Diversity

Talent and potential is always more diverse than may at first appear, although it requires lateral thinking and an unusual, expert knowledge of where to look to find the best candidates.

Marlin Hawk's client benchmarking includes an analysis of diversity among corporate boards of directors. We believe diversity is crucial to a well-functioning board, and that companies who value diversity at every level of the organisation fare better than those that do not.

Marlin Hawk views board diversity not only as a social imperative, but also as a strategic one. Boards that resemble the firm's customer base and staff, help dispel negative stereotypes and lend credibility to stated efforts to recruit, retain, and promote the best people. Diverse boards offer a broader outlook and have been shown to improve the quality of corporate deliberations and policymaking. In addition, studies have shown a strong positive correlation between board diversity and company value.

It is surely no coincidence that the country with the highest representation of women on corporate boards in the world - Norway, with a still-meager 22% - is the world's third richest nation in terms of GDP/capita (According The Economist's "The World in 2009" Norway is projected to have a GDP/capita of over $57,940 in 2009. Likewise, the purchasing power of racial and ethnic minorities has increased significantly in recent decades.

Yet progress in breaking through this glass ceiling has been stumbling. A recent survey of 6900 companies in twenty-six countries worldwide by the ‘Grant Thornton International Business Owners Survey' showed that although 59% of businesses have women in senior management positions they occupy less than a fifth (19%) of the positions available. Moreover, evidence shows that women are especially underrepresented in technology and telecoms companies.

We feel this to be a waste and take active steps to address the imbalance.