Malaysia Archives - Page 6 of 12

Breaking the glass ceiling

Posted on April 18, 2022July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

The Chair of 30% Club Malaysia, and CEO of Maybank Investment Banking Group, Ami Moris spoke about breaking the glass ceiling.

“Hard work is the minimum expectation in our industry, so that alone will not get you there. How did I overcome them? By being very intentional and deliberate about the way I approach networking. It’s not enough to simply be sociable if the goal is to have a seat in the room where it happens.

Done right, it will allow us to identify role models, find mentors and sponsors, form a close inner circle, and expand opportunities.”

Bank Islam Malaysia Comes On-board

Posted on March 8, 2022July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

On International Women’s Day 2022 the 30% Club Malaysia welcomed its latest Corporate Advocate, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB). A virtual event to commemorate these two important milestones was hosted by BIMB.

More than 160 guests from within BIMB, in addition to 30% Club Malaysia Corporate Advocates and volunteers tuned in to the event.

It began with a welcome address by Mohd Muazzam Mohamed, Group CEO, BIMB who shared the various initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion within the bank and in its operations. He also shared the commimentment to #breakthebias

Then 30% Club Malaysia’s Chair Ami Moris addressed the guests and highlighted that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is a business case for Malaysia to build world-class companies that can compete with the global best.

Some of the notable updates she shared was that women representation on the top 100 PLC boards rose to 26% in February 2022, close to double what it was in 2015 (14%) when the chapter was established. Moreover, the women representation on the boards of all the 900+ PLCs has also steadily increased to 18% from 11%.

She also shared that the 30% Club Malaysia’s mission is validated by the announcement at Budget 2022 that it is mandatory for PLCs to appoint a female director by September this year.

Additionally, Bursa Malaysia’s recently launched PLC Transformation (PLCT) Programme also specifies diversity metrics as a measure of effectiveness of governance and talent management efforts.

30% Club Malaysia looks forward to more collaborative initiatives with BIMB and our other Corporate Advocates in 2022.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Posted on March 8, 2022July 11, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

To celebrate International Women’s Day month, the 30% Club Malaysia held its inaugural Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Conversation: Elevating Investability.

The speakers and moderators were Albern Murty Digi Telecommunications, Jalil Rasheed Berjaya Corporation Berhad, Amar Gill BlackRock, Chitra Hepburn MSCI Inc., Shahril Azuar Jimin Maybank, Tunku Alina Alias, and Ami Moris Chair of 30% Club Malaysia. Here’s before we went live.

Let’s #BreakTheBias #InternationalWomensDay

Elevating Investability: DEI Conversations #1

Posted on March 2, 2022July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Last month we kickstart our conversation on the business case for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), why it matters for great leadership, and how we can #breakthebias with our webinar, DEI Conversation #1: Elevating Investability.

More than 500 participants from Malaysia and the ASEAN region attended the webinar. Among the participants were CEOs/board members, senior leaders, fund managers from Malaysia and the ASEAN region.

There were two-panel discussions. The speakers for Panel 1 were Albern Murty, CEO, Digi Telecommunications, Jalil Rasheed, former Group CEO, Berjaya Corporation while the Moderator was Dato’ Ami Moris, Chair, 30% Club Malaysia.

Watch the recording here.

The speakers for Panel 2 were Amar Gill, MD & Head of Investment Stewardship, APAC, BlackRock, Chitra Hepburn, MD&Head of ESG, APAC, MSCI, Shahril Azuar Jimin, CSO, Maybank Group and the moderator was Dr Tunku Alina Alias, Independent Director, Nestle, MPI, Batu Kawan IJM Corp.

Watch the recording here.

The event partners were Securities Commission Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia, Minority Shareholders Watch Group, Institutional Investors Council Malaysia, Malaysian Association of Asset Managers, and our Knowledge Partner PwC Malaysia.

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.

Tag: Malaysia