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One Woman Director on Each Board – Detrimental or Good for Company Performance

Posted on December 7, 2021July 11, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Following the announcement by the government to make it mandatory for all public listed companies to appoint at least one woman into its board of directors. The 30% Club Malaysia held a poll (LinkedIn) on whether making the requirement mandatory can be detrimental or good for company.

The poll revealed that 34% of the voters felt that the requirements raise issues around tokenism while 31% felt that there is a need for a clear roadmap for Boards. About 27% felt that the board performance will improve while 8% cited other reasons.

Marina Yong commented that it’s interesting that diversity in terms of gender has to be enforced but because of the historicity, it is a necessary kick.

“Hopefully, this requirement will become archaic in the future when gender representation is no longer ‘skewed’ towards a male-centric system. How far into the future before this mandate is no longer required?”

“Will it be dependent on a percentage composition on every board or an average percentage across all boards that is based on the population gender ratio? Tricky question that will need to continue to be debated as time evolves. Next question would be ethnic diversity. Another interesting debate,”.

An interesting comment made by Michael Warren was when markers of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion become mandated criteria considered, boards and companies and shareholders are cheated. Nothing is more constraining than diversity understood strictly in terms of identity.

Hazlina Hashim felt although it was a great move but there must be clear guidelines. “We don’t want cases where the same names are recruited over and over again which is what is going on now. How can we prevent that from happening?”

Meanwhile Iqbal Abdul Rahim strongly agreed that there is need to develop more women leaders. Brandon Ong is hopeful that a more representative board will lead to a more representative company – diversity of thought is important in making business decisions and promoting good firm culture.

The feedback given by our LinkedIn followers were interesting and needs to be explored further. The poll is a good start.

Diverse and inclusive boards bring about better ideas, effective problem solving and, ultimately, greater chances of success. It is our hope that with this announcement by the government, it encourages the remaining companies to recognise the business value of a diverse boardroom, starting with gender diversity, and compel them to action.

The mandatory requirement is expected to be enforced from Sept 1, 2022 for big capital companies and June 1, 2023 other listed companies.

A total of 89 voters took part in this poll, which ran from 29th November 2021 until 6th December 2021. We would like to thank everyone who took part in this poll.

Boardroom Realities: Are You Ready?

Posted on December 2, 2021July 11, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Aspiring women board candidates need to remember that they are also competing against each other when being considered for board seats.

Securing the Board
An aspiring candidate needs to stand out by positioning herself via networking and leveraging effectively on social media. The LinkedIn profile should reflect the gist of her board profile. The key here is “The Boards must have heard of you.”

“As a board member, you are expected to be able to contribute in a wide range of topics during board meetings. Therefore, acquiring broad knowledge beyond your specialised knowledge/skills is a necessity.”

The panelists, Johan Raslan and Tunku Alina Alias were sharing their thoughts at the recent panel session on Conversations with Mentors: Boardroom Realities: Are you ready? The moderators were Nikki Gee and, Tengku Marina Badlishah (who is also the host). The event was an initiative by Mentee Circle through its Board Mentoring Scheme.

If a situation arises – assuming the merits of two board candidates are the same – the differentiating factor in the choice of candidates may include chemistry and fit.

When you are in Board
As part of prep for your first board meeting, do get to know each board member and understand the board dynamics.

“Be courageous; speak-out and get your comments minuted; trust your guts! Choose your battles wisely!.” echoed the panelists.

Also, do keep yourselves updated with ESG. Do attend ESG-related webinars. Understand how companies do their business and make profit and understand how employees/workers are being treated.

The above are the views shared by the panelists at the recently concluded panel session earlier this month.

CnetG Asia wins the UN Women Award in the Gender-Responsive Marketplace

Posted on December 2, 2021July 11, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Congratulations to CnetG Asia on winning the UN Women Award in the Gender-Responsive Marketplace category at the 2021 Malaysia Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards virtual ceremony recently.

Its managing partner Raj Kumar Paramanathan said “When we empower women, we empower the society, minorities and marginalised communities. The journey is challenging not because of resistance, but lack of awareness, education and measurable data on benefits to the business.

“This award underscores the two decades of efforts and silent work we have been investing in diversity and inclusion, particularly gender diversity,” he said.

Raj Kumar is a member of the steering committee at 30% Club Malaysia, a business led campaign that promotes diversity on boards.

As a key strategic partner of the 30% Club Malaysia, CnetG Asia, an executive search and, people advisory firm, supports members with executive and board sourcing code and board profile writing masterclass for mentees of the Board Mentoring Scheme, which is one of the pillars of the 30% Club Malaysia.

“Our executive recruitment process is governed by our Diversity Statement which is a set of 5 principles that ensure an inclusive approach with gender lens to ensure a wider pool of talent are considered, eliminating unconscious bias and gender stereotyping in the decision making process. CnetG Asia engages and coaches women through the recruitment process to ensure they succeed in the career transition. We advocate these principles with our clients to support them in their diversity agenda,” he said.

United Nations Women Representative for Asia and the Pacific Sarah Knibbs, commended the efforts made in the country’s business community overall. “The surge in WEPs signatories in Malaysia over the past year is an impressive demonstration of commitment,” she said.

“The UN Women WEPs Activator Campaign with LeadWomen is helping companies translate this commitment into action empowering women across the value chain. We are proud to celebrate the first WEP Awards in Malaysia to make these efforts visible, showcase best practices, and inspire others to act and create a more gender-inclusive world.” she added.

The Gender-responsive Marketplace category recognised corporations for embracing a gender-lens throughout their value-chains from sourcing to disposal.

This includes championing supplier diversity, gender-inclusive distribution and selling, and gender-responsive marketing and advertising.

It also includes supporting women entrepreneurs through capacity development or market access opportunities, implementing progressive programmes and/or policies to incentive procurement from women-owned businesses or other gender-responsive companies.

The award was also given to companies with actions or programmes that promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in advertisements and other sales and marketing activities.

30% Club Malaysia Celebrates International Volunteer Day

Posted on December 2, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Every year, the world observes International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development on 5 December 2021 to recognise and promote the contributions of volunteers around the world.

With this in mind, we would like to thank all the volunteers at 30% Club Malaysia for their tireless effort in women empowerment.

A discussion on leadership at AI Summit 2020

Posted on November 30, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Are there differences in the leadership DNA of female and male leaders?

“Women leaders have handled the Covid-19 crisis better than their male counterparts.”

“Regardless of gender, there are 4 fundamental traits of a leader – higher level of self-awareness, learning agility, skills to influence and communication skills.”

“Be gender blind even with yourself and you’ll find out more often than not they will treat you equally.”

“Its crucial to have an open mindset and be receptive.”

These were some of the views discussed at the recent AI Summit 2020, where 30% Club Malaysia was a supporting partner. The panel discussion was moderated by Raj Kumar Paramanathan, Managing Partner of CnetG Asia and a 30% Club Advocate.

Five eminent panelists, CEO and Country Head of Sun Life Rizalina Mantaring, Board Director Ayla Majid, HSBC Malaysia Head of Commercial Banking Karel Avni Doshi, Executive Search & Board Advisor for African Markets Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, and Center for Creative Leadership Senior Director and Head of Asia Research Sunil Puri, shared their views on what leadership traits are and their relevance for a sustainable and inclusive new world.

Celebration of Cohort 5

Posted on November 17, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

The 30% Club Malaysia would like to congratulate the Cohort Five – a total of ten women- on successfully completing the nine-month mentoring journey to become board-ready.

The Cohort 5 are participants of the Board Mentoring Scheme, which aims to accelerate the appointment of more women into board positions as well as enhancing diversity and inclusion in public-listed companies.

Since the launch in 2017, more than 40 women has gone through the 9-month mentoring scheme and 27% are on boards of listed/non-listed companies. The 30% Club Malaysia would also like to welcome the on-boarding of the sixth cohort – a total of 20 participants – to start their nine-month mentoring journey.

A total of 53 distinguished members of the corporate community have also participated as mentors in the scheme. The mentors have volunteered their time to help our next generation of female directors to reach their potential.

Are you Board Ready?

Posted on November 12, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

“Our mission for the next 12 months will be to continue mobilising the collective Chairs and CEOs to achieve the 30% pivotal point among the top 100 PLCS while we start engaging with the next 100 PLCs and also the fast movers on Bursa Malaysia,” said Datin Ami Moris, Chair, 30% Club Malaysia.

“We will also create awareness amongst startups and LEAP market listed companies, so they can get started on the right foot by leveraging the “30% business case” to ensure they set the best foundation for future success,” she said.

Ami Moris was delivering her first opening address as the chair of 30% Club Malaysia at a panel session on Conversations with Mentors: Boardroom Realities: Are you ready? The panelists of the session were Johan Raslan and Tunku Alina Alias while the moderators were Nikki Gee and, Tengku Marina Badlishah (who is also the host). The event was an initiative by Mentee Circle through its Board Mentoring Scheme.

Ami shared three key messages – The 30% Club Malaysia is committed to broaden the pipeline of aspiring board-ready candidates, which in turn can support and supply to the Talent pipeline of women candidates.

“In September, we launched the 7th cohort of the Board Mentoring Scheme. Since 2017, a total of 68 mentees have completed the Board Mentoring Scheme, with 53 mentors supporting us. I am happy to note that to date 33% of the mentees from cohorts #1 to #6 have been placed on company boards,” she said.

She added that is to continue raising the awareness that it is not always the case that only a former CEO or CFO makes the best board member. Other domain experts, who may be women, in various specialisations such as risk, data science and sustainability are increasingly pivotal in navigating board room stewardship and strategic foresight,” she added.

This second message is the HOW will be a matter of bringing awareness and understanding of the 30% Business Case amongst listed companies and then providing a steady stream of the right talent.

With #ESG being a measurable benchmark across organisations, diversified, inclusive and strong scoring ESG companies are likely to be more attractive to today’s lenders, investors and consumers who have become more purpose-driven and sustainability-conscious.

The final message was there are 3 key data points that will continue to drive our agenda. Boards with at least one-third women representation correlates with 38% higher median ROE than boards with no women representation.

Companies that have directors from more than three different ethnic backgrounds show stronger correlation with higher valuations. Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.

Clearly, we have a packed agenda with much work to do.

Women are the most likely changemakers for climate action

Posted on October 27, 2021February 3, 2022 by Admin

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.

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

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

More women in boards: IdDC awards scholarships for the “Effective Directories” program 2020

Posted on October 25, 2021November 26, 2021 by 30club-Chile

In order to promote diversity and inclusion on the boards, as well as increase the incorporation of women in the Senior Management of companies, the Institute of Directors of Chile, IdDC, awarded two scholarships for its corporate governance program “Effective Directories” 2020.

Ana María Rabagliati from Antofagasta Minerals and Gabriela Feierabend from Willis Towers Watson were the winners. After receiving the news, Ana María Rabagliati, Vice President of Human Resources at Antofagasta Minerals, said us that she was “very enthusiastic and grateful for the opportunity they have given me to participate in this program. I believe that it will give me effective tools to contribute from my role as director and acquire knowledge that will allow me to strengthen my contribution to the development of good corporate governance of companies. ”

At the same time, Gabriela Feierabend, CFO of Willis Towers Watson Chile, said us she is “very grateful to be able to participate and earn this scholarship for the Directory Efectivos program. I firmly believe in gender equality and that there is no barrier in women if we believe in ourselves. I hope that this program will give us a different perspective as directors and how to act in this ‘new reality’ in a responsible and effective way ”.

The scholarship was focused on women candidates from the companies associated with the Club of 30%, with an experience of at least 15 years, of which the last 5 have been in leadership positions and roles and who are currently aspiring to be board member.

Club Leaders meet up

Posted on October 25, 2021November 25, 2021 by 30club-Chile

“There will be no progress if one doesn’t work actively. Looking at each other and wonder why the absence of female leadership in our strategic initiatives, has been important to think about our culture that we must change”, says Hernán Rodríguez, President of Colbún Energía and Member of the 30% Club Chile.

At the same time, Juan Carlos Eichholz told us “How diversity culture and female leadership attributes are very necessary at digital age. In addition, there are experiments that have shown that teams work improves when there is 30% as minimum representation”.

Ricardo Falú, GG of AES Gener told us about his successful experience incorporating 50% of women at work in Colombia and the support to them. Both companies are competition, but they are collaborating and sharing best practices.