The stain of Boardroom Diversity.

The Hampton-Alexander review, established by the UK Government in February 2016 and chaired by Sir Philip Hampton and the late Dame Helen Alexander, was set up to ensure  ‘talented women at the top of business are recognised, promoted and rewarded’. The review set the end of 2020 as the deadline for the largest listed companies in the UK to voluntarily appoint women to a third of board positions.

So what progress has been made? A Financial Times article this morning “All-male boards return to FTSE in setback to diversity efforts” evidences many UK listed businesses are missing that target.

Examples quoted include Domino’s Pizza, who appointed a ‘new all male board at it’s recent annual meeting’ and Aston Martin who similarly ‘brought in male - only directors at it’s annual meeting’ earlier this month.

The report goes on to evidence that while the 33% target is close (the FTSE 100 is just over 33% with the rest of the FTSE 250 at 32%) there are still more than 70 companies across the index at or below 25% female representation on the board.

It should not take quota’s to ensure diversity in the boardroom. Diversity in the boardroom should be a must and it should extend throughout the business to be representative of the widest pool of the most talented from all backgrounds.

Boardroom diversity should extend beyond gender and ethnicity. Hiring practices must include diversity of experience and thinking as an essential component of the selection process, if only to prevent the inevitable silo of group think that constantly selecting from the same pool engenders. This should not be something simply to be measured. We need to find ways to ensure such practice is deeply engrained in the psyche and culture of the organisation.

This is not simply a case of being seen to do the right thing. It is essential best practice, to ensure that people, business, careers, indeed all stakeholders thrive. That we should still be debating why this is not happening to the extent that it should in 2020 is a travesty. We’ve had five years to get this right.