Category: Report

FTSE Women Leaders Review Launch

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COVER IMAGE - FTSE WOMEN LEADERS POST (1)

UK closes in on 40% women at board level

The UK has climbed to second in the international rankings for women’s representation at board level. 

Almost 40% of UK FTSE 100 board positions are now held by women, compared with 12.5% just ten years ago. And there are almost 38% women on board across the FTSE 350.

The data has been published in a new report by the Government-backed FTSE Women Leaders Review, which monitors women’s representation in 24,000 positions on FTSE 350 Boards and in Leadership teams of the UK’s biggest companies, building on the success of the previous Hampton-Alexander and Davies Reviews.

 

What this new data from the FTSE Women Leaders Review reiterates is that we don’t need mandates - aspirational targets change not just the numbers but also the culture inside companies.

Ann Cairns, 30% Club global chair

Key highlights from the report include:

  • Almost 40% of UK FTSE 100 board positions are now held by women, putting the UK second in international rankings for board representation.
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  • FTSE 100, 250 and 350 all improved the number of women in Leadership roles in 2021, with the Government’s and 30% Club’s voluntary, business-led approach paying dividends.
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  • The new review also sets out bold recommendations to build on this progress, including a voluntary target for FTSE 350 executive leadership teams to achieve 40% female representation by the end of 2025. It is currently less than 20%, according to BoardEx data.
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  • It is also asking FTSE 350 companies to have at least one woman in the Chair, Senior Independent Director role on the Board and/or one woman in the CEO or CFO by the end of 2025. There are just 18 and 48 at present, that’s 5 and 14% respectively. 
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  • The Review has also increased in scope beyond the FTSE 350 companies to include the largest 50 private companies in the UK by sales.

The 30% Club welcomes the extended focus of the Review. 
Read THE REPORT
Deloitte web post graphic (6)

30% Club Global Chair Ann Cairns said: 

 
“The 30% Club, The Women in Finance Charter, Hampton Alexander (now the FTSE Women Leaders Review), the Parker Review and most recently 25×25 and the FCA/Bank of England white paper all have similar and complementary aims. Strategic collaboration will make all the difference in seeing the progress we’ve seen in the boardroom play out at executive committee level and result in more female CEOs and significantly more leadership opportunities for women of colour. We are a multi-racial society, and it’s high time our boards an executive leadership teams reflect that. 
 
“What this new data from the FTSE Women Leaders Review also reiterates is that we don’t need mandates – aspirational targets change not just the numbers but also the culture inside companies.” 

Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: 

“UK businesses have made enormous progress in recent years to ensure that everyone, whatever their background, can succeed on merit – and today’s findings highlight this with more women at the top table of Britain’s biggest companies than ever before.

“However, we should not rest on our laurels, and the FTSE Women Leaders Review will build on the success so far of our voluntary, business-led approach to increasing women’s representation on boards and in leadership, without the need for mandatory quotas.”

Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, said:

“It is excellent to see the progress being made, but we know there is more to be done. This Government is committed to levelling up all parts of our country, working to tackle inequality and promoting equality of opportunity, including at senior level, so everyone can thrive.”

COVER IMAGE - FTSE WOMEN LEADERS POST (5)

Here are the four new recommendations of the FTSE Women Leaders Review in full:

The voluntary target for FTSE 350 Boards & for Leadership teams is increased to a minimum of 40% women’s representation by the end of 2025

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  • FTSE 350 companies to have at least one woman in the Chair, Senior Independent Director role on the Board and/or one woman in the Chief Executive Officer or Finance Director role by the end of 2025
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  • Extending the scope of the FTSE Women Leaders Review beyond FTSE 350 companies to include the largest 50 private companies in the UK by sales
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These recommendations aim to increase gender balance further, bringing new focus to the appointment of women at the highest levels of British business, particularly in those companies that are still lagging behind.

Where we are

The 30% Club has come a long way from when it was set up in the UK in 2010.We now span six continents and more than 20 countries. We’re actively expanding into more G20 countries

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Deloitte and 30% Club reveal latest global women in the boardroom stats

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Deloitte web post graphic

Progress but it's slow

Deloitte, in collaboration with the  30% Club, today released the seventh edition of  Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective. 

It includes updates from 72 countries on representation of women in the boardroom, exploring insights on the political, social, and legislative trends behind these numbers. 

It found that nearly all countries have local organisations or governments committed to increasing the number of women serving on company boards.

While these private and public sector efforts demonstrate steps toward achieving parity, the pace of collective progress needs to pick up.

People often ask why the 30% Club is not the 50% Club given that our aim is parity. I think this report answers that question, we are still far from the 30% tipping point in many geographies

Ann Cairns, 30% Club global chair

Key higlights from the report include:

Globally, only one in five board seats are held by women           

A smaller group of women are taking on a large number of board seats – referred to as the ‘Stretch Factor’

Report reveals a disconnect between women holding roles on boards and in the executive.

Globally, only 6.7% of board chairs are women, and even fewer CEOs – 5% – are women

A global average of 19.7% of board seats are held by women, an increase of 2.8% since 2018 compared to a 1.9% increase in the period from 2016 to 2018

Companies with women CEOs have significantly more balanced boards than those with male CEOs: 33.5% vs 19.4%

Only three in 10 board seats held by women in UK behind leaders France, Norway and Italy in boardroom diversity

However, UK enters into top 10 global ranking and could reach boardroom gender parity by 2027.

Read THE REPORT
Deloitte web post graphic (6)

Commenting on the report, which includes commentary from 30% Club chapters, global chair Ann Cairns said: “With the FTSE 100 on the brink of attaining 40% women in board roles, I am encouraged by Deloitte Global’s finding that UK parity could be reached by 2027. 

“People often ask why the 30% Club is not the 50% Club given that our aim is parity. I think this report answers that question, we are still far from the 30% tipping point in many geographies.” 

She added: “One of the report’s most interesting findings is the real balance that female leaders bring. If women CEOs can have more balanced boards, there’s no reason that male CEOs can’t.

“Finally, on the stretch, this speaks to the fact that women have a harder time being appointed if they don’t have previous board experience. Chairs and CEOs should be encouraged to give women their first board seat. 

“There is plenty of talent out there who would make great directors. This is very true for people of colour too, many of whom would welcome the chance to make a significant contribution at the top of the corporate world but remain significantly under-represented.”

 

Sharon Thorne, Deloitte Global Board Chair and member of the 30% Club, said: “While it’s heartening to see that the world continues to make progress towards achieving gender parity, with the exception of a few countries, overall progress remains slow and uneven.

 

“The pandemic has further challenged progress in achieving equality, making it even more important to move past discussion and take concrete actions to ensure inclusion within and beyond the boardroom including gender, ethnic and racial diversity among other characteristics.”

 

She adds: “Increasing the number of women on boards is only the first step on a larger journey.”

Read THE REPORT

Where we are

The 30% Club has come a long way from when it was set up in the UK in 2010.We now span six continents and more than 20 countries. We’re actively expanding into more G20 countries

Find out more

Women are the most likely changemakers for climate action

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Oliver Wyman web post graphic (5)

Stronger together

Diversity and climate are top priorities for CEOs and boards of directors, but almost none have considered how linking the two management priorities could accelerate their transition to net‑zero emissions.

As the Oliver Wyman Forum and the 30% Club prepared for COP26 in Glasgow, we set out to uncover what can be achieved when diversity, and specifically gender representation, is included in companies’ climate change plans.

The question was more difficult to answer than we had anticipated. For example, starting with large data sets, we looked at how corporate diversity and climate outcomes might be correlated. Relationships were positive but statistically weak. However, with so many factors at play, we felt that focusing solely on these high‑level numbers was a red herring.

As our research and interviews with more than 20 companies progressed, it became clear that not only are women often excluded from many high-level government and corporate discussions on climate, their role as climate-action changemakers is largely unrecognized and underestimated.

Yet businesses need to include female colleagues, customers, and investors if they are serious about meeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

We consider this report as just the beginning of research on what can be achieved if a greater mix of people — including women — is more explicitly included in companies’ attempts to reach net-zero emissions.

This report talks about action from corporations deliberately. Clearly, this must be taken together with action from governments, the third sector, civil society, and beyond.

Read THE REPORT
Oliver Wyman web post graphic (6)

We are grateful for your understanding over this report’s limitations — for example, our focus on women in Western countries and a binary view of gender that is not inclusive of all identities and experiences.

We recognize that we do not cover intersectionality or other dimensions of difference, such as race and ethnicity, primarily due to a lack of data.

Despite this, we felt it important to continue and hope the report will have some impact in driving greater awareness and understanding of the critical linkages between these issues.

We thank and are grateful to the many colleagues who were willing to share their expertise and the companies we interviewed. We hope you find our initial research helpful as you consider your transition plans and look forward to continuing the conversation and research.

Rupal Kantaria
Partner, Oliver Wyman Forum

Ann Cairns
Global Chair, 30% Club and Executive Vice Chair, Mastercard

Read THE REPORT

Where we are

The 30% Club has come a long way from when it was set up in the UK in 2010.We now span six continents and more than 20 countries. We’re actively expanding into more G20 countries

Find out more

Development Digest: Maximising Knowledge for Development

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World Bank Publication Issue 4

Women on Boards in Malaysia


Using firm-level data for 806 public-listed companies in Malaysia, we highlight the extent of women’s participation as board members in Malaysia benchmarked against other countries.

 

How this women’s participation varies by industry and firm-size is considered, along with its potential impact on the company’s performance.

 

About 13 percent of the board positions in Malaysia filled by women and the rest by men in 2017.

 

Moreover, the trend over the last four years reveals a slow pace of increase in the proportion of women board members.

 

The largest 100 firms and some industries such as finance show a greater tendency to have female vs. male board members. The profit rate is significantly positively correlated with proportionately more female board members in a firm, suggesting a “business case” for more women on the boards. 

 

Read here Development Digest: Maximising Knowledge for Development

HAYS Launch 2017 Asia Gender Diversity Report

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New research shows flexible working policies are highly valued by men in Asia nearly as much as women, according to recruiting experts Hays.


The 2017 Asia Gender Diversity Report surveyed men and women from more than 30 industry sectors across China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia to find workplace flexibility is a hot button issue.


“Flexible working is still seen very much as something that benefits working mothers but our latest research shows that companies developing flexible work policies have to take a broader view,” says Simon Lance, Managing Director of Hays Greater China.


“We were surprised to find half of all male respondents in Asia already have access to flexible work options compared to just 40 per cent of our female respondents,” says Simon.”


“Furthermore, the majority of female and male respondents say being able to access agile / flexible work options is important to them with nearly a third of each describing this benefit as ‘very’ important.”


“Also of interest is the fact the largest proportion of respondents of both genders are supportive of seeing more shared family responsibilities used as a way of breaking down gender bias and improving gender diversity.”


Only a minority of participants in the Hays research view working flexibly as “very much” a career-limiting move, although most expected some negative impact. Men were more likely than women to be concerned that working flexibly could have a detrimental impact on their career.


By country, a massive 49 per cent of women and 43 per cent of men in Singapore say working flexibly is very important to them. In Japan, some 39 per cent of both genders describe flexible working as very important to them.


Curiously 40 per cent of male respondents in China rate flexible working as very important – just ahead of female respondents at 38 per cent. At the top of the scale, Hong Kong showed the greatest contrast by gender with 38 per cent of women regarding flexible working as very important while only 18 per cent of men rated it so highly.


However, 45 per cent of male respondents say flexible working is ‘important’ to them. In Malaysia, 40 per cent of female respondents and 39 per cent of male respondents say flexible working is very important.


Across Asia, most female respondents (45 per cent) say promoting shared parental responsibilities would “very much” boost efforts to address unconscious bias in the workplace and improve gender diversity while just over a third of men agree.


The majority of men (42 per cent) and 38 per cent of women believe shared responsibilities would go some way to breaking down unconscious bias and improving gender diversity. A small minority, just two per cent, of women and men say there would be no benefit.


Family responsibilities were also top of mind when participants were asked to nominate the diversity and inclusion initiatives they regard as the most helpful to their career.


The largest proportion of respondents in China (37 per cent), Hong Kong (26 per cent), Japan (29 per cent) and Malaysia (34 per cent) placed flexible working policies for parents at the top of their list.


In Singapore most respondents (31 per cent) regarded training and development of people managers as the most useful initiative. However, another 30 per cent placed flexible working policies for working parents at the top of their list.


Good Practices on Gender Diversity in Corporate Leadership for Growth

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APEC Publications ( APEC#216-PP-01.1)

This report presents the outcome of a survey that was undertaken to establish how women directors enhance corporate values in companies within the APEC region.

The mechanism of improving corporate values through the appointment of women directors were demonstrated. Case studies were also conducted through interviews with leading companies in APEC (Canada; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; the Philippines; and Viet Nam) that are considered to have achieved positive impact on growth through gender diversity. 

HAYS presents Global Gender Diversity Report

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At HAYS event in collaboration with 30% Club Malaysia presented findings of it’s Global Gender Diversity Report.

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