Europeans want more women on Boards but barriers persist
The attention on ‘women in management’ never decreased since Norway had introduced female quota for supervisory boards. Two current publications look at the issue but not from a pure numbers perspective: The public opinion of European Union citizens and an empirical analysis of gender-specific barriers for women to be selected for director positions.
The current Special Eurobarometer 376 published by the European Commission asked EU citizens about their attitude about women in management. A very large majority (88%) replied that women should be equally represented in decision-making positions of companies. The public also supports – with a majority of 75% – potential future legislative intervention to achieve a more balanced representation of women and men on company boards. More than four out of ten Europeans say that 50% of women would be a realistic target to achieve and almost half of the Europeans mention monetary sanctions as the most effective sanction in case of non-compliance given an adequate implementation time. This reflects high approval of women’s competences among Europeans.
While public support seems to be evident, a reality check carried out by Cranfield School of Management shows only some progress in the elite labour market. One remarkable finding of their current research points one more to executive search firms. The study says the power of ‘head-hunters’ consists in mediating the relationship between corporations and Board candidates while defining what talent or qualifies as a talented candidate! The appointment of women to FTSE 350 listed non-executive director roles is thus being held back by the selection processes which ultimately favours candidates with similar characteristics to existing male-dominated board members.
As this phenomenon of autopoiesis had already been identified, corporate governance reforms have recently included executive search firms – that used to be part of the problem – to become part of the solution and contribute to increasing gender diversity on boards. In order to tap into a wider pool of talents, executive search firms must now look beyond the current makeup of board members for the right ’fit’ for new appointments and ensure that the selection process remains inclusive and rigorous at the short-listing and interviewing stages. Experts agree that another wise strategy would be to publicly advertise board openings and develop relationships with high calibre women to build the future talent pipeline.
We should, however, remember that executive search firms are service providers and will – hopefully – do as they are told. Many companies have hence adjusted their briefings and their policies for external searches. What remains is to question the way executive search firms are selected: All too often their business relies on close personal links with current board members. And such ties turn into challenges when meritocracy is the proclaimed standard.
