The Hampton-Alexander Review is a government backed initiative looking at the reasons why so few women are on the Boards of FTSE companies and has recently released their interim report which shows that things are getting better but that some firms are still just paying lip service to employing more senior women. They then detailed their ‘top’ 10 excuses for not appointing more women:
“I don’t think women fit comfortably into the board environment”
“There aren’t that many women with the right credentials and depth of experience to sit on the board – the issues covered are extremely complex”
“Most women don’t want the hassle or pressure of sitting on a Board”
“Shareholders just aren’t interested in the make-up of the Board so why should we be?”
“My other board colleagues wouldn’t want to appoint a woman on our Board”
“All the ‘good’ women have already been snapped up”
“We have one woman already on the Board so we are done – it is someone else’s turn”
“There aren’t any vacancies at the moment – if there were I would think about appointing a woman”
“We need to build the pipeline from the bottom – there just aren’t enough senior women in the sector”
“I can’t just appoint a woman because I want to”
In one way this was a completely shocking list of quotes to read but in others, sadly familiar. To those people who are quoted or who have had similar sentiments, perhaps the time has come to realise that your views are out of date and becoming increasingly more so and it is time to give up your Board seats to those who are more forward thinking and open to change. Just a thought!