The 4th of November was Equal Pay Day. This is the date from which women are “working for free”, thus reflecting the percentage of the gender pay gap. One of the causes of the gender pay gap is that there are fewer women in senior jobs. enei is opening the debate on how organisations could achieve a more diverse Board by publishing a briefing note on Targets v Quotas.
A survey by enei found that only 37 percent of organisations are setting targets for the number of women on their boards, and worse, only 26 percent are setting targets for gender diversity at middle management. Most respondents argued that quotas were not the solution to the lack of gender diversity at the higher levels of an organisation, with fears that the introduction of a quota system, as seen in Norway, France and Germany, would lead to tokenistic appointments and would cause male senior leaders to disengage from improving the female talent pipeline.
Enei’s chief executive, Denise Keating, said: “enei members prefer the setting of targets over the introduction of a quota system in the UK, a view shared by Lord Davies and the majority of organisations responding to our survey. The real focus must be on extending the talent pipeline and levelling the playing field to ensure that more women are able to demonstrate they have the ability to take an executive seat at the Board table. Any talk of introducing a quota system now would demean the success of Lord Davies’ review, and lead to a growing number of women being reluctant to apply for fear of being seen as tokenistic.”
