Diversifying the board

MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE Women possess much quality, temperament, leadership, knowledge and a different approach to men.

Aboard is a collective of individuals who come together for a common goal with each member contributing according to his or her expertise. As a result, the board’s composition becomes critical because it plays a pivotal role in the success or lack thereof of a board.

Diversity is the overall goal of board composition with a good mix of race, age, commercial experience and independence. But chief amongst them has to be gender.

Gender diversity in the boardroom is a big topical issue in the world. Most countries have an average of between 10% to 20% women board members and in that regard, many countries have begun addressing this gross imbalance to the effect that some European countries have made law to the requirement of women board members at a certain percentage of a board.

In South Africa, however, women on boards account for a dismal 12% to 15%. On all accounts, this is an appalling number. While society has been making efforts to rectify this inequality, clearly more needs to be done especially in the area of bringing clarity to the purpose of gender equality.

Too many boards are under the misconception that having women on boards is for women empowerment. But to the contrary, women empowerment policies might be the tool being used but the real purpose is for women to showcase what they can bring to the table. Two heads are better than one; well I would go further to say two gender different heads are better than one.

Diversification of gender allows for a difference of opinion, interpretation and more importantly, different solution.

Women possess much quality, temperament, leadership, knowledge and approach different from men that if allowed to cross pollinate without prejudice, can concoct greater solutions.

And the idea that women are not as capable as men to govern massive organisations is folly, ludicrous, outdated and should not be tolerated. There is an incredible pool of highly intelligent, well educated, extremely professional, and competent women in the market and boards must change their mentality and seek the services of astute business-savvy women.

In this day and age, there is no excuse for not having more women on boards other than blatant gender discrimination.

Indeed, a board is a complex organ and many a times boards argue against chopping and changing directors, pointing out that it takes time for one to understand the business. Additionally, they say, “why change it if it’s not broken?”

To that, I say, who’s to say women can’t learn the business in record time? And secondly, “it is definitely broken if a board consists of only 10% women”.

Munya Duvera is chief executive officer at Duvera Elgroup