Notice board: Women not in fair numbers
Companies talk about diversity buzz & tracking their gender ratio, but ironically, only 26.1% of the listed cos have a woman on their boards. Fortun(ate) women
By Malini Goyal, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Often hard numbers tell a story better than words. Just when companies talk about the diversity buzz and begin tracking their gender ratio, here are a few numbers they would do well to note. Only 26.1% of the listed companies (392 of 1,500 firms) have a woman on their boards. Out of the 278 directors on the BSE Sensex companies, there are only 10 women directors.
Out of the 9,000 people on boards of the BSE-listed companies, only 5% are women. “Indian companies seriously lack women in senior management roles,” says executive search firm Redileon managing director Vikram Bhardwaj. The conclusions are based on a study of 1,500 BSE-listed companies and an intensive survey of 200 women in senior management roles.
Women’s representation on the board reflects their poor strength at the CEOship and senior management. Women constitute less than 7% of senior management leaders in India. The biggest reason for their poor show, women feel, is their lack of CEO-ship experience. “This is also because women are perceived as too strong, confrontational and unwilling to compromise,” adds Bhardwaj.
If all that isn’t revealing enough here is some more food for thought. Almost 85% of the women managers are in supporting roles (like HR, PR, customer service). Biggest barrier to a woman’s career has been stereotyping and preconceptions of women’s roles and abilities along with absence of P&L management experience, the study reveals. “It might sound shocking – but I do often get searches for senior roles with ‘strictly men’ on the wanted list,” says Bhardwaj. Though the trend is improving, its far from reaching a satisfactory level, he admits.
All that does show up where it matters the most – the salary. Women executives in India earn 40% less than what men earn over their entire career, the study says. While the compensation inequalities are non-existent at middle management ranks, it grows with seniority. You could blame the women a bit. As global surveys, including this one reveals that women leaders do not negotiate and squabble much on compensation as men do.
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The study throws up other interesting details. A large chunk of the women who make it to the top are the inheritors. Less than 2% of all listed Indian companies have professional women CEOs. Less than 1% of total professional CEOs in India are women. Clearly, corporate India fairs very poorly vis-à-vis its global counterparts, the study reveals. Over 77% of the 200 largest companies in the world, as ranked by Fortune, have at least one women director on their board as of 2006. Even here, China outpaces India. Only 36% of Indian companies have women holding senior management positions as compared to 91% of companies in China. The global average stands at 65%. But at a time when corporate India is reeling under rising attrition and talent crunch, perhaps women executives may truly hold the key for some long-term solution. Women are far more stable in their jobs and their average turnover rate is far lesser than men.
For example, in a highly-volatile IT & ITeS industry, average turnover of men in 2005 was 19% and 26% against 11% and 14% for women, respectively. Ditto for BFSI where for men the turnover stood at 18% against 10% for women. The study estimates that by 2010 there would be demand for 1,000 women leaders for board memberships in India Inc.
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