What Board Leaders Say
The advantages of diversity and inclusion are manifold in that boards enjoy more creativity, better innovation, deeper exploration of issues, and fresh inspiration drawn from shared and broader experiences, leading to more effective problem solving. This is observed not only in companies, but also in non-profit groups and public sector.
Board diversity, a recognised hallmark of progressive boards even before Covid-19, is more critical now than before. Post-pandemic recovery offers opportunities for innovation and business repositioning. Having directors with a wider mix of gender, age, skills, experiences, and backgrounds allows boards the broad-based choices as they assess what is best for the future. Investors and customers also now expect companies to go beyond the financial bottom-line and incorporate ESG into company strategies and policies. Gender diversity is one of many factors considered in ESG discussions. Women directors are an obvious choice when considering board diversity and we have already started to see some institutional investors vote against boards without sufficient diversity.
Mr Loh Boon Chye
Co-Chair, Council for Board Diversity
Chief Executive Officer, SGX Group
While some boards may be hesitant of appointing candidates without board experience, changes in consumer behaviours and business models in a post-pandemic world requires board members with the “current” relevant know-how. Their expertise could bring added value to boards’ deliberations. We hope that organisations – including companies and statutory boards – will seek out women talents and give them equal opportunity to take the first step onto a board. When all organisations keep an open mind and appoint such qualified women onto the boards, it expands the pool of candidates for the entire country.
Mrs Mildred Tan
Co-Chair, Council for Board Diversity
Chairman, Tote Board Singapore and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) Board of Trustees; and other directorships
A board should be made up of diverse individuals with relevant knowledge, industry experience, independence and a variety of perspectives to generate effective challenges and discussions. This will enable a board tap to into its diversity of talent to offer strategic insights and perspectives gleaned from different lenses so that all considerations are taken for the desired outcome. It will guard against ‘group think’ and serve as an inspiration to its leadership team to adopt a growth mindset to seize opportunities for development and innovation. This is especially critical in the current era of constant disruption where consumer trends are fast evolving and businesses are challenged on all frontiers in the new normal.
Ms Elaine Heng
Head of Group Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability, OCBC
Views on board diversity and resilience
From Board Chairmen
Sept 19, 2018
Key takeaways from the Panel Discussion with Peter Seah (Chairman, DBS Group and Singapore Airlines) and S.S. Teo (Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Pacific International Lines):
Views on Board Diversity
From perspective of companies, investors and advisers
Jun 29, 2018
Summary of the Panel Discussion with Piyush Gupta (CEO, DBS Group), Min Lan Tan (Group MD and APAC Head of Chief Investment Office, UBS Global Wealth Management) and Diaan-Yi Lin (Senior Partner and Asia Co-Lead for Social, Healthcare & Public Entities, McKinsey & Company):
Shared Wisdom
From Chairmen and Investors
Oct 5, 2016
Chairmen of leading Singapore companies with diverse boards are united in their view that gender‑diverse boards are simply better governed.
