25.8% of directors at top 100 PLCs are women, forum told

 

Despite progress made in the past six years, Zarinah Anwar says there are still 255 companies, or more than a quarter of all PLCs, with all-male boards.

KUALA LUMPUR: Women’s representation in the board of directors of the top 100 public listed companies (PLCs) in Malaysia currently stands at 25.8%, an 82% increase from 2015, 30% Club Malaysia founding chair Zarinah Anwar said.

The former Securities Commission Malaysia chairman said women also occupied 17.2% of total board seats on all PLCs in the country.

“In 2015, women represented only 14% of directors on the boards of our top 100 PLCs and only 10.7% of total PLCs and it has taken us six years of effort,” she said in her welcoming remarks at 30% Club Malaysia’s virtual panel discussion titled “MEN-WHO-PAUSE” today.

Zarinah said although Malaysia is the first country in the region to set a gender diversity target for PLC boards back in 2012, there are companies and PLCs which have not initiated any effort to change notwithstanding the instigation of regulators and investors.

30% Club Malaysia founder Zarinah Anwar.

“Today, we still have 255 PLCs with all-male boards. That is more than a quarter of the total companies listed, four of which are in the Top 100,” she said.

During the panel discussion, the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia director and 30% Club Malaysia mentor Ahmad Johan Mohammad Raslan said board of directors and the Human Resources Department must work hand-in-hand to drive and push for women to step up the corporate ladder.

“Women also have to seek promotion and shouldn’t be pulling back all the time. Step forward in life and ask for mentorship and sponsorship so that you can be better groomed,” he said.

He also said the reason for the 30% setup for women executives on the board is to give a fair shot for women to break through the glass ceiling to the upper level of management.

Petronas’ president and group chief executive officer (CEO) Tengku Muhammad Taufik Aziz said the company had an ecosystem that helped women to continue progressing beyond the managerial level, which is usually male-dominated.

“We believe in diversity as we are moving towards an energy industry that needs to be more customer-centric. For this, we need a far more progressive and creative work environment,” he said.

He said to date, 27% of Petronas’ 480,000-strong workforce are women and 19% of senior leadership, the vice-president and above, are women.

Digi.Com CEO Albern Murty said that currently, more than 40% of the company’s board members are women.

“When we talk about getting the right people for a certain job or role, the best way is to look at individuals by their competence, not by gender,” he said.

Meanwhile, HSBC Bank Malaysia group general manager and CEO Stuart Milne said that currently, women accounted for 33% of the senior executive-level jobs in the company and took up 54% of the middle management level jobs.

“We do not set any gender target at the level of executive committee because we just want the best persons for the jobs,” he said.

He added that women in Malaysia have a “very very strong position” in the senior management ranks like those from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The 30% Club is a global campaign led by chairs and CEOs taking action to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels, aiming to reach at least 30% representation by women on all boards and senior executive positions globally. - FMT