Malaysia Archives - Page 7 of 12

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.

Celebration of Cohort 6

Posted on October 14, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

The Cohort Six are participants of the Board Mentoring Scheme, which aims to accelerate the appointment of more women into board positions as well as enhancing DEI in PLCs.

At the opening address by Dato Abdul Aziz Abu Bakar, Executive Co-Founding Chair, 30% Club Malaysia, he said that one of the common feedback from the mentees was the knowledge they have gained through the sharing of experience from their respective mentors on a broad selection of governance topics.

“They have also benefited from attending a range of knowledge sharing sessions, which were mostly online. It is also heartening to hear from our mentors that their mentees have been in the driving seat and have owned their mentoring journey – setting mentoring goals, tracking their development progress and taking away guidance and suggestions from their respective mentors – for their professional and personal development,” he said during the 30% Club Malaysia Mentoring Celebration virtual event.

The event saw the Graduation of Cohort#6 and Onboarding of Cohort#7. A total of 17 women are participating in the Cohort #7.

Since 2017, a total of 68 mentees who went through this Board Mentoring Scheme, with 53 mentors supporting the initiative of the Board Mentoring Scheme.

“We hope, that through the Mentoring Scheme, we now have a broader pipeline of aspiring board-ready candidates, which in turn can support and grow the talent pipeline of women candidates and bring about a sustainable change in DEI into Corporate Malaysia.” he said.

“I am happy to note that to date, more than 30% of our mentees have been placed on company boards, thus also supporting the target of the MCCG 2021 which recommends to all listed companies that boards comprise of at least 30% women directors,” he added.

Although we have made significant progress towards the target of at least 30% by end of 2020, we still have a way to go. The participation of WoB to date stands at 25.5% for the top 100 listed companies, and 17.0% for all PLC boards, in comparison to the 30% recommendation by the SC.

Nevertheless, this updated code sends a clearer signal to all listed companies to encourage diversity in their board composition, encompassing not only gender, but also to take the opportunity to increase diversity in the tenure and age of boards, as well as experiences, skills, background and culture.

The event concluded with a dialogue session (organised by Mentee Circle) by Martin Manen, Chairman of the Board, Hong Leong MSIG Takaful Berhad and Sazlyna Sapiee, a mentee of the Board Mentoring Scheme.

He shared his experiences as a mentor and, explained that “Diversity is to be invited to the party, Inclusion is to be asked to dance”.

Once again, the 30% Club Malaysia would like to congratulate the graduating Cohort#6 and welcome the Cohort#7 on embarking their mentoring journey.

30% Club Malaysia launched its first newsletter

Posted on September 1, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

The 30% Club Malaysia is very excited to launch its first newsletter.

Each month we will share news and events that have taken place as well as future engagements of 30% Club Malaysia.

We look forward to seeing all of you at these events as we build that collective voice for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Getting it Right at the Board

Posted on August 18, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

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.

2. 2. The is no such thing as a stupid question. When in doubt, do not be afraid to ask questions.

1. 3. Are the Board papers data-rich, analysis-poor and action poorer.

1. 4. Directors need to keep updated and abreast of developments.

1. 5. Alignment of Board and stakeholder objectives.

1. Governance in action, is what counts.

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

Crafting Board Profiles for Success: CnetG Asia’s Board Profile Writing Masterclass for Mentees

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

A well-crafted board resume that clearly shows the value the board aspiring candidate brings to the organisation, increases the chances of an appointment as board director.

With this in mind, twenty participants of the mentees from the Board Mentoring Scheme of the 30% Club Malaysia recently participated in the Board Profile Writing Masterclass, which was organised by CnetG Asia, a key strategic partner of the 30% Club Malaysia.

Raj Kumar Paramanathan, the Managing Partner of CnetG Asia who ran the session single-handedly, brings to the table more than two decades of experience in executive search.

He shared that a board resume differs from a typical executive resume in that it highlights more of the successes or accomplishments from the angle of corporate governance, strategy, and P&L management.

“The Top 1/3 of the resume is termed as the “prime real estate”, wherein candidates should use this section to describe the expertise and value they bring to the organisation. It is key to provide context and specifics instead of broad statements to highlight their expertise and competencies,” he said.

During the two-hour event, participants learned an interesting angle about gender bias in resumes; Raj Kumar cited that studies have shown that female candidates tend to use collaborative words in their resumes compared to male candidates who use more action verbs.

The session included interactive Q&A discussions as well as specific extracts of participants’ own resumes including demonstrations by Raj Kumar of eye-opening and catching “Before” and “After” effects by applying the techniques as shared during the session.

In the next posting, we will share some of the feedback from the participants about the session and future improvements to the Board Mentoring Scheme.

Journey to the Boardroom

Posted on July 21, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

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.

30% Club Malaysia and Heriot-Watt University announces scholarship

Posted on July 18, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

The 30% Club Malaysia and Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University are pleased to announce that they are awarding one full scholarship for the part-time MBA programme at the Heriot-Watt University Malaysia campus to ONE entrepreneurial woman.

In addition, TWO partial fee scholarships of 30% will be offered under the same scholarship programme. The conditions are:

The candidate must have received and accepted an unconditional offer of a place on the full or part-time MBA programme and paid the deposit before a scholarship application can be submitted.

Amount of award
One placement for a full tuition fee waiver of RM58,050.
Two placements for a 30% fee waiver of the full tuition fee.

Successful applicants would commence the two-year programme in September 2021 or January 2022. In the video, you can hear from Laura Sanchez, an oil and gas executive who completed her MBA on campus in Malaysia.

Important dates to note:
Opening date: 15 June 2021
Closing date: 15 December 2021 (Midnight, Malaysian time)

For more information, please read here:

Mentee Circle holds its first Fireside Chat with Velesto Energy

Posted on July 5, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Early this week the MenteeCircle from the 30% Club Malaysia Board Mentoring Scheme held a Fireside Chat on “Board Diversity, Sustainability, and Governance”.

About 100 participants including the mentees from the six cohorts attended the virtual event, to learn from the guest speaker, Rohaizad Darus of Velesto Energy Berhad, speaking passionately about the topic.

The event started off with an opening address by Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Founding Chair of 30% Club Malaysia. She said that Velesto is indeed leading by example, as women directors currently represent 44% of Velesto’s board.

The company, Velesto Energy Berhad which has been included and has scored highly in the FTSE4 Good Bursa Malaysia Index (which rates a company’s ability to manage its ESG issues) is also in the top quartile of Tier 1 for Sustainability Disclosures to Bursa Malaysia.

On this note, one of the questions that Savita Saigal, the moderator of the Fireside Chat posed:

“It has been and, in some instances, still a challenge for corporations to convince their stakeholders to invest in Sustainability agenda as this requires a financial commitment, planning, and manhours. Stakeholders being profit-driven would rather plow back into the business.

Therefore, do share with us how Sustainability was introduced into Velesto and what were the challenges you faced with your stakeholders?”

In reply, Rohaizad had elaborated, into three parts

Lead and Manage
– Velesto is fortunate to have Government-related funds (who are our major shareholders), so Sustainability and Governance are part of the business emphasis.

– Convincing the management (top to bottom).

– Building a robust infrastructure to implement the company’s value system and deploying standard practices such as iLEAP, QHSE focus, including implementing cost savings programmes and CSR initiatives.

These approaches have made it easier for the company and people to accept. Having said that, we still face some challenges.

Challenges
– Staff were unfamiliar with the new Sustainability concept and were confused with existing practices,

– Costs and operations issues compounded

– Over expectations and concerns on reporting requirements

Overcoming the Challenges
– Optimised on communication with our staffs at various stages – meetings, townhalls, formal and informal;

– Continued to allocate budget, albeit at a smaller scale to maintain momentum;

– Convinced the Operations team on the benefits of Sustainability and its impact on everyone

-Prioritised on what can be achieved first and managed expectations where necessary

– Gradually embraced reporting requirements

– Shared experiences with the rest of the world

The Fireside Chat is the second event by the Mentee Circle, a networking group that helps foster better collaboration among mentees and enhances the visibility of board-ready candidates.

Mentee Circle holds its first virtual panel discussion – Owning Your Board Journey

Posted on April 9, 2021July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

The Mentee Circle from the 30% Club Malaysia Board Mentoring Scheme recently held a virtual panel discussion entitled Owning Your Board Journey.

Fifty participants were glued to the screen to listen to the panelists speak on their experiences and challenges on being board members.

Some of the memorable quotes from the session were –

“Never underestimate the power of connection/network. Being a board member can be challenging. Always keep learning and equip yourself with knowledge in corporate governance. Do network with industry experts to build a robust eco-system,” –

Ilham Sunhaji (MBA).

“You are allowed to make mistakes. Learn from them. Move On,” – Maheswari G Kanniah.

“One must be confident that the Board is the right one for you. Do some research on the company and assess the types of risks that one is willing to take,” another pointer -Maheswari G Kanniah.

“To get on board, it is important to get your CV right. State what are you bringing to the board, especially strategy and oversight experience”- Frances P.

The sharing session was moderated by Sujatha Sekhar Naik.

This is the first event that was initiated by the Mentee Circle, a networking group that helps foster better collaboration among mentees.

AXA General Insurance joins 30% Club Malaysia

Posted on April 8, 2021July 13, 2023 by 30club-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.

Tag: Malaysia