A boardroom. Boards need talented, qualified candidates — not quotas. PHOTO | FILE
It has been said that having more women in the boardroom contributes positively to the health, well-being, and performance of an enterprise. It also changes the culture of the boardroom.
For example, women often bring directness and candor to the conversation. It is in the best interests of an enterprise and its shareholders for the board to have very candid conversations about talent, performance, strategy, and the future.
Despite this awareness, the subject of women representation continues to top governance discussions. One factor leading to the under-representation of women in boardrooms is attributed to career patterns; from senior management to CEO positions to the boardroom.
With few women breaking the glass ceiling, their progression to occupy these seats has been elusive. On the flip side, women with boardroom experience and expertise are often oversubscribed and don’t have time to serve on additional boards.
What should be done to resolve this misnomer? One common approach that has been floated is to impose a gender quota on boards.
This, however, comes with the danger of filling the positions with inexperienced or unmatched candidates. Boards need talented, qualified candidates — not quotas, which are likely to demean talent, lead to resentment, and ultimately set women up for failure.
There is just so much the laws can do to create enablement. The interest and drive to be board-ready should also lie within the womenfolk.
Some successful women who have served on boards have attributed their success to having a great mentor at work at a young age who also acted as their sponsor. In addition, building important networks greatly boosted their eminence.
Here in Kenya, women are increasingly taking on larger roles in business. Investors understand the skills, ambition, and strategic thinking that women contribute to the business environment and, over time, more organisations will work towards increasing the gender balance on their boards.
We have also witnessed a regulatory push towards more representation. The Code of Corporate Governance for Listed Companies mentions gender as a desirable quality or background for board candidates.
It stipulates that the board should have a policy that ensures diversity in its composition. The guideline provides that the board should be gender sensitive.
The Institute of Directors and some large professional firms play an important role in convening forums that enable experienced governance practitioners to become better informed and understand risks.
What this means is that we need to create an environment that enables women to break the glass ceiling. Stereotyping, bias, and brutally long working hours discourage women executives from reaching for the top.
Second, we need to provide enough positive reinforcement so that more women find it rewarding to make sacrifices for advancement in their careers.
These are often tough personal choices, and smart companies would use them as opportunities to attract and retain the right professionals instead of driving them away.
So we need to be more innovative and accommodating in terms of employment arrangements to promote diversity. Family-friendly policies are crucial so that our female professionals can shine in the different stages of their lives.
By the same token, we need to look seriously within our talent pools and find the right young men and women who can carry the baton and lead our businesses in meeting the challenges of tomorrow.
As most of these women are first-time directors, they will need to participate in appropriate training and on boarding programmes as they assume governance roles.
There is need to continue implementing initiatives to increase women’s participation on boards and in senior management positions, but not through quotas.
Instead, companies should take into consideration the backgrounds and skills they require that are aligned to their value creation strategies. There should be a better understanding of the market, including talent and risk strategies to identify where women can contribute more.
Jumba is Associate Director, Deloitte East Africa. [email protected]
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