A L L B U S I N E S S D A I L Y
22 FRIDAY • DECEMBER 12, 2014
MINDA CEO Datuk Abdul Aziz Abu Bakar posing questions to 3 corporate figures on their take on Women on Board (from left) Media Prima Bhd chairman Tan Sri Johan Jaafar, Crewstone International Sdn
Bhd non-executive chairman Datuk Wira Jaliah Baba and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd chairman Datuk Dr Syed Muhammad Syed Abdul Kadir during the NIEW Forum
Getting women on board
Now, women are better prepared to be part of the boardroom
by CHARLES FERNANDEZ
GETTING connected can still be an issue for some women
seeking to progress in their career in a male-dominated envi-
ronment. The same goes for business networking. Women find
difficulties getting into the “club”, mainly because many net-
working events are organised around male interests.
If given the opportunity on equal footing, they may no
longer feel disadvantaged for being a woman. Leveraging
on opportunities is something women could do to be more
effective and provide themselves the access and exposure to
the board levels.
Nowadays, women tend to be more vocal and expressive and
are just as eager as their male counterparts to achieve a top level
position if given the opportunity; the era of women trying to
keep up with men at work is now essentially over.
Clearly, women these days have more advantages. They are
often one of a few in a room and they may stand out and be
counted. In the early 80s, the norm was that it was the men’s
world. All that has changed. Now, women are better prepared
to be part of the boardroom.
An ACCA-TalentCorp survey found that women want to be
recognised just like their male counterparts. Hence, Corporate
Malaysia needs to do more to retain women in the workforce,
not for welfare reasons but because it is good for business and it
is the right thing to do.
On the Malaysian front, many observed that women are most
prolific in the workforce in their 20s. Their ranks then begin to
thin out once they start families. As a result, women in senior
management and the C-suites are outnumbered by their male
peers, and the environment becomes male-dominated.
This is in contrast to Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong
which are able to retain 20% of women, similar to Scandinavian
countries like Norway.
Looking at the scenario, tapping into female productivity will
be critical, for example getting more women on boards of public
companies, if companies want to enlarge and enrich their talent
pool in an era of scarce resources.
At the Women Directors Convention (WDC) held recently,
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk
Seri Rohani Abdul Karim called for more public companies to
take the lead in driving for change in their recruitment process
of board placements.
The WDC serves as a network platform for board-ready
women and the business to connect and revisit the progress
made on the policy of at least 30% women in decision-making
positions in the corporate sector by 2016.
The event themed “Leveraging Diversity for Performance”,
also marked the completion of the Women’s Directors Training
Programme conducted by NAM Institute for the Empowerment
of Women (NIEW), an institute under the Ministry of Women,
Family & Community Development, for 250 potential women
directors for 2014.
Rohani said while there were positive strides made in getting
more women on to the boards of Malaysian public listed
Diverse companies
companies, women still only accounted for slightly over 10% of
all directorship roles.
would have better access
However, she reiterated that the appointment of women as
company board of directors should not be just to fill up the to global investors.
quota; instead they should be there because they work hard
for the position and deserve it on merit and can bring value
to these boards. — Datuk Seri Idris Jala,
She also pointed out that increasing women representation
in the boardroom is an impending reality, not just because of
Pemandu CEO
gender equality but because it makes business sense.
While contending that women do not necessarily make
better directors, she stressed that by having at least this
percentage on board, the company’s landscape would change
as women bring a different set of skills to boards that enhance
performance.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris
Jala, who is also Pemandu CEO, added that having the best talent
and diversity of perspectives only enhances the likelihood of
success for these corporations.
The forum brought together chairpersons, board directors,
and business and government leaders to share and discuss how
all stakeholders can support and champion the at least 30%
women-on-board agenda in Malaysia and accelerate
the pace of placements of women on
boards of public companies.
Idris said he was so encouraged
to see Malaysian business leaders
pledge to support the “at least 30%
Women on Boards” initiative.
The forum was also told initially
the government set themselves the
target that at least 30% decision-
making positions in the public sector
must be women and that the public
sector has achieved the target with
women comprising 33.7%.
The half-day event witnessed a live
presentation by Helena Morrisey, founder and
CEO of 30% Club, who shared on a UK success story where a
national collaborative and concerted business-led effort was
instrumental for the increase in the placements of Women on
Boards, from 12% in 2010 to 22% in 2014.
The event attracted some 300 participants, including corporate
chairpersons, board directors, board recruiters, and diversity
champions and women leaders across all sectors.

Tan Sri Dr Rafidah Salim posing a question on
women during the NIEW Forum
CIMB Islamic Bank chairman Syed Muhammad
Pics by Muhd Amin Naharul attending the NIEW Forum
Rohani (centre) and other VIPS reading The Malaysian Reserve at the NIEW Forum
Women directors
should enhance
visibility to be
noticed
by Azli Jamil
Women directors should make more
effort to enhance their visibility in order to
be noticed by corporate upper echelons.
This is the key takeaway from the Women
Directors Convention in Kuala Lumpur on
Tuesday.
In addition to the above, getting the right
mentor who’s willing to promote gender
diversity within the corporate world is
important to enhance the visibility of
women, in line with the aspiration to have
at least 30% women in decision-making
positions in the corporate sector by 2016.
“Visibility is needed. Women have
to make themselves visible in order to
be noticed,” said Women, Family and
Communit y Development Minister
Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.
Responding to the 30% target, in
2012, the Ministry of Women, Family
and Community Development had,
through its agency NAM Institute for
the Empowerment of Women (NIEW),
introduced Women Directors’ Programme
(WDP) to support the policy.
The programme is fully funded by the
Government and aims to develop more
women to enter into the boardroom in
public listed companies (PLCs)
“So far, 913 women have completed WDP
and 164 of them have gone on to become
directors of PLCs,” said Rohani.
Rohani also impressed on the need to
accelerate the movement where in 2015
the focus would shift towards creating
demand through multiple initiatives.
The event also marked the successful
completion of the Women Directors
Training for 250 potential women directors
for 2014. Next year, 125 women are expected
to attend the programme.
One of the participants for this year’s
programme, BuildersBiomass Sdn Bhd
chairman Ooi Suan Kim, found the
programme beneficial as it exposed her to
the inner working of board level.
“The programme is very holistic and
well rounded where the contents range
from hard skills to soft skills,” she said.
She noted the need to have mentoring
for women, which is one of the soft skills,
is important for women in the male-
dominated board room.
“Women on board should think like
men,” said Ooi.
Earlier, Rohani warned that her ministry
will seriously consider implementing
a Women’s Development Act to ensure
achieving gender equality and protecting
women’s welfare if the 30% target of
women in decision-making positions in the
corporate sector by end of 2016 is not met.
“Currently we are using persuasive
moves to get corporations to comply. We
will wait for 2016 and if the target is not
reached, then we will change to a different
approach,” she said.
Rohani said an Act could be necessary
as companies not in compliance could be
fined as in the case of South Korea and
Norway where specific Acts are in place
to ensure gender equality, eliminate
gender discrimination and enhance
women’s participation in all aspects of
political, economic, social and cultural
fields.
“We must have comprehen sive
studies and research conducted before
implementing such an Act,” said Rohani.
Nonetheless, she highlighted that
the public sector which implemented
the policy in 2004 has 33.7% women in
decision-making positions.
Commenting on such an Act, Ooi said
the Act is not needed yet as the pace for
women in corporate world is robust, adding
that “it doesn’t justify to have an Act”.
Shahjanaz Kamaruddin, a WDP alumni
from 2013 class, agrees that visibility is
important and one of the ways to achieve
this is to widen the network within and
outside the gender circle.
“The quality of the visibility is
important,” said Shahjanaz.
Earlier, in his keynote address at the
convention, Performance Management
and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) CEO
and Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala
highlighted that the women agenda is all
about inclusiveness.
Nonetheless, he noted the hesitance
of corporate boards to include women
as change does not come easily for male-
dominated board.
“The psychology of a company’s board is
that when you are comfortable with people
who have been board members with you
for years, you don’t want to change,” said
Idris.
“It never occurs to many boards that they
have to have a balanced board,” he added
about the importance of gender diversity
as shown by some research findings.”
With regard to the 30% board and senior
management guideline, Idris clarified the
reason for the number is that it is a critical
mass for input by female board members
to be felt and not merely representation.
“Token numbers is not enough,” said
Idris.
He further clarified that 30% is not
a quota but an aspiration to ensure
inclusiveness.
“Diverse companies would have better
access to global investors,” he said.

Rohani giving her opening speech

at the NIEW Forum

Rohani (second from left) meeting participants at the NIEW Forum

A section of the participants listening attentively to the presentation during the NIEW Forum