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Source: ONE News -
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Boards have a competitive advantage when there are greater numbers of women directors, Business NZ and the Institute of Directors says.
The two organisations together with the Ministry of Women's Affairs have just published Women on Boards which shows how companies stand to benefit from the commercial insights and abilities of women.
Institute of Directors' CEO Nicki Crauford says diversity on boards brings together a greater range of skills and insights.
"Uniformity should not be confused with unity," she says.
"Women's skill sets might generally differ somewhat from men's, and that is a source of competitive advantage."
Despite this, KPMG CEO Jan Dawson New Zealand falls behind the US, UK and Australia in terms of representation.
"(Women) are well represented on government boards but on the corporate boards women represent about 8% of the country's directors. That seems low for a country that's led the way in women's positions," she says.
She says part of the reason for the poor representation is historical, with women having not put themselves forward for corporate directorships in the past.
Business NZ CEO Phil O'Reilly says a good way to get wider
representation on boards is for companies to start developing
likely candidates now.
"Companies that begin planning now for a wider representation on
their board and follow through with action will be in a better
competitive position in the future," he says.
The publication was launched on Thursday night by Women's Affairs Minister Pansy Wong.
