30% Club- Global Summit 2013

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▢ Robert Swannell Chairman Marks&Spencer

I can well remember when Helena first asked me to join the 30 % club and I paused for a quite a while because I thought ‘why is it 30 %, why isn’t it a higher number, why shouldn’t it be 50 %, 50 % of the population of women?’

But we have to start somewhere and I decided to get behind this and try to make a difference.

▢ Helena Morrissey- Newton Investment Management

The 30% club was launched officially in November, 2010, with seven founding chairmen. But the kernel of the idea came in a little early when I realized a load of great work being done by companies and individuals to try to develop women’s careers. We weren’t really seeing much in terms of results, and I thought perhaps there were two things we were doing wrong. One was we weren’t involving men enough and secondly we needed a measurable goal and that’s where the 30% target came in. But it’s not a corporate quota term, this is about business-led voluntary action, designed to create meaningful sustainable change. It’s really changing business culture.

(This is about concerted business-led sustainable change.)

▢ Douglas Flin – Chairman HSBC

HSBC spans something like 80 countries in the world, so it’s really important for us to have diversity on the board. We have eight nationalities among seventeen directors. We have..four over thirteen non executive directors are female and the balance between gender experience, age, background and geographical knowledge and experiences is hugely important and gender diversity brings an additional elements. It’s really important to the board discussions.

(The under-representation of women in senior roles is global.)

▢ Glenn Moreno – Chairman Pearson

I support gender diversity because I think it makes sense for companies. I think there are three basic reasons why they are so. The first is that it broadens the talent pool -I see it self evidence. It’s difficult to find good non-executive directors no matter what anyone says. It’s a great competition for them. So if you broaden the talent pool, you increase a chance of success. The second thing is that in terms of board composition, it allows your board to more accurately reflect your staff, your customers, your stakeholders to become a more representative and responsible board, and the third reason is because it’s the right thing to do.

(The 30% Club’s approach has been working.

There’s been an accelerated pace of changes over the past three years.

Focus now is on maintaining momentum.)

▢ Sir Roger Carr – Chairman Centrica& Chairman-elect BAe Systems

I think they can also assist the focus on helping the executive development of women in organizations, to ensure that boards are strengthen in both executive and non- executive terms from the female area.

(The 30% Club is now focusing on levels below the Board.)

▢ Sir Win Bischoff – Chairman Lloyds Banking Group

I believe that the biggest remaining challenge for The 30 % club is to extending the gender diversity into the 43, 50… I think we have achieved a great deal, there’s more to come, but there, we’ve achieved a great deal with 4100(?). but it’s the next step to the 350 , which will be a challenge.

I think another challenge for The 30 % club and every important challenge over the next 18 months or so, certainly over the next several years is to focus on increasing number of women chairman, at least 4100 companies and hopefully more broadly. There really aren’t that many women chairmen. There’s some very good ones and I think that’s a natural follow-on to the growing number of women who are becoming experienced directors on and above company boards.

(History 1999-2013 / FTSE 100: % Women Directors)

▢ Lord Mervyn Davies

Women, Women, Women. I spent you know the last , probably two years talking about nothing but women, you know, and my wife has an opinion on that but you know the reality of the women on board, public inquiry, is that, together with the 30 % club, in collaboration, we have created a huge change in the boardrooms of the U. K.

(It’s now how…. not why.)

Boards need diversity in their thinking and they need diversity in the boardroom and so I think this is just the right thing to do.

(This is a global issue.  The 30% Club launched in Hong Kong in March 2013, further launches are planned in the US. Canada, Southern Africa and Belgium.)

There’s absolutely no doubt the mixed gender boards do set a new standard of better aspherics, better dynamics, are ultimately therefore better decision making.

I keep on saying to people that The 30 % club, the Steering committee, other organizations, collectively ,we’ve got to keep the pressure up because this is good for business.

This year, we’ve got three major ambitions. First is to make sure the momentum continues . We can’t be complacent . We’re not quite 30 % yet. Secondly, we want to focus more on the pipeline. This is about sustainable, meaningful change in business culture, not just about a few numbers in the board. And last, but definitely no means least, we want to go global.

(30% Club / The Global Levers of Change)