Three of Britain’s most high-profile female bosses have declined to endorse a campaign aimed at promoting more women into senior executive positions.
ITV, tobacco giant Imperial Brands and B&Q owner Kingfisher are among a slew of FTSE 100 companies to have failed to sign up to the 30% Club drive for greater diversity in the upper ranks of business. As of yesterday, only 29 FTSE 100 members had committed to increasing the proportion of women in senior roles to 30% within three years.
Brenda Trenowden, a senior City banker and chairwoman of the 30% Club, said “momentum” was building behind its campaign. However, she said that many chief executives had been “too cautious” and “needed to be braver” in committing themselves to hiring more female executives.
Lloyds, BHP, Glaxo Smith Kline and Legal & General were among the FTSE 100 companies to endorse the 30% Club push, but notable absentees included ITV’s Dame Carolyn McCall, Imperial boss Alison Cooper and Véronique Laury of Kingfisher.
Some chief executives are “concerned that they will be regarded as ‘failing’ if they commit to the target, yet do not reach it by 2020,” said Trenowden. “We are not here to censure companies if they cannot reach the target, but we need them to understand the importance of making that first step in the right direction,” she added.
Advertisement
Trenowden said that the financial benefits of having a diverse leadership had been borne out by multiple academic studies. “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t sign up,” she said. “If you don’t have diverse leadership, you will fall foul of ‘group-think’, miss out on talent and end up not relating to your customers and the communities in which you operate.”
A recent study by McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 21% more likely to generate higher profits than those with the fewest female executives.
Trenowden predicted that chief executives who did not promote women into leadership roles would face a backlash. “Investors are going to crank up the pressure,” she said.