Talent war helping to bridge the wage gap in South Australia Parsons Brinckerhoff team and project manager Shya Jackson, Deloitte partner Jody Burton and SA Equal Opportunity Commissioner Anne Gale. VOLUNTARY annual pay rises for women on parental leave is among the latest strategies bridging the gender wage gap in South Australia, boosting the state's talent pool and productivity. Other new initiatives by SA businesses include childcare allowances, flexibility in terms of job re-design and a 50/50 recruitment policy. Ten women from consulting firm Deloitte received the CPI-related increase last financial year and another five will receive it this year as part of an equity policy initiative for all 300 of its staff in Adelaide. Deloitte's SA managing partner Rob DiMonte said the policy was a result of an analysis across the organisation which looked into the reasons for the workforce imbalance. Our inventory is our people. It's a war for talent and we had to ensure we are recognising the key areas where we can implement change. This policy has made it easier for women to come back on terms that are more favourable than before. Mr DiMonte is one of eight business leaders that came together in 2011 as the informal Chiefs of Gender Equity group that is reshaping the workforce mix in the state under the watchful eye of South Australia's equal opportunity commissioner Anne Gale. Some of these leaders yesterday addressed a Committee for the Economic Development of Australia event, detailing the changes they are driving within their organisations and highlighting potential role models for other staff, including Deloitte's Jody Burton and Shya Jackson from Parsons Brinckerhoff. Deloitte partner and energy and resources specialist Jody Burton has been with the firm for close to two decades, including balancing work and being mum. Shya Jackson from engineering consultancy firm Parsons Brinckerhoff works part-time in dual roles as project manager and people manager. She led the team that delivered the final Tonsley Park site assessment report to Mitsubishi Australia in the lead up to the plant's closure. "While flexibility and support are crucial, it's important for people to be visible in an organisation, male or female," says the chemical engineer and mum of two who has 15 years at the Whyalla steelworks operation. The opportunities come and go and you make a choice between flexibility and pay sometimes, but it's about making sure you are putting yourself out there. Defence firm ASC said it would look at supportive intiatitives on a case by case basis rather than implementing any policies. Commissioner Anne Gale said it was important for men to share the change agenda. Men still dominate the most senior positions, so if they can be part of the solution, there is a stronger opportunity for real change. The group has recently been examining the gender wage gap. (It is) 17.6 per cent nationally and 14.7 per cent in South Australia. A key strategy for addressing the gender wage gap is increasing the number of women in leadership positions. Business SA chief executive Nigel McBride said it was necessary to "reprogram both men and women" in a commercially tough world. The acid test for this in South Australia will be to make it work among the SMEs (small to medium enterprises). Agribusiness leader and Elders managing director Malcolm Jackman said it was important to understand businesses and avoid unrealistic targets. Eighty per cent of our people work in the bush. We have recruited women in our livestock program but it will be a slow, gradual change.