ASX500 moving on diversity… but there is a long way to go
MEDIA RELEASE
10 September 2010
A joint workshop held by Chartered Secretaries Australia (CSA) and Women on Boards has revealed ASX companies are starting to adopt gender diversity policies as a direct result of the changes to the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s Principles and Recommendations.
CSA Chief Executive, Tim Sheehy, said while it was encouraging to hear how organisations were focusing on developing formal diversity policies, gender diversity is still seen as a social rather than a governance issue, despite the economic and performance benefits of having more women on boards and in senior management.
“Research has shown that more diverse boards perform better, and with looming skills shortages and the loss of talent as senior women leave companies due to limited career progression opportunities, supporting diversity is essential,” Mr Sheehy said.
“The key is getting the CEO to drive diversity in the company and link it to strategy.”
Claire Braund, Executive Director, Women on Boards, said the feedback from the company secretaries who attended the workshop was positive; but that it was disappointing that few companies had a diversity council or had measureable gender objectives at any level.
“Many ASX companies have a long way to go in embedding a culture of diversity,” she said.
“It is clear that many companies are struggling with the issue of gender diversity and consider the impending reporting requirements as an impost, rather than an opportunity to seriously address why gender creates career disadvantage,” Ms Braund said.
The key reasons for why boards have been slow to embrace gender diversity given by specialist corporate governance adviser and CSA Fellow, Sam Butcher, were: time constraints — diverse board discussions take much longer and the agenda is already jam-packed directors fear reputation damage and are very, very careful whom they appoint board recruitment processes have tended to be closed, narrow and risk averse.
“The interpersonal issues of trust and collegiality are also major drivers for boards in considering new appointments,” Mr Butcher said.
Another issue raised at the workshop was the crucial importance of the investment community in driving diversity on boards.
“Investors in all guises can play a significant role in putting forward the business case for diversity to companies and demanding answers on performance,” Ms Braund said.
Women on Boards and CSA have released guidelines for ASX companies to achieve gender diversity at board and senior management levels - http://www.womenonboards.org.au/diversity/. These include a target of 25 per cent women by 2012 and 40 per cent by 2015.
Participants at the workshop included company secretaries from ASX listed companies.
For more information or interview contact Claire Braund on 02 43696006.
