Corporate views:
Panel claims companies with a higher number of women board members perform better
(from left) AirAsia Bhd CEO Aireen Omar, Maybank head of group human capital Nora Abd Manaf and Accenture Asia Pacific partner Stephenie Gault are among speakers for the first session of the 4th Annual Young Corporate Malaysians summit in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
KUALA LUMPUR: Setting targets to achieve diversity in workplace is crucial for companies to tap into the richness of different mindsets in order to achieve a better performance.
A panel at the 4th Annual Young Corporate Malaysians Summit highlighted the disproportion between the representation of women at the top levels of management compared with the large female talent pool.
They also said diversity in the workplace included other categories such as ethnicity, expertise, background and age.
“(Women’s) representation is an issue. Studies showed that companies with 30% of female board members were able to perform better financially,” Accenture Asia Pacific partner Stephanie Gault said.
“These companies outperform their competitors by at least 50% in returns on invested capital and returns on equity.”
However, only one-third of the Fortune 500 companies listed diversity in workplace as one of their top ten priorities, she said.
To reap the benefits from a diverse team, especially in terms of broader views and better financial results, organisations should set targets based on what they hoped to achieve, Gault suggested.
“I’m a strong believer of matrix because you get what you need through measurement.
“Having said that, there was no common set of matrix and it should be calibrated by country, division, geography for it to make sense.”
Malayan Banking Bhd group human capital head Nora Manaf concurred.
“It is an affirmative action especially if you are going through a transformation.”
Citing an example of a transformation programme Maybank implemented, she said the number of women in senior management level surged from 8% to 28% in three years.
The number exceeded the global average of 20% not without conscious effort to measure the results constantly, she added.
While it was not a natural process for companies to set a list of criteria in building a diverse team, a system has to be in place to facilitate decision making, Nora said.
“Understanding differences is one thing but inclusion is another. By leveraging on differences, much more can be achieved,” she said, adding that employers should avoid stereotyping when it comes to hiring and promoting talents.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Aireen Omar said setting targets to determine diversity at workplace could be challenging as finding the right person to fill the role was usually the priority of a board.
She said team work was an enabler in achieving workplace diversity.
When employees share the company’s objectives and take accountability for their work quality, unity would be fostered which results in better integration of diversity, Aireen added.
They also noted there was a hurdle to achieve the target of having 30% of women decision makers at the top level as the number less was than 10% currently.
Nonetheless, top management of Corporate Malaysia could commit to change that.
A report by McKinsey and Company showed the funnelling pattern of women in the corporate pipeline. In Malaysia, the percentage of women is 57% at graduate level, 53% at entry level and 11% at mid-tosenior level. Among chief executive officers, 5% is female while the number of board members is 6%.