Women on Boards

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Shehara De Silva, Non-Exec Director Kells Food Private Ltd in Sri Lanka published this article in November 2017 in The Daily FT, Sri Lanka’s national daily. That was two years ago, and her article was a wake-up call as the statistics are alarming, more so in the Asian region. The 2020 Women on Boards Gender Diversity Index aims to get 20% of women on boards by the year 2020. Download the 2018 report here, or get a quick snapshot here.

In Australia, the Institute of Company Directors reports impressive results:

  • The latest percentage of women on ASX 200 boards is 29.6% (31 May 2019)
  • The percentage of women on boards of ASX 200 companies and the proportion of women comprising new appointments increased significantly from a low base of 8.3 percent in 2009
  • Although… A total of five boards in the ASX 200 still do not have any women

A News Straits Times article shared, “A typical Malaysian firm has 13.8 per cent women board members, above the Asia Pacific average of 12.5 per cent and just below the global average of 15 per cent, according to a World Bank report on ‘Women on Boards in Malaysia’.

My intent for posting and sharing this is clear – there are professional qualified women who can play a crucial role on boards. Get more Women on Boards. Here’s an excerpt from Shehara’s article, “Wake up boys, let’s walk the talk”.

A 10-point plan

1. Declare an intent. A woman on every listed company board by 2020. Lead from the top. Social and organisational change needs champions. 

2. Set early milestones – Target a date to begin. Suggest – Latest Jan 2018. Avoid death by committee syndrome. And the talk shops. Take a few actionable tiny steps immediately. Please avoid any more mindless seminars that perpetuate male chauvinism in the main. Circulate a few must-dos – immediate steps to entire chamber membership. 

Suggest:

A. Every company to appoint a champion.

B. Every company to come up with their own self-regulated time plan pledge.

C. Every company to table a board discussion on the strategic need and viability of scouting for and having a short list of candidates for review. 

D. Alert them that the writing is on the wall and that it will soon become mandatory.

3. Don’t overshoot on expectations. Don’t overkill. Do what’s manageable. Don’t go for the 30 club. (A broad group of countries pledging a minimum of 30% WOB).

Suggest you shoot for one woman per listed company on the main CSE board by end Dec 2018/March 2019 depending on financial year end of company.

This has to have immediate issues related to vacation of board seat or filling of additional board seat to accommodate this. Chambers to work in collaboration with CSE/SLIDA. Companies on the second Diri Savi Board can be given till 2020.

4. Champion the value setters – Shame the laggards

Ensure that any company that is not compliant in women board representation is disqualified from any business excellence or sustainability award or ranking. I do hope CCC does this with the Sustainability Awards to be judged in a few months. CIMA, ACCI and other management entities that conduct awards for corporate reporting excellence to put in criteria that disqualify companies with no board representation of women. Name and shame. Chambers or CSE to red flag companies that are non-compliant. 

5. Create a short list of potential women and a call for nominations. Suggest the chambers convene a meeting of all women directors and non-board CEOs for a nominations committee of W2W. (Women Directors to nominate a minimum of three other potential women. There is no reason it can’t be M2W and open it up to all directors to nominate at least three women for grooming). CSE/Chamber to publish a list of all women directors and their profiles as a possible pool of trainers or mentors.

6. Develop champions. MAARC (Men As Agents of Reform and Change) or women AAW (Awesome Aspirational Women). Every listed company to identify a HR head or point person who will in turn establish a short list pool of potential three to 10 candidates for grooming into management boards and thereon to main boards.

7. On-boarding workshop/retreats – Have a series of on-boarding action plan sessions that must be run like a collective bargaining agreement. Chamber monitoring and evaluation committee, with company action teams that commit to shortlisting candidates. Set goals to drive results on career pathways within a set time period. Specify goals for gender, measure your progress at regular intervals. 

8. Keep at it – Appoint one person in each chamber/industry organisation or professional body who will constantly flag this issue and be spokespersons. The chamber should provide practical strategies and resources for chairs and boards that agree to champion this agenda and voluntarily pledge towards it intent to improve female participation on boards.

9. Seed from anywhere – Allow for and attract women from the across the world to be board appointees in companies that say they can’t find women on local boards. Establish a pipeline tracking methodology to Identify and fast track women who may be able to make future boards. Invite potential internal candidates as observers and give them board exposure. Work with SLIDA and great a hot 50 potentials who are then trained via international or local Experts.

10. Create the WOB Boardroom Diversity Index (BDI). Measuring female participation on the boards of Sri Lankan companies. The scarcity of women directors is a key aspect of the wider economic disadvantage experienced by women in the workforce. The need for publishing the Boardroom Diversity Index, bi-annually.

—

References:

This article first appeared in LinkedIn.