Subscribe to RSS
- RA Now
Search firms should commit to putting forward at least one strongly recommended woman on the shortlist submitted to chairs for all board positions, a Voluntary Code of Conduct for executive recruiters has recommended.
In her report for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Charlotte Sweeney, formerly international head of diversity and inclusion for Nomura International, said that search firms and their clients should discuss women on the long list and aim to put at least one woman forward.
The Voluntary Code also recommends that search firms should look to move beyond the minimum standards set out in the Code and should share their statistics on male to female candidate ratio during the various recruitment stages with government.
“Throughout my review there was a clear, articulated commitment from the majority of search firms to support the creation of more diverse and balanced boards,” Sweeney said. “However, examples where the commitment was transferring into consistent and sustainable action where missed.
“Further transparency across the industry will help identify where any further barriers are and inform where focused action is required.”
The REC said executive search firms should publish data on the proportion of women on the long and shortlists that they present to employers for senior positions.
It also called on search firms to disclose the percentage of positions ultimately filled by women, and female placements by salary band on their websites and in their annual reports.
“The UK has an abysmally low ratio of women to men in boardroom and executive teams despite the fact that balanced boards better represent customers and stakeholders, make better decisions and have been proved to deliver better financial results,” said Kevin Green, chief executive, REC.
“The best headhunters know it’s their responsibility to challenge employers, probe old assumptions and unconscious biases.”
The voluntary code also proposes that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission creates guidance for the headhunting industry on the legality of women-only shortlists.
However, one law firm suggested that the legality of this was doubtful.
Dr Sybille Steiner, partner at Thomas Eggar, said that all-women shortlists would require a change in the law. “Although the Equality Act 2010 allows positive discrimination in the context of recruitment and promotion, the employer has to demonstrate that the successful candidate is from a protected group that is disadvantaged or under-represented, and that the candidate is ‘as qualified’ as any other eligible applicant,” she said.
“It is not entirely clear how the ‘as qualified test’ is supposed to work, but it clearly does require knowledge of the candidates’ abilities which means that an all-women shortlist can only be drawn up when the employer is satisfied that the candidates on the shortlist are the best available.”
Print
Email
