It’s true! Large ASX-listed organisations can reach the 50/50 parity mark when it comes to the gender make-up of their boards.
Although that means finding more than one woman for their boards — a feat that’s proving particularly difficult for the 22 ASX 200 boards with no current female board directors.
It even means finding more than two or three women. In some cases, companies have managed to find five women for their board, like Medibank Private, that is now more than 60% female. Incredible.
The rate of female board appointments has accelerated over the 12 months to 30 June 2016, which is especially great news for the Australian Institute of Company Directions, which set a target for 30% female representation of ASX 200 board positions back in early 2015.
The AICD has released a report today on research it commissioned analysing ASX 200 board appointments to test how long its target would take. It found that based on the current rate of appointments in the 12 months to 30 June this year, that target would be reach by the end of 2018.
Still, AICD CEO John Brogden said we should be “cautiously optimistic”. “When taking into account three and a half year historical annual average rates, this goal will only be met in early 2019. It is a reminder that we cannot lost our focus on the issue,” he wrote in an introduction to the report. “The challenge now is to remain vigilant, committed and enthusiastic. We can’t rest on our laurels or become complacent. We still have 22 boards without any female directors. There will be real cause for celebration when we can reduce that number to zero.”
Monthly new appointment rates as calculated by the AICD need to be 38% or above in order to maintain this required female yearly average appointment rate.
So finally, a 30% target looks achievable. But why 30%, and why not 50/50?
According to the 30% Club, a division of the AICD aiming to progress the number of women on boards: “30% is the proportion when critical mass is reached – in a group setting the voices of the minority group become heard in their own right, rather than simply representing the minority.”
While a 50/50 target is certainly possible — and we have seen some boards hit and exceed it — setting the 30% target has been an ambitious yet achievable start. As of the 31st August 2016, 53 companies had 30% female directors, while another 97 need one or more female board member to reach the target.
So will we get there by 2018, and how can we keep the foot on the accelerator? Recently the AICD wrote to companies with no female board members as well as the 60 with only one woman, to ask why they hadn’t appointed any women. AICD chair Elizabeth Proust told a business luncheon last week the excuses they received back ranged from ‘women aren’t reliable’ to ‘women will make the board meetings too long’ and ‘we don’t want to’.
Based on those excuses, it seems certain segments of the ASX 200 still have a very long way to go.
The AICD aims to counter some of these issues by partnering with a range of organisations and publishing additional material with the report, including advice from Chief Executive Women and Male Champions of Change on avoiding the merit trap, tips for those running director searches, the need to empower gender diversity through entrepreneurship and the role of company secretaries in promoting diverse boards.
So what can women personally do? The report also offers a number of tips from Katie Lahey from Korn Ferry, adapted from a 2015 Korn Ferry report, Beyond If Not Why Not.
Her tips include developing your executive career with an eye on your board career — and not shifting out of management too early, you need as much senior corporate experience as possible, particularly in positions with P&L responsibilities. She also advised those with board ambitions to acquire the boardroom skills they need, complete an AICD Company Directors course and to obtain board experience while still an executive, such as a on a subsidiary and/or NFP board. From there, it helps to know the right people through networking, market yourself smartly, choose board positions with care by researching the company extensively, and to ultimately be realistic about the skills you do and don’t have.
Key findings from the AICD report:
- Medibank Private, with five female directors, is leading on female board representation and is 62.5% female
- Boards that are 50% female include AMP Limited, Bellamy’s Australia, Boral Limited, Mirvac, Nine Entertainment and Woolworths
- Monthly new appointment rates have risen from 9% in 2009 to 42.8% in the year to June 2016
- Monthy new appointment rates (as calculated by the AICD) need to be 38% or above to meet the 30% target by the end of 2018
- 53 ASX 200 boards have reached the 30% target
- 33 ASX 100 boards have reached the 30% target
- 19 ASX 50 boards have reached the 30% target
- 9 ASX 20 boards have reached the 30% target
- 22 have no female board members
- 28 need 2 or more female board members to reach the 30% target
- 97 need one more female board member to reach the 30% target