The gap is closing on gender inequality in Ireland’s boardrooms, but organisations must do more to promote female leadership. Meliosa O’Caoimh explains how
Published this month, the Balance for Better Business Review Group’s fifth report brought welcome news, revealing that targets of 30 percent for women on all public listed boards in Ireland had been exceeded for the first time, now standing at 32 percent.
Figures for the percentage of women on the Boards of ISEQ 20 companies rose to 36 percent through voluntary action, up five percent on last year. Ireland also now exceeds the EU27 average for the proportion of women on leading company boards for the first time.
For other listed companies, the percentage of women on Boards stands at 26 percent, exceeding the 22 percent target set for the end of 2022 and up 16 percentage points since 2018.
It’s fantastic that, after just five years of the Balance for Better Business initiative, we are seeing such strides forward in female board representation.
Progress is not happening at the same pace in other spheres, however—particularly with regard to C-suite (CEO, CFO and Chair) roles. Here, women are still significantly under-represented in many large companies.
It is critical that we continue to address this gap, because—in addition to providing an important pipeline for board talent—it is imperative that we have gender balance at all senior decision-making levels within organisations.
To help redress the balance, individual organisations must take their own steps to promote gender equality on Boards and C-suite. Here are some recommendations:
- Set Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) as a standing agenda item at Board level, using topics like the Gender Pay Gap, Balance for Better Business, ESG and other related issues to promote genuine discussion, and track progress;
- Integrate diversity into the business agenda at C-suite and Board level, to include action planning and KPIs for outcomes relating to employees, product innovation and development, supply chain integration and customer experience;
- Set targets for senior roles of influence with a focus on Board and C-suite;
- Build succession planning for key roles and ensure that, in 3:1 cover plans, there is a gender balance in available talent or a plan to achieve greater gender balance. Such succession planning should be based on individual roles and functions, and not approached as a blanket team approach;
- Complete a process review of all board appointment systems—including, for example, a board diversity policy, a nomination committee standard, and a commitment to balanced slates for selection consideration;
- Carry out a process review of all C-suite appointment systems, including mandated balanced slates, open advertising, and reviews of merit standards and role accountabilities;
- Commit to career path planning across specialist functions, particularly in Finance or P&L portfolios, to ensure gender balance in roles that are the future pipeline for CFO and CEO—from graduate, through to middle management, and on to senior management, as part of a longer-term strategy.
Meliosa O’Caoimh is Chair of 30% Club Ireland
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