Cranfield Female FTSE Board Report 2016

MELANIE RICHARDS’ FOREWORD

When the Davies Report first came out five years ago, the original target of 25% representation of women on boards by 2015 was seen as a quite high bar. When I look back today, I feel proud of what has collectively been achieved in hitting that target, but know that far more can be achieved. It would be remiss of us to stagnate at this level, as the original aspiration was only ever part of a journey, meant to raise our game and ambition for gender equality. I am very aware that while the Boardroom was a highly visible platform to demonstrate tangible benefits and success to start with, it was also perhaps the easier nut to crack. Though we cannot let up on driving female representation on boards, the same level of effort should now be focused on the executive pipeline and levels below. It is not one single person’s responsibility to drive this – the progress and success achieved thus far has been because of the collaboration and efforts of a large number of people and organizations which now needs to broaden further. For continued progress at pace, success should be a result of consistent efforts of everyone rather than the exceptional efforts of some. A big part of this is organizations monitoring and being transparent about data related to succession planning, promotions and recruitment. I would encourage women to consider having an executive and non-executive career on a parallel track. There are an increasing number of innovative organizations out there that are making it very accessible for women to have long term fulfilling careers and we must keep this momentum going.

Melanie Richards Vice Chair, KPMG in the UK