Bigger schools of ‘not so rare fish’ to solve gender equity in the Board room

To spite the spotlight and effort placed on achieving gender equity in the Board room by governments, community leaders, advocacy groups and the like, in Australia almost 71% of all Directors represented on ASX200 Boards are male.

While we often hear about ‘steady progress’ being made towards a 30% gender diversity target called for by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), according to the “Gender Diversity Quarterly Report” released by the AICD, we saw only a 2% increase on last year. So where does that leave us, another decade or two of achieving real equality?

Firstly, let’s put aside the fact achieving 30% female representation on Boards does not achieve gender equity in the Board room. Indeed, in my view it is a plan to fail. Clearly ‘steady progress’ is dampening our aspiration to call for a more a more sensible 40:40:20 flex gender ratio, or better still, a firm 50:50.

So why is gender equity in the Board room proving soooo hard and s l o w to achieve? Could the corporate talent pipe line be only part of the answer?

We know that women are leaving the corporate arena in droves. A direct result from long term, systematic inaction to make workplaces fair, flexible and family friendly.

When you look at the pipeline of female Senior Executives, let alone the appalling fact that 95 of the ASX 100 CEO’s are male, surely one would never reasonably expect to match the Board gender equity challenge by looking within that narrowing pipeline…. would they?

So where is all this talent leaking to? Well you don’t need look any further than the fastest growing sector in the economy. In fact, women starting businesses from home is the fastest growing sector in our economy and well over one third of all SME’s are now female owned. These women are educated, they’re smart and primarily in the 33-45-year-old age bracket (ABS 2015).

And guess what, these are the same women who make around 80% of household purchasing decisions! I for one want some of these women around my Board table.

So, the question begs. Are we looking for potential female directors in the right places?

Clearly not. Female SME business owners are often discounted because of the unconscious assumptions society makes. “Someone working from home couldn’t possibly have the right experience, they play small, she doesn’t have the risk appetite”, the list goes on.

Exacerbating the problem is that those responsible for attracting and recruiting women as potential Directors are often fishing in the Bay rather than the Ocean. That’s because fishing in the ocean takes a different degree of skill and deeper knowledge of what is actually happening in the market place and economy outside of the corporate arena and the ASX200. Something Australia is yet to embrace and properly value given the growth and continuing importance to our GDP.

“As co-owner of Business in Heels, I know this only too well. For the past three years we have connected with 100,000 women both physically and online. It is very evident as we support women on their journey to scale their business, re-build a relationship base relevant to their market, and help magnify their brand using contemporary marketing approaches, we see the tremendous talent, vision and courage every day.”

These women have often founded their careers in the corporate arena and gained years of experience. Furthermore, they continue to add tools to their kit bag as they carve their niche solving the problems of consumers and those who they purchase their products and services from. Indeed one might argue that the skill and experience of doing this in the real world, that is, one without the backing of a regular pay cheque, a well known brand name and seemingly limitless resources at your fingertips, might very well be essential to Board room decision making.

If we are serious about achieving true gender equity in the Board room (and I don’t mean a ‘respectable’ 30%), let those of us in a position of influence get serious about how and where we tap into the right talent.

Yes the Ocean is harder to navigate than the Bay and requires more time and equipment to find your spot, but let that not stop us from finding bigger schools of ‘not so rare fish’.