Gender diversity is becoming more crucial to recruitment and retention strategies in the Australian financial sector, but it still doesn’t count for much when a quick hiring decision needs to be made, according to delegates at the recent eFinancialCareers roundtable in Sydney.

“Part-time working and job shares are no longer foreign languages in our industry, like they were just a few years ago,” said a member of the 23-strong panel of HR professionals from leading financial institutions.

One bank tries to have at least one woman on interview panels in order to demonstrate its positive attitude towards diversity early in the hiring process. A rival firm asks preferred-supplier recruitment agencies to meet its diversity targets when they hire on its behalf.

But major obstacles remain. “Every employer is looking to increase targets, but because we’re all doing this at the same, some of us aren’t going to reach them or come close to reaching them,” said one of the delegates, all of whom asked not to be named in this report.

Another roundtable attendee provided an example: “At the moment we have a target to hire 30 female financial planners, but we just can’t find them.”

Certain job functions in banking continue to be even more male dominated than others. These including corporate finance, M&A and of course finance tech – a sector almost devoid of women. Across all positions, female representation declines at director level.

And despite the glossy recruitment campaigns about diverse workplaces, HR departments are forced to be practical when the business tells them to find a new recruit as soon as possible.

“Diversity is at front of mind unless there are time pressures. When time dictates your hire, you just have to find the best person quickly and you might not be able to expand your search as far as you would have liked,” said a panellist from an Australian bank.