Future Board: The Clarity D&I Programme
In May 2020, any business leader must have felt there were no other challenges that could rock their organisations.
Then on May 25th George Floyd was murdered. The subsequent Black Lives Matter campaign changed the D&I agenda of companies globally. The Parker Review, focusing on ethnic diversity gained a similar level of impact as the Hampton-Alexander Review had created with gender diversity on Boards. Black Lives Matter rightly placed the spotlight on D&I.
The March 2022 Parker Review showed there are 89 FTSE 100 companies with at least one board member from a minority ethnic group. The target for 2024 is for all FTSE 350 companies to achieve this level.
Like many firms, Clarity wanted to act. We created Future Board, a programme aimed at readying ethnically diverse executives to be eligible for board roles and giving Chairs, SIDs and NEDs exposure to a candidate population rarely seen at the top table. Spread over eight sessions, Future Board covered all aspects of Board composition, governance and responsibilities.
In 2021, 50% of Board appointments were female evidencing the impact a high profile and well supported initiative can achieve. The ambition for all companies, not just the FTSE, must be greater ethnically diverse representation on their Boards by 2024.
The Board role will always require a requisite level of experience, knowledge, and sector relevance to meet the governance and fiduciary requirements. Additionally, there are now the modern demands of digital, data and technology which have inherently changed the knowledge Boards require. There needs to be the experience to manage through adversity, (as evidenced by Covid) and the diversity to bring relevant, evolving, and forward-looking views and challenges to the board room.
In Partnership with John Allan, Chair at Tesco, the Future Board programme has prepared 20 ethnically diverse executives from companies such as Asda, Mars, M&S, Pandora, Hilton, Aesop, The Restaurant Group, Arla, Kimberly Clark and Whitbread with NEDs from PZ Cussons Plc, Tesco Plc, PWC, Barratt Developments Plc, and Taylor Wimpey Plc. Future Board encompassed all aspects of the Board’s function; Board composition; strategy; audit & risk; succession; ESG and critically, “making the leap”.
The sessions were excellent. Two hours of pragmatic insights from experienced Board members being peppered with questions from an audience on both the structure and methodology of Boards through to “what” is being done at Plc level to change the face of the boardroom.
Held under the Chatham House rule, we can summarise as follows. Firstly, there can be little doubt that UK Plcs have Chairs and NEDs of the highest calibre and experience which will continue to be utilised as we move forward through Covid, the uncertain economic outlook and impact of the Ukrainian war.
In addition to the insights gained and exchange of views there have been numerous mentoring connections and the re-establishment of relationships from previous years.
In respect to the participants, there is now unequivocally a cohort of executives who have the required skills, motivation, and ambition to step into a Board seat.
Companies are now proactively “Horizon Scanning” to gain a view on how they can continue the Board transformation and Clarity will continue to play a small role to highlight the relevant executives.
There will be a review session in April, and our thanks go to the Chairs and NEDs who graciously gave their time and experience to the programme:
• John Allan Chairman: Tesco Plc, Barratt Developments Plc and Chairman of the Council at Imperial College
• Ian Powell: Chairman: Capita Plc, former Chairman/Senior Partner PwC
• Imran Nawaz: Tesco Plc, Group CFO and Board Director
• Jock Lennox: Chairman: Johnson Service Group Plc, NED and Chair of Audit Committee: Barratt Developments Plc and Audit Committee Chair of the Independent Forum
• Simon Laffin: Non Executive Director Watkins Jones Group, Dentsu Group, former Chair Flybe and Assura. (Author of “Behind Closed Doors” The Boardroom: How to get in, get on and make a difference)
• Irene Dorner: Chairman: Taylor Wimpey Plc and Control Risks Group Ltd; Non-Executive Director: Axa S.A. and Rolls Royce Holdings Plc
• Caroline Silver: Chairman PZ Cussons Plc; Managing Director Moelis & Co; Non-Executive Director BUPA and Meggitt Plc
• Bukky Bird: Group Sustainability Director: Barratt Developments Plc
About Clarity:
We are the partner of choice for ambitious, consumer-centric businesses that require new, diverse leadership. For over 10 years we have built expertise in the retail, consumer, travel and hospitality sectors, working all around the world. We bring the rigour and global reach from our backgrounds in international search firms, coupled with the personal service, flexibility and expert judgement of a specialist.
We listen, we challenge, we move fast, we deliver. Most importantly, we love what we do.
