30% Club Mexico and Mercer México have teamed up to analyse the boardroom dynamics playing out across the country and reveal what they mean for diversity among directors.
Read the full report in Spanish here.
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
The new Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris joined the 30% Club Ireland’s 10th Chair and CEO conference in Dublin today.
Demonstrating his commitment to gender equality in business leadership, Simon showed up as a male ally to our cause.
He joined a large gathering of CEOs and chairs from 30% Club Ireland’s member companies, who represent over 650,000 employees across Ireland. These include both the private, publicly listed, and public service sectors.
The 30% Club is a global campaign supported by Board Chairs and CEOs of medium and large organisations, committed to achieving better gender balance at leadership levels and throughout their organisations, for better business outcomes.
Since it was established in Ireland ten years ago , the gender balance on Irish listed boards (ISEQ20) has more than trebled – from 12.5% then, to 40% today.
Gender Power Gap
One of this year’s themes looks at how companies can address the gender power gap that still exists within many Irish businesses and organisation. This is defined as the proportional power held by women in leadership and management positions, relative to men, which is often defined by historical stereotypes, with human resources as an example. The measurement differs from gender diversity, which only measures the presence of women at the top table, and the gender pay gap, which measures the average difference in remuneration.
As an example, only 25.7% of CFO roles are currently held by women, and this has decreased from 29.7% in 2019, CSO data shows. With CFO roles as important talent pipeline for Chair and CEO roles, addressing this imbalance becomes critical in modern succession planning. Achieving gender power balance is one of the topics that will be discussed by two panels, which will mark the successful progress across Irish business in the 10 years to date and consider where to next.
Panellists include: Myles O’Grady, Bank of Ireland chief executive; Eamonn Sinnott, Interim Head, Intel, Magdeburg, Germany; Carol Andrews, Co-chair Balance for Better Business; Lorna Conn, Cpl chief executive; Hanneke Smits Global Chair 30% Club and Global Head of Investment Management, BNY Mellon, Paddy Hayes, ESB chief executive and Michael Jackson, Managing Partner, Matheson.
Taoiseach Simon Harris told the audience of almost 300 that all women and men in Ireland should have equal access to opportunity, and that Ireland can be exemplary leaders in achieving full gender balance on boards and senior leadership teams, where our publicly listed companies have already exceeded the 33% quota set by the EU Women on Boards directive.
“I’m delighted to join leaders from across the private and public sector to support the important work of the 30% Club. Ireland has a huge pool of talent, and experience, so there is no reason why we cannot ensure boards and senior teams are gender balanced,” he said.
“The Ireland we live in must be reflected across business and wider society, because decisions that can embrace a wide spectrum of viewpoints will be the most informed ones. We have made significant progress to date but there is still a long way to go. I urge all business leaders to embrace gender balance, along with diversity and inclusion. It makes business stronger
Meliosa O’Caoimh, Outgoing Chair of 30% Club Ireland and Northern Trust Ireland Country Head, said what was important from her perspective is continuing the focus on all women.
“Gender is a majority not a minority issue, and a clear focus is still needed. This includes encouraging next generation talent and putting a particular focus on incorporating a regional view in our work. What has been achieved over the last decade in Ireland is fantastic, but we know there is still more to be done to maintain, and advance momentum, for better business outcomes.”
International trends and the likely challenges and hurdles of the next 10 years were also debated, along with examining where the future CEOs and Board chairs will come from, and how the power gap can be collectively closed. The panels also commented on the need to embed progress in every organisation, and not just rely on averages as a strong indicator. This is important in Ireland where CSO data shows that while we make progress on an average basis, 21% of C-suite teams still operate on an all-male basis.
Paula Neary, incoming 30% Club Ireland Chair and a Senior Managing Director at Accenture, said her focus in the new role will be on how we “can use this moment as we redefine new flexible workplaces and new workforces augmented by AI, on changing the system, rather than the people”, and an
‘all gender’ agenda – versus a female agenda – that emphasises new ways of working that support men and women equally, to flourish and progress in modern careers.
“I am honoured and delighted to take over as chair of such an important initiative, which I have supported – and been part of – since its inception.
“If we are going to successfully drive and initiate more progress in this area, we need to look through a wider diverse lens, across society. That means thinking about how we engage everyone – especially younger men in the conversation on changing culture, behaviours and attitudes. Such a focus leads to better workplace outcomes for all talent – in terms of attraction and retention – and is critical to the economic success across Ireland.”
In an increasingly complex environment post the global pandemic, boards are facing into new and interconnected landscapes.
There is the suite of digital trends, including AI, robotics and cyber security, more exacting customer expectations enabled by new digital fluencies, workforce transformations underpinned by hybrid ways of working, and the demand for reskilling and greater regulatory scrutiny.
This new reality prompted the 30%+ Club Australia and Deloitte Australia to investigate whether boards are future fit to manage risks and seize opportunities.
Having interviewed board members, executive search firms and investors, they challenged boards to consider complementing the traditional skillsets of governance, law and finance through the additional appointment of directors with diverse professional expertise in digital, marketing/customer and human capital.
Read the full report to find out more about Australia’s progress toward diversity in business leadership and 30% Club Australia’s work here.
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
The 30% Club Ireland has announced that leading Irish law firm Matheson will provide funding for activities, through its support of the 30% Club Country Executive Role, for the next 12 months.
The Irish chapter of the 30% Club works to support the achievement of a minimum of 30% gender balance at all senior decision-making tables across Ireland, including boards and C-suite.
Since its inception 10 years ago, the percentage of women on boards in Ireland has increased from 12%, to 39% for the ISEQ 20 and to 28% for other listed companies – with more work to be done for private companies, and even greater focus needed for improved balance at C-suite.
Read the full press release here.
Picture caption – L to R: 30% Club Ireland Country Executive Gillian Harford, Matheson Managing Partner, Michael Jackson and Northern Trust Ireland Country Head/30% Club Ireland Chair, Meliosa O’Caoimh
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
French companies are on the right path to meet the first step of the Rixain law requiring at least 30% women representation on executive committees, according to the 30% Club France Investor Group.
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
It will take over 50 years to close the gender pay gap across the OECD! That’s the finding of PwC‘s latest Women in Work report.
The average gender pay gap across the OECD stood at 13.5% in 2022, having widened from 13.2% in 2021.
Luxembourg tops the index with a gap of -0.2%.
Australia demonstrated the best annual improvement, closing its gap by four percentage points to 9.9% and moving up to 10th place in the index.
The UK reported the largest slide of any OECD country, dropping from 13th place in on the index in 2021 to 17th in 2022 with a gap of 114.5%.
Read the full report here.
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
The UK’s top 100 ranked companies have reached the critical mass of 30% women in executive committees for the first time.
The FTSE Women Leaders Review has also confirmed women hold 35% of all leadership roles in FTSE 350 companies and 42% of board seats.
However, despite much welcomed progress for female representation, there remains an absence of women leading the UK’s largest organisations. And almost half of all available appointments now need to go to a woman to meet the Review’s 40% Women in Leadership target by the end of 2025.
Pavita Cooper, UK Chair of the 30% Club, said: “Organisations need to double down on efforts to accelerate the progression of women through the pipeline. CEOs and Chairs need to drive the focus on closing this gap, failing to do so is simply bad for business.”
Read the full report here.
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
Australia’s top 20 ranked companies made history this quarter (Q2 2023) achieving an aggregate 40 per cent women on their boards.
This success reflects the long-term efforts of chairs, boards, regulators, investors, executive search firms and campaigns like the 30% Club Australia that have ensured continued stakeholder scrutiny of appointments to listed boards.
Of course, the aggregate figures do not tell the whole story. Across the 759 directorships currently held by women in the ASX 300, an overwhelming number are non-executive directors (685) while just 37 are executive or managing directors including CEOs, and only 37 are chairs.
Read the full report to find out more about Australia’s progress toward gender equality in business leadership and 30% Club Australia’s work here.
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
Corporate culture is often said to be defined by the worst act you allow to take place in your organisation. What is alleged to have taken place at the CBI exposes the very real human cost of failure.
As global chair of the 30% Club, a campaign that advocates for representation of women on the boards of some of the world’s biggest companies, I am deeply concerned by the failures that have engulfed the CBI. Our thoughts are with the women who have been victimised and we stand with them in solidarity.
Our fear at the 30% Club is that the failings currently under investigation are not limited to the CBI. Last year, Randstad reported that 72 per cent of women working in technology, healthcare, education and construction said they had either encountered or witnessed inappropriate behaviour from male colleagues at work. And analysis by the Scottish TUC reported that 85 per cent of women said that their reporting and experience of sexual harassment in the workplace was not taken seriously and dealt with appropriately. What is alleged to have happened at the CBI is indicative of this very issue.
A toxic workplace culture is a significant factor in the continued under-representation of women in business leadership and why gender equality can so often feel like a distant goal. We may be close to 40 per cent women on boards across the FTSE 100, but there are just nine female chief executives. We need greater representation of women at the top. Women should be taken seriously at work. Women, and quite frankly everyone, should be safe at work.
Hanneke Smits
Global Chair, The 30% Club
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
The 30% Club Ireland, whose aim is to achieve better gender balance at all levels in Irish businesses, has announced two new development opportunities for women in business – a 2023 programme of 27 postgraduate and executive education scholarships and, in partnership with AIB, 30 access opportunities for women in SMEs on the IMI/30% Club cross-company mentoring programme.
The scholarship programme, which is delivered in partnership with key education providers, covers a range of executive education disciplines including prestigious MBA programmes and technical masters programmes in STEM, Healthcare, Public Policy and other specialist areas.
First offered in 2015, the annual programme aims to raise participation rates for women in, and general awareness of, executive education and to provide financial support for women interested in executive education, who may be limited by funding concerns.
Gillian Harford, Country Executive with the 30% Club commented: “International Women’s Day takes place on March 8th. But it is about more than celebrating just one day, it is about taking real and practical steps that will help to bring about more balanced investment in talent and career progression.
“Having offered just three scholarships in year one, we are delighted now to be offering 27 scholarships for 2023”, said Ms Harford. “In addition to providing great opportunities for talented women, the programme gives us, and our education partners, the opportunity to encourage more diversity in executive classrooms for greater learning outcomes.”
The scholarship programme is open to all women and is not restricted to 30% Club member company supporters.
In partnership with AIB, the 30% Club has also announced a new 3-year initiative that will provide sponsored access for 30 women from the SME sector to the IMI/30% Club Cross Company Mentoring programme. The IMI/30% Club programme started in 2015 and brings together experienced leaders and mid-career high potential individuals for mentoring focused on both professional and personal development.
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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