Getting it Right at the Board

In the current climate, the media have placed a spotlight on embarrassing news reports and scandals in the Boardrooms. These cover a range of issues such as corruption, fraud, labour rights, climate harm.

 

Invariably when things go wrong in a company, public scrutiny is directed at the Company’s board. The Board of Directors carry a heavy responsibility to ensure that a duty of care and good governance are properly observed and implemented.

 

With this in mind, the 30% Club Malaysia jointly organised a talk “Getting it Right at the Board – WHAT DOES IT TAKE?” on 18 August 2021, with the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG). This was specially put together for its corporate members, partners and the 30% Club Malaysia Mentee Circle.

  

The talk focused on Corporate Governance, by key presenter and subject matter expert, David Berry (Vice President, MICG). Frances P. , a volunteer with Activate Pillar of 30% Club Malaysia moderated the session and the Q&A. 

 

The audience sat through an interactive session covering topics such as evolution of the code of corporate governance, effective Boards and directors, stakeholder management, symbiotic relationships between Boards and management, the courage to ask questions and more.

 

The presentation/dialogue was a power-packed session with valuable nuggets of learning. Some of the key takeaways from the session include:

 

     

      1. 1. There is a difference between being an independent vs a good Director.

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      2. 2. The is no such thing as a stupid question. When in doubt, do not be afraid to ask questions.
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      1. 3. Are the Board papers data-rich, analysis-poor and action poorer.
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      1. 4. Directors need to keep updated and abreast of developments.
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      1. 5. Alignment of Board and stakeholder objectives.

      1. Governance in action, is what counts.
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    “An independent director is not a decorative ornament …. and has a role in governance.” (Quoting the presiding judge in a 2011 High Court ruling).

    Simposio “Women in Payments”

    El Simposio “Women in Payments” es un evento de la organización del mismo nombre que proporciona perspectivas de mujeres líderes en el mundo de pagos, apoya la diversidad y la paridad de género, e incluye temas que afectan todos los aspectos del ecosistema de pagos.

    Journey to the Boardroom

    This is a summary of the insights shared in a webinar entitled “Journey to the Boardroom: Actionable Practice for Women to Transition to the Next Level”

     

     

    It was held on 21 July 2021, organised by CPA Australia in collaboration with 30% Club Malaysia. Michelle Ann Iking, a member of the 30% Club Talent Pillar committee, was the moderator while the speakers for the first session were Pauline Ho, Assurance Partner at PwC Malaysia, and Tian Pouw TP Pun GNRC of Taylor’s Education Group.

    Read the whole article to gain excellent insights into what it takes for women to ready themselves to take the reins of Board membership and leadership.
     

     

     

    Read here.

    AXA General Insurance joins 30% Club Malaysia

    Today AXA General Insurance Berhad has joined the 30% Club Malaysia as a Corporate Member.


    “We are pleased that AXA General Insurance is now a corporate member of the 30% Club Malaysia and part of an ecosystem of businesses, working together on a shared goal – the promotion of DE&I, with a focus on gender balance on Boards and C-Suites,” said 30% Club Malaysia Co-Founder Anne Abraham.


    AXA General Insurance CEO Emmanuel Nivet said its participation as 30% Club Malaysia member is evident of its commitment to accelerate DE&I, as well as driving sustainable corporate growth.


    “Most importantly this is our commitment for continuous development of our talents and for this initiative, will be for a specific agenda. With our participation in 30% Club, we aim to leverage on their programmes to groom our women talents aspired to explore opportunities as women directors, as well as other senior leadership positions,” he said.


    “This participation is very key, not only providing a platform for our talents to develop their interpersonal skills, most importantly building a pool of ready women board members for Public Listed companies in the country,” he added.


    First virtual IWD 2021 event – A fire-side chat by 30% Club Global Chair Ann Cairns and “MEN-WHO-PAUSE” Panel Discussion

    The recent 30% Club Malaysia IWD 2021 virtual event attracted more than 500 participants who were privileged to listen to various perspectives from thought-leaders.


    The event started off with a speech from the founding chair Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar.

    “Today, women representation on the top 100 PLC boards stands at 25.8%, an 82% increase from 2015; and women occupy 17.2% of total board seats on all PLCs,” she said.


    This is followed by an exciting fire-side chat by 30% Club Global Chair Ann Cairns. One of the memorable quotes captured were – “Investors around the world are voting against companies with all male boards”


    The most anticipated session was the panelist discussion – “MEN –WHO –PAUSE”. Some of the memorable quotes were –


    “Diversity is equivalent to competitiveness and profit,” said Johan Raslan


    “In Malaysia, the fantastic thing is that we have a really deep talent pool of women” Stuart Milne


    “When we talk about getting the right people for a certain job or role, the best way is to look at individuals by their competence, not by gender,” Albern Murty


    “We also believe in diversity as we are moving towards an energy industry that needs to be more customer-centric which simply needs a far more progressive and creative work environment,” T Muhammad Taufik.


    FORO M 2021

    El Foro M es el espacio a través del cual buscamos promover la participación y el empoderamiento de más mujeres en diferentes escenarios, visibilizar la oferta institucional del Gobierno de Colombia para las mujeres y facilitar el intercambio de experiencias y buenas prácticas nacionales e internacionales.

     

    https://www.foromcolombia.com/conferencistas-2021

    Discussion with Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development

    A discussion with YB Hannah Yeoh and her team on the challenges of increasing women representation on the boards of public listed companies and the way forward . 

    A virtually discussion with Lembaga Tabung Haji

    On 15 December, members of the 30% Club’s Activate team virtually met with a very passionate team from Lembaga Tabung Haji(TH) lead by Rina Sarif, its Chief Human Capital Officer.


    The meeting is part of the 30% Club’s mission to build an ecosystem of corporations to support our campaign in promoting diversity and inclusion focusing on gender balance on the Malaysian corporate boards and C-Suites.


     This will be the first of many engagements in the weeks to come, with this very dynamic team.

    Dr Miwa Kato shares her view in ‘Half the Sky’ webinar

    On Dec 11, more than 100 women and men leaders had the privilege to hear from truly remarkable women leaders on the role of women in today’s world at the webinar, Half the Sky.


    Dr Miwa Kato – Director of Operations, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Tan Sri Zarinah – Chairperson, Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia and Datuk Yvonne Chia – Chairperson, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia left the audience truly inspired with their thoughts and insights gleaned from a wealth of experience and wisdom of how to embrace opportunities. The session was moderated by Datin Seri Sunita Rajakumar, Chairperson, Caring Pharmacy.


    The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants in the webinar, who joined from as far as Japan and Africa, was testament to the value that this session brought. The 30% club’s goal was to provide a different perspective and empower the right thinking, which was successfully delivered.


    We would like to thank our partners, Global Impact Network Malaysia, TULIPS MOVEMENT and Nottingham University Business School for the collaborative effort in organizing this session.


    30% Club Malaysia signs Memoranda of Understanding with MICG, CnetG and ASB

    30% Club Malaysia has signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), CnetG Asia Sdn Bhd (CnetG), and Asia School of Business (ASB).


    These partnerships include the promotion of diverse and inclusive leadership as part of corporate governance advocacy with MICG; access to research and leadership development that support the goal of developing more board-ready women with ASB through its MBA and select Executive Education programmes; and collaboration with CnetG, to develop framework that advances diversity on boards and C-suites with PLCs, multinational companies, universities and professional bodies.


    “As the world increasingly works in a collaborative manner, we seek to strategically partner with those who will amplify our goal to increase women representation on boards and senior leadership positions. In 2020, five years on, our focus has been on building a more robust ecosystem aimed at this case for change,” said Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Co-Founding Chair, 30% Club Malaysia during a virtual signing ceremony, the first of its kind for this business-led campaign.