October 20, 2021 – Recent political and social events have sparked a turning point for broader representation of the whole of society on company boards and their management teams. Today times are really changing as companies see the shortcomings of hiring and appointing leaders and executives from the same socio-economic background and ethnicity, according to a recent article by BoardExis Michael Abrahams.

“Companies benefit in many ways from having diverse boards and management teams that reflect the gender, ethnicity, and attributes of their employees, customers, suppliers and society at large,” says the report article. “A key result is better decision making, informed by the experiences and contributions of people from very different backgrounds. A company that embraces diversity in all areas, from leadership to the way it does business, also gives its current and future talents, suppliers and other stakeholders the confidence that it is committed to. maintain lasting and mutually beneficial relationships.

Additionally, as awareness of the societal contribution and impacts of companies continues to grow, the benefits of senior management diversity are also becoming increasingly clear. Advisors, prospective employees and investors increasingly seek to work with companies whose senior management reflects society at large. For example, institutional investors focus on the lack of board diversity as a negative risk factor when making their investment decisions.

As organizations around the world create change, embrace more common diversity and inclusion (“D&I”) responses and seek to hire more diverse leaders, who they hire and where they are located matters.

Join our panel of experts on October 21, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EDT as they discuss recruitment trends at the board and executive level and the impact of gender, age, skills and professional function on the probability of obtaining a place at the top.

The conversation will explore:

• Are board chairs key to opening the door to the boardroom to new and diverse board members?
• Women’s representation in corporate leadership is coming under increasing scrutiny as stakeholders demand greater commitment to advancing gender equity – nominating committees listen and are they actually doing their job?
• The window of opportunity for board appointments is longer for qualified men than for qualified women in the US and UK. What does this mean for boards, the board chair, and the reality of succession planning?
• What are the roles of “power” versus “influence” within the leadership team and how does this ultimately impact hiring decisions ultimately?

How will these trends influence your board and inform future board appointment needs?

Participation is free. To learn more and to register, click here!

Until recently, the main focus in terms of diversity on the board of directors of many organizations was gender balance, its profile enhanced by government support for a more equal balance. Clear insights from data providers such as BoardEx have also helped increase visibility and transparency of gender balance through global reporting on gender diversity and leadership diversity. Despite significant progress in this area, there is still some way to go: worldwide, 27% of women sit on the boards of public companies while 19% of women hold management positions in listed companies out of 26 major clues. The needle starts to move in the right direction. However, diversity, equity and inclusion in businesses remain an issue.

The success of improving gender diversity at the board level has demonstrated what is possible when governments, regulators, investors and businesses work together. Now the focus is on ethnicity, according to the BoardEx report. “The wave of action to make boards more ethnically diverse has grown in recent years – and 2020 marked a turning point, with California and the UK leading the way in legislation and guidance among advanced economies, ”he said. In September 2020, California passed a law requiring companies to install a director by the end of 2021 among underrepresented communities, including people who identify as black, Hispanic, Latino, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Meanwhile, the Parker Review in the UK has led to similar goals for the FTSE 350 companies. The Black Lives Matter protests and other events in wider society have also reinforced the momentum for change.

How BoardEx helps you

Over the past few months, at BoardEx, we’ve made changes to our data collection and capture to provide information that indicates the diversity of boards. They do this by intelligently using its existing wealth of data and relationships.

Related: Gender Equity Sees Gains on Boards

For more than 20 years, BoardEx has been collecting data on business leaders – their roles, career paths and outside interests. This data now covers more than 1.5 million people and is used on an ongoing basis by banks, corporations, consulting firms and executive search firms to advise existing executives as well as to assess potential candidates for the board. of directors and outside the board. The information BoardEx has gathered includes the public membership of seniors in over 2,600 different associations that actively advocate for diversity in various industries, and the awards they have received from these organizations.

BoardEx clients seek ways to help their own clients improve ethnic and other forms of diversity within their own organizations and to report on their progress with this change. The BoardEx Diversity Network brings together our strengths to highlight champions, allies and advocates of specific ethnicities in leadership roles, through their association with organizations that seek to promote greater opportunity and better balance for women. minorities. This intelligence will help BoardEx clients both find diverse and under-represented talent and also drive positive change – with a particular focus initially in the North American and UK markets.

What defines the BoardEx Diversity Network is the recording of publicly disclosed information about a person’s membership in organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of People of Color or the Latin American Association. corporate legal advisers. These memberships and the awards given by these organizations indicate advocacy and affiliation with different diversity and inclusion groups.

BoardEx combines this information with the data they have collected over the past 20 years to bring you the BoardEx Diversity Network. Through research, BoardEx has built a network of over 18,000 people who have these associations or awards, and they will continue to develop and grow this network through our continuous data collection. Of these people, 14,000 have experience in a board of directors or management team.

Related: The Impact of Age and Gender on Board Appointments

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, editor-in-chief; and Stephen Sawicki, Editor-in-Chief – Hunt Scanlon Media