By Phillipa Anamoah-
Shocking explanations for why there are not enough women on top company boards have been released today.
The Hamshire Alexander Review released the shocking explanations as calls for a redress were made. They include excuses such as: ‘they don’t fit in’, ‘they don’t want the hassle’ and ‘all the good ones have already gone’. The suggestions are so ridiculous , it underlies how patriarchal many businesses and institutions are, and have been for a long time.
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The reports suggest that bridging the gender pay gap could add £150 billion to the UK economy by 2025, and it could translate into 840,000 additional female employees. Tackling the gender pay gap is part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy, aiming to help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs while boosting people’s earning power and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to progress in the workplace.
The Hampton-Alexander Review, which will reach its halfway point this June calls for bosses to ensure that one-third of FTSE leadership positions are occupied by women by 2020.
Despite a large decrease in the number of top companies with all-male boards, many businesses are still refusing to include more women in their leadership force.
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SHOCK
Today, some of the poorest excuses made by firms for not having women among their top employees will shock women all over the UK. Some of the worst explanations include suggestions that they are not able to understand the ‘extremely complex’ issues FTSE boards deal with and the idea women do not want the ‘hassle or pressure’ of sitting on a top board.
The top ten worst excuses listed are:
‘I don’t think women fit comfortably into the board environment’
‘There aren’t that many women with the right credentials and depth of experience to sit on the board – the issues covered are extremely complex’
‘Most women don’t want the hassle or pressure of sitting on a board’
‘Shareholders just aren’t interested in the make-up of the board, so why should we be?’
‘My other board colleagues wouldn’t want to appoint a woman on our board’
‘All the ‘good’ women have already been snapped up’ ‘We have one woman already on the board, so we are done – it is someone else’s turn’
‘There aren’t any vacancies at the moment – if there were I would think about appointing a woman’
‘We need to build the pipeline from the bottom – there just aren’t enough senior women in this sector’
‘I can’t just appoint a woman because I want to’
These explanations come from a range of FTSE 350 Chairs and CEOs, who were heard by the team behind the government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review. This review has criticised all FTSE 350 companies to make sure at least a third of their board members and leadership are women by 2020.
According to the most recent statistics in November 2017, the number of women on boards has more than doubled in the FTSE 350 since 2011. In that period, the number of all-male FTSE 350 company boards also fell from 152 to 10.
SHOCKING
Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said such appalling explanations as those released today proved companies have to pull their fingers out.
”It’s shocking that some businesses think these pitiful and patronising excuses are acceptable reasons to keep women from the top jobs. Our most successful companies are those that champion diversity”.
Thankfully, there has been great progress in recent years and through our modern Industrial Strategy and the Hampton-Alexander Review we are determined that everyone has an equal opportunity to reach the top.
Chair of the Hampton-Alexander Review Sir Philip Hampton stated:
Around a third of FTSE 350 companies still have very few women either on their boards or in senior leadership roles. We used to hear these excuses regularly a few years ago, thankfully much less so now.
However, leaders expressing warm words of support but actually doing very little to appoint women into top jobs – or quietly blocking progress – are really not much better.
Many companies reporting their gender pay gap earlier this year explained to the Hampton-Alexander Review team that the pay gap was due to insufficient women in senior roles, and/or a predominance of women in lower paid work. Ensuring women are selected in more equal numbers for senior roles, significantly reduces the pay gap.
Chief Executive of Business in the Community Amanda Mackenzie said:
“As you read this list of excuses you might think it’s 1918 not 2018. It reads like a script from a comedy parody but it’s true. Maybe those that give credence to these excuses are the ones that are not up to sitting on boards and should move over: we are in the 21st century after all.”
However, we still have plenty of reasons to be positive; the combination of gender pay gap reporting and the increased focus on equality and diversity in general by responsible businesses means there are more women on boards than ever before. While we still have a long way to go, with the collaboration between government, employers and their employees (both men and women), we could see true gender equality in our lifetime.
Director of Corporate Governance, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) Sacha Sadan said:
“As a major investor in the UK we see diversity as a key business issue. LGIM has been active in the diversity debate since 2011, and has been voting against all male boards since 2015.
Boards made up of just men, from the same socioeconomic backgrounds, cannot be the optimal forum for challenging debates. Although we have seen good progress at non-executive level there is still much more to do on the senior leadership pipeline. Therefore we continue to encourage companies to tap into the whole talent pool.”
However, with the number of women on boards doubling in the FTSE 350 since 2011, there has been solid progress. Under new laws introduced in April 2017, more than 8,100 private and voluntary sector companies reported their gender pay gaps by the 4 April deadline this year. All companies with more than 250 employees are required to report their gender pay gaps. Through these reports, thankfully the UK government will
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