Women in the boardroom

In Nov 2008 I wrote an article on the global financial crisis based on my many years in the Boardrooms of Britain’s biggest companies. By Gillian Wilmot.

I argued that companies with women in the Boardroom were less likely to fail and are better at managing risk. By Gillian Wilmot. But that women were not getting these Boardroom appointments because of the search and appointment process. Well all this has been confirmed in the excellent Lord Davies Report “Women on Boards”. I am now a partner in an Executive Search firm as well as a Chairman in the public sector and we are constantly involved in getting more women on to Boards. If we are to meet the targets set out in the Davies Report then three things need to happen. Set. Targets, Broaden the pool of Search firms for Board appointments and Sell the women candidates on the list to the client.

Targets must be set for the Long list of candidates and the Shortlist. Search firms must ensure that one third of the list is Women. Typically three in ten on a Long list and one in three on a Short list. Search firms must sign up to these targets in their code of practice and self-audit. Companies must only appoint Search firms with a positive policy who have signed up to the code of practice and must also look beyond the big search companies. The current process for Non-executive appointments must change. It is no longer appropriate for companies to simply approach their own network or for the large search consultancies to only produce a list of the white male “great and good” they happen to work regularly with, and get search briefs from.

Companies should look to appoint more boutique specialists like ours who work harder and are more  imaginative on Board appointments. There is no “supply problem” if clients are prepared to look at skills not just “size matters”. We have developed a cohort of competent, high calibre women ready and well-qualified to take Board positions and Search firms must challenge clients and sell the women on their long and shortlists. Only last week we persuaded a client to consider a woman as a Non-Executive Director who didn’t meet the criteria of holding previous NED appointments. Having met her she is now by far their favoured candidate. Men will often look “bigger and better” on paper as they’ve been given more opportunities, but the women will perform better in person at interview and in the Boardroom.

So let’s all get behind the Davies report target of one third women for all new Board appointments and get to 25 percent Board representation by 2015 . The EU Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, has set an even higher target of 30 percent by 2015 going up to 40 percent by 2020 and Britain should lead not follow. In our Board practice we have built a candidate pool of Board-ready women and we are working proactively with our clients to promote diversity in the Boardroom and to appoint more women to Board positions with FTSE 100, FTSE 250, AIM, and privately owned companies.

Gillian Wilmot has nearly 30 years executive and non-executive director experience in Britain’s biggest companies including Admiral, Royal Mail and Next. She is Chairman of Derbyshire Probation Trust and a Partner with Exley Hervey, the Executive Search firm, and runs the Board practice.