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By Emilyn Yap
TWO recent Watson Wyatt studies have confirmed the huge gender imbalance that pervades Singapore's corporate scene and shown how the Republic is lagging behind its peers.
The first looks at the number of female non-executive directors in the largest 100 companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. Based on data from annual reports as of end-September 2007, Singapore earns the dubious honour of being the least inclusive as 72 company boards have no female non-executive directors. Hong Kong follows closely behind with 68.
The situation improves in Australia where just 42 boards have no female non- executive directors. The UK appears to be the most inclusive with a mere 28 such boards.
Non-executive directors are not actively involved in running corporations and are the focus of this study. "We are more interested in people who truly are at the board level," said Watson Wyatt's Asia-Pacific Research and Innovation Centre director Mak Yuen Teen.
Tightening the criterion to look at female non-executive and independent directors, Hong Kong now tops the unflattering list - 82 company boards do not have such directors. Singapore follows with 78, while Australia and UK still perform better with 43 and 28 respectively.
The findings reflect the fact that local companies are not searching hard enough for directors, Prof Mak observed. In the UK and Australia, for instance, more companies "go out and either advertise or they get somebody to do a search . . . through this kind of process, you are more likely to cast the net wider so you end up with more female directors".
Some executive search firms agree. "Director recruitment still happens very much through an informal network in Singapore," said Malini Vaidya, who leads Spencer Stuart's Asia-Pacific consumer goods and services practice.
But Russell Reynolds Associates' co-head of Asia-Pacific operations Chew Choon Soo also noted that more companies are using professional help to broaden their search.
"We really do not believe that there is suppression in any way," said Noor Quek, a member of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations. To her, there are few women directors mainly because companies do not know of other female candidates.
As Ms Vaidya also noted, corporations are interested in women who have proven themselves, and this is a select group so far. "Their names keep coming up again and again in our assignments."
But the pool of women for directorships could grow. Research from Grant Thornton International released yesterday shows that women's participation at the senior management level rose seven percentage points from 2007 to 28 per cent in 2008.
If more women directors are to emerge, the largest companies are likely to lead the way. The study found that in all four countries, the average market capitalisation of firms with female non-executive directors exceeds that of firms with only male ones.
"The larger companies probably tend to be more enlightened and they probably tend to have more rigorous processes for appointing directors," Prof Mak explained.
What Stamford Law Corporation's senior director Lee Suet Fern does not support is "affirmative action". She is on the boards of three listed companies, including Semb- Corp Industries.
Ascendas president and CEO Chong Siak Ching, who is on the boards of two real estate investment trust managers, agreed. Firms here should be given guidance as to why gender diversity on the board is beneficial, she said. "A good start would be for companies that are applying to list, and eventually be propagated to other listed companies."
Besides widening the path to boardrooms, another Watson Wyatt study suggests that Singapore corporations should pay more attention to gender gaps in the rest of the workplace. Conducted from May to July last year, the WorkAsia survey polled male and female workers from Asia about their work attitudes and opinions of various organisational practices. Across all 12 dimensions, such as commitment and perceived fairness about rewards, women employees in Singapore responded less favourably than the men. Responses contrasted most when participants considered advancement opportunities available to them.
In contrast, female and male employees in Hong Kong held similar work attitudes and perceptions about company policies.
"The results show that the gender gap appears to be substantial and significant in Singapore but not in Hong Kong," said Watson Wyatt's Awie Foong and Deirdre Lander. "Organisations in Hong Kong appear to have done a far better job in maintaining gender equality."
They also advised companies here to close gender gaps at work. This "makes perfect business sense as it helps to re-engage female employees, increase productivity and ultimately improve the bottom line".
This article was first published in The Business Times.
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