurement rules have tightened, but have been clear on the importance of supporting Australian small and medium businesses. States like Queensland are explicitly broadening how they recognise female-owned businesses.
Public and political scrutiny of consulting has sharpened. Private sector buyers are asking harder questions about advisory spend and Return on Investment (ROI).
Some of this is a healthy balancing.
Scrutiny matters.
Accountability matters.
No one benefits from lazy procurement or wasted efforts.
But here's the tension I keep coming back to this International Women’s Day:
As we rebalance the consulting market, are we doing it in a way that embeds progress, or are we at risk of sliding backwards?
The economic case is not soft
When we talk about women's economic participation, we know by now this isn't symbolic. Halving the workforce participation gap between men and women could add around $60 billion a year to GDP over time.
In the broad Professional Services category, the gender pay gap still sits at 24%!
Women in our industry are earning tens of thousands of dollars less than their peers at scale.
If we think about the persisting low levels of senior executive women in leadership, tough market conditions could lead to consolidation of women-owned or led Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) into larger incumbents, and fewer women with equity stakes and decision-making control.
Markets and the rules of play shape who earns, who leads, and who builds equity.
The Canberra lens
Here in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), this conversation isn't abstract.
Professional and technical services represents tens of thousands of jobs locally. It is one of the engines of our economy.
When procurement settings shift, Canberra feels it.
Many of us in the SME community have been thrilled and relieved by the renewed focus on supporting local, small business.
The ACT has seen positive movement in gender pay gap trends in recent reporting cycles. That's a good story. It shows change is possible!!
But progress is not self-sustaining.
In a tight market, under pressure, with margins squeezed and scrutiny heightened, the temptation is to revert to what feels safest and most familiar.
It's so important to be mindful now, that we don't let these scales tip back the other direction for women in Canberra.
Tone has shifted, and the market pays the price
I'll say the thing - many in the consulting industry have made some terrible choices and inexcusable actions.
We all feel the impact though. For those of us who are founders, with purpose and integrity, it's painful to feel the brunt of others' actions broad-brushed onto us.
Increasingly, our whole industry is challenged, and often treated as a proxy for broader frustrations about spending, governance or accountability.
Some of that scrutiny is necessary.
But tone shapes behaviour.
When people in consulting are treated primarily as a cost or risks to be managed, rather than capability partners, the market responds accordingly. Firms become more defensive. Buyers become more risk-averse. Conversations narrow.
It also affects wellbeing, connections and relationships, and we know these are real people, supporting your organisation with real care to make a difference. When their work identity and integrity is challenged without cause, that has measurable human and business outcome impact.
And here's where I see that it links directly to SMEs and women-led firms.
New procurement settings that aim to increase opportunity for SMEs and/or female-owned businesses rely on a functioning, trusted ecosystem.
The governments of the day have said it’s cool to work with us, just make sure it’s on important things, and not taking APS jobs. And if we’re SMEs, then we WANT you to invest in those partnerships – here’s a goal to hit with how much we want you to get SME support.
BUT if leaders and managers let organisational narrative paint advisory work as inherently suspect, smaller firms without brand armour feel that more acutely.
Large incumbents can absorb reputational waves at the global level.
Boutique firms cannot.
If the climate becomes overly hostile, the very women-led and SMEs the rules are designed to support may decide the risk-to-reward ratio is no longer worth it.
That would be an unintended consequence.
Balancing the scales requires scrutiny to sit alongside trust and humanity to coexist.
Here's the good news! We're all here to help!
Let's focus on the opportunity here!
When you work with a high-integrity, purpose-driven SME, you don't just get a cheaper version of a big firm.
You get:
- Direct access to senior people who are accountable,
- Faster decisions,
- Less internal hierarchy to navigate,
- A team that knows its reputation is on the line every time,
- And often, a stronger focus on leaving your internal capability better than we found it.
Specialist depth without layers. Real partnership. A bias to outcomes and impact.
Balancing the scales is about access to capability that might otherwise be squeezed out by default settings.
So here's what we can do, in all sectors!
We need transparent pricing, clear capability transfer, strong governance and real performance measurement. But balancing the scales does not mean swinging them so far that only the old guard has the means to navigate the hoops.
It means buyers asking better questions:
- Are we bundling work in ways that unnecessarily exclude capable SMEs?
- Are our scoring weightings aligned to what we say we value?
- Are we rewarding genuine partnership models between large and smaller firms?
- Are we tracking who gets access to opportunities and what that means over time?
- Have we shared as much as we possibly can about the constraints, need, expectations or budget - or have we overcorrected our assessment of risk or probity fairness?
International Women's Day reminds us that progress is possible. The ACT has shown it. Women's participation rates show it. Markets can evolve.
This reset is an opportunity.
We can design a consulting market that is more accountable and more inclusive. More rigorous and more diverse. More transparent and more open to women building equity and leadership on their own terms.
Balance the scales, with impact.