Increase in women directors needs to continue

13 November 2014

Increase in women directors needs to continue

The growth in the number of women directors is encouraging, but there is still a long way to go and no room for complacency, the Institute of Directors says.

Commenting on NZX’s annual gender diversity statistics, which recorded 14% of women directors on NZSX- listed companies (excluding overseas companies) compared to 11% in the same period last year. IoD Chief Executive, Dr William Whittaker said good progress was being made in increasing the number of women on New Zealand boards, but that women continue to be under represented.

“New Zealand is still lagging behind many other countries. New Zealand is trailing the UK, US and Australia in the percentage of women on the boards of listed companies and we are well behind countries like Norway which are leading the way.

“We really need a concerted effort to improve this situation. Investors and company stakeholders should not be satisfied until we see a far stronger representation of women on boards.”

“One pleasing aspect was a survey recently completed by the IoD and NZIER, which is set to be released later this month, found 55% of directors identified diversity is a key consideration in board appointments.”

“Board diversity is critical to maintaining a competitive and vibrant economy. Research tells us that there is a positive relationship between women on boards and bottom-line financial performance.”

Dr Whittaker says increasing the number of women on boards is vital, but it’s also important that there is a wider representation of talent overall. Board diversity needs to represent a number of factors, gender, ethnicity, age, profession and background – the key aspect a board needs to ensure is diversity of thought.

“Slow progress is occurring, but the IoD expects this to grow due to greater awareness of the importance of the issue and the initiatives already in place to improve the diversity of board members.”

Several initiatives are under way to increase the number of women at board level in New Zealand, including the IoD’s Mentoring for Diversity programme, which aims to boost the number of women on NZSX-listed and large company boards in New Zealand.

“It’s the IoD’s hope and expectation that the number of women on boards will continue to increase and we will be playing as active role in making sure this happens.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media