When the chips are down, it’s family to the rescue! At least that’s what companies seemed to have assumed. When Sebi threatened to come down hard upon companies which do not comply with their new regulation, namely, appointing at least one woman director on board, the companies quickly turned to their families for help.
Many owners hurriedly appointed their wives and daughters to fill the vacancies while others turned to families of their promoters and executives. While some of the wives and daughters, who were hitherto kept out of the company boardrooms, were more than eager to leverage this opportunity, for the rest, this was nothing but an act of tokenism.
It’s bad enough that Indian companies need the threat of Sebi hanging over their heads to induct women into boardrooms, but the stopgap, on-paper-only measure that they have done to comply with it is far worse.
Clearly they regard this regulation as a nuisance measure, to be quickly done with to get Sebi off their backs and forget about it. It is also evident that many of these companies inducted women only from within the family assuming that they would remain mute spectators in boardroom proceedings and thus maintain status quo. This includes the likes of companies like Adani Power, Adani Ports and SEZ, Golden Tobacco, Prime Capital Market, Linc Pen and Plastics and Kohinoor Foods.
It is also impossible to accept the companies couldn’t find one qualified eligible woman among their workforce to assume the directorial position. After all women make up anywhere between 35-56% of the workforce across the world, depending on geographical regions and work sectors.
But sadly, although gender diversity on the shop floor is catching up somewhat, but women are still endangered species in boardrooms across the world today. Less than 3% of women across the world have made it into the boardrooms.
On the other hand, a higher percentage of women in the workforce has only improved performances overall. A recent University of Pennsylvania study found that the brains of men and women really are wired differently. This may explain, as the research suggests, why men tend to be better at learning and performing single tasks while women tend to be better at multitasking and problem-solving in group situations. Since companies likely require all of the mentioned skills, it makes sense to hire those who are naturally gifted with them.
And if the grouse is over maternity leaves, then a global analysis from KPMG, commissioned by Vodafone indicates that global businesses could potentially save up to an estimated $19 billion annually through the provision of 16-weeks of fully paid maternity leave.
But all these arguments are wasted, if the real reason is stubborn patriarchy that continues to believe that only men can lead. Then all these arguments of economy and finance in favour of women employees would only be temporary incentives for the short run. In the long run, only change in attitudes will bring gender diversity in boardrooms. Still, it’s a shame that even the big industry players continue to think in this backward manner. What price equality, eh?
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