By Olivia Segura*
The Board of Directors generates greater value when its composition is not limited by factors such as gender, age or area of specialization of its members. In an environment characterized by continuous transformations, it is crucial to promote diversity, incorporating experience from different sectors, industries and specialties to respond in a timely manner to the changes that companies face, whether driven by new incentives or by emerging risks and threats.
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that, although the participation of women on boards of directors in Mexico remains limited, gender is not the only element of diversity in which underrepresentation is observed; There are other aspects that restrict the ability of organizations to analyze, innovate and make critical decisions that negatively impact their performance.
This challenge is particularly evident in family businesses, where the lack of diversity can make generational change difficult and limit competitiveness against new competitors in the market, so promoting diversity on the Board and Senior Management can be decisive in reversing these limitations and strengthen your value proposition.
For public companies, incorporating elements of diversity that go beyond gender can also become a strategic differentiator, as this approach allows for a more comprehensive view of opportunities and risks, as well as a deeper connection to the needs of stakeholders. clients and staff.
The importance of measurement and regulation
In this context, knowing what leading organizations are doing globally is a valuable starting point to advance diversity. According to the KPMG Board Diversity Disclosure Benchmarking Tool99% of the companies that make up the S&P 500 index report the gender composition of their boards of directors, marking a significant difference with those companies with lower income, which not only omit this practice, but also lack clear objectives. monitoring mechanisms and concrete actions to improve.
Likewise, among the key indicators to measure diversity in these corporate governance bodies, the following stand out:
- Percentage of people who self-identify as gender diverse: 92%
- Revelation of the gender composition of the members of the Council: 53%
- Representation of women, non-binary people or the LGBTQ+ community: 24%
These metrics, in addition to being monitored, are intentionally integrated into the recruitment and selection processes of candidates.
On the other hand, regulation has been essential to promote diversity in companies listed on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), since since 2009 public companies have been required to incorporate criteria of diversity in the search for new members.
The above has had a significant impact, considering that 93% of these organizations report gender diversity on their boards, with a female representation of 34.4%, a figure considerably higher than the average of other countries such as Mexico (13%) that do not have this. type of regulation and the global average (27%) reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
In this sense, in our country it has been proposed to reform article 24 of the Securities Market Law (LMV), which regulates the integration of the Board of Directors, including the maximum number of members and the percentage that must be independent. This reform seeks to incorporate the mandatory participation of women, in order to improve representativeness and align with global best practices. Without a doubt, the US experience reflects that this measure not only increases female inclusion, but can also positively impact business results.
Therefore, it is valuable to reflect on whether public and family companies in Mexico should proactively establish female participation goals, taking into account that they should not be confused with imposed quotas. On the contrary, the selection of the people who will make up these governing bodies must be made based on experience, capacity and professional prestige, as established by the LMV, and not exclusively on gender as a compliance mechanism.
To achieve this, it is crucial to promote the growth and development of women, guaranteeing equal opportunities to access Senior Management positions and accredit the necessary experience to be part of the Board. Likewise, it is important to eliminate unconscious biases associated with gender, expand contact networks to access candidates with different specialties and experience in various industries, as well as update corporate policies with a gender perspective.
These actions are decisive in breaking down structural barriers, allowing the talent pools to grow sustainably and with the quality necessary to provide greater value, diversity and experience to the Board of Directors.
How willing would your Board be to adopt leading gender practices and reap the benefits of an innovative, diverse and strategic perspective?
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*Olivia Segura is a Partner in Human Capital and Talent Management Consulting at KPMG Mexico
Note: the ideas and opinions expressed in this writing are those of those who sign the article and do not necessarily represent the ideas and opinions of KPMG México.
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico
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