Solutions
1. Set up a women's network (or join a group such as NACD in the US) and, as a NED, make sure you tap into this network to support aspiring women. 2. Make sure that your boards are rigorous on succession planning and on strengthening the pipeline of women talent 3. Ask for diversity statistics--and keep asking. After three years in one example, the Chairman finally took notice and the improvement was significant: "I've realized that [you women NEDs] were saying the same as shareholders." 4. Putting targets changed everything...but we need more than recruitment to make the women succeed.
"The biggest positive: the support that women now have for each other."
"Men collect sponsorship easily...women don't even ask for it."
"Shared parental leave is very imporant. It is important that both parents are allowed to progress their career."
"Bias in the recruiting process starts early in careers at very lowly jobs. Therefore, we need greater transparency in the process."
"We need to be noisier with the investment community in order to make sure that they continue to push the diversity agenda as well as ESG."
