Lord Davies' third annual progress report on women on boards (the "2014 Davies Review") and the Cranfield University School of Management's Female FTSE Board Report (the "2014 Cranfield Report") were both published on 26 March 2014. The reports reveal that the number of women on the boards of FTSE 100 companies has risen to 20.7% (from 17.3% in 2013) and 15.6% on FTSE 250 boards (from 13.3% in 2013), with only two all-male boards remaining in the FTSE 100 (against 21 in 2011). Lord Davies noted that, to reach the target of 25% female board representation by 2015, fewer than 50 women need to be appointed to FTSE 100 boards in the next 18 months but that "strengthening the executive pipeline remains a longer term task." A similar view was expressed in the 2014 Cranfield Report as it was revealed that the majority of female board appointments were to nonexecutive positions.
The 2014 Davies Review pointed out that although progress made shows that the voluntary approach has been successful in the UK, further specific action in a number of areas still needs to be taken. These include:
- FTSE 350 companies should report meaningful disclosures on gender diversity in their annual reports and on their websites;
- the two FTSE 100 and 48 FTSE 250 companies with all-male boards should take action to diversify their boards;
- FTSE 350 companies should ensure that at least one woman non-executive director sits on the nomination committee;
- FTSE 350 companies and executive search firms should ensure that at least one woman is on the short list for searches;
- investors should adopt a clear voting policy for companies that fail to set boardroom policies to increase gender diversity and should be prepared to vote against the re-election of chairmen and members of nomination committees that fail to take action on all-male boards; and
- FTSE 350 companies should identify and support their senior women and look at measures to address any potential organisational gender bias.
The 2014 Davies Review is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/297519/bis-women-on-boards-2014.pdf
The 2014 Cranfield Report is available at: http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamic-content/research/ftse/The%20Female%20FTSE%20100%20Women%20to%20Watch%202014.pdf
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