HR Grapevine: - Domino's, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes among firms struggling

An extract from another interesting article from the team at "HR Grapevine". Click on the link to find our more or register for their regular updates:    

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Diversity is at the heart of the Board. It is essential that when discussing the future of the company, numerous varied perspectives are offered, along with a broad range of experiences.

A recent study by Deloitte found that 93% of leaders agree that diversity is essential in the decision-making process, yet the same report found that just 16% consider diversity the top priority in the recruitment of new members.

This worrying lack of investment in diversity isn’t limited to any one sector; the Investment Association has released a list of 94 top companies with very little gender diversity, despite controlling a collective portfolio in excess of £7.7trillion.

Top culprits highlighted in the list include Domino’s Pizza, Prudential, Lloyds Banking Group, Metro Bank, Man Group, Melrose, Capita, Glencore, Centrica, Ocado, Foxtons, Paddy Power and GVC, the owner of Ladbrokes.

The report follows the release of a government-commissioned paper by Hampton-Alexander, which strongly recommended that all FTSE 350 companies should have at least a third female representation on their Boards by 2020.

“Investors have been consistently clear that they want to see greater diversity in the Boardroom, so it is totally unacceptable that one in five of the UK’s biggest companies are falling so far short,” Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the IA, told The Guardian.  

“There is also compelling evidence that Boards with greater gender balance outperform their less diverse peers."

"These companies must up their game and explain clearly how they are planning to meet the Hampton-Alexander targets, or risk investor dissent at their AGM,” he added.

However, some companies are making historic changes to ensure that diversity gender balance is considered in the hiring process. JP Morgan recently announced that it would hire its first ever female boss. In April, Marianne Lake was confirmed to be the successor to the company’s consumer lending branch of JP Morgan.