Target of 33% set for proportion of women on boards

Nick Elvin

A new voluntary target of all FTSE 350 boards having 33% female representation by 2020 has been announced.

The recommendations were made in Lord Davies’s final Women on Boards report, which says there are more women on FTSE 350 boards than ever before, with female representation more than doubling since 2011.

The report also confirmed that the number of women on FTSE 100 boards increased to 26.1% in October; the target of 25% – set by Lord Davies in 2011 – was reached earlier this year.

Commenting on the figures, CBI interim chief policy director, Matthew Fell, said the report showed the UK’s voluntary approach is working.

“Businesses must now keep up the momentum by continuing to work on building the talent pipeline, increasing the representation of women in executive roles and narrowing the gender pay gap,” he added.

“UK companies want to continue leading on this agenda, but the Government can do more to help by extending free childcare, promoting the benefits of flexible working and tackling occupational stereotypes in schools.”

Krystyna Nowak, managing director, board practice at executive search firm Norman Broadbent, said the report was a further step towards resolving gender inequality in business today, but added that it was still a “missed opportunity”.

“By only increasing the target for the percentage of women on the PLC board, many companies will just continue the trend of appointing women to non-executive director positions, manipulating board composition to achieve targets and leaving the executive board to continue to be dominated by men.

“The onus now lies on CEOs of our country’s top PLCs to promote females to C-level positions and lead the reform of a gender equal executive pipeline. The Government now has a chance to address these issues in its equality boosting measures planned for 2016.”

Dianah Worman, diversity adviser at the CIPD, welcomed Lord Davies’s suggestion of increasing the voluntary target to at least 33%.

“The long-term goal shouldn’t be anything but 50%, and we’ve seen plenty of support in the HR profession for this, but it’s about the steady, effective process in which it’s achieved,” she said.

“However, the bad news today is that the proportion of female executive directors remains below 10%, with just eight more women in those positions across FTSE 100 companies since 2011. Non-executive directors cannot change the culture of organisations on their own. All efforts so far towards achieving gender diversity will be for nothing if organisations don’t understand how crucial the visibility of female executive directors – those actively involved in the day-to-day decision-making and strategy creation – is to make a real, long-lasting difference.

“For now, employers need to take up the gauntlet and turbo charge their plans for sustainable, long-term change in their organisations. This is particularly crucial for those yet to take part – they need to be in catch-up mode, learning from the experience of those who’ve been pioneers in the space, before they fall behind their competitors.”