Eurobank: Supports the ‘the Boardroom’ initiative

76.7% of the positions on the boards (Boards) worldwide are filled by men. Overall, 23.3% of the board positions are filled by women, from 20.4% in 2018. Only in France and New Zealand this percentage exceeds 40%. An important indicator on the way to gender equality in the workplace is the percentage of large companies that have included at least one woman on their board. This percentage has increased to 89% worldwide from 85% in 2018. However, 10% of the largest companies do not yet have any female senior management and are spread across 24 of the 44 countries (surveyed) including China, Brazil, Germany and the USA.

These data were presented, among other things, at an event organized by Eurobank, hosted by the Deputy CEO of the bank, Costas Vassilios, for the presentation of the “the Boardroom” initiative that has come to our country with the aim of preparing and supporting capable women, with high training, in order to occupy positions on Boards of Directors and to contribute with their experience to the strategic development of companies.

Among the data presented by Ms. Diana Markaki, founder of “The Boardroom”, stood out:

The new placements of women in board positions in 2020 increased by 4%. The percentage of executive roles in the boards held by women reaches 6.7% (from the total percentage of 23.3% of women in the BoD).

In the last year (2021), women made up 29.7% of new directors, from 27% in 2018. And the number of new directors as a whole also increased, from 11.4% in 2018 to 13.5% in 2020. In almost no part of the world are women a higher percentage of new board members than men. Exceptions are New Zealand, where 2/3 of new members are women and South Africa, where they reach 62.5%.

Women worldwide constitute only 4.5% of CEOs and 15.4% of CFOs, from 3.7% and 12.2% in 2018.

Ways to increase equality in the BoD

Creating more opportunities: This can be achieved by enlarging the size of the board, adding new roles, such as vice chairmen or committees.

At least three under-represented votes are needed for effective representation and equality on the BoD. Multiple studies show that the dynamics of the board changes positively when there are at least three women. An IMF study shows that adding another woman to a company’s board of directors or senior management team, while keeping the size of the board unchanged, is associated with an increase in asset returns of 8 to 13 basis points. There is progress in this area: In 2020, 18 countries had an average of three or more women on the boards of their largest companies (up from 13 in 2018).

Quotas: Countries that have introduced quotas have more women on their corporate boards. 8 out of 18 countries with an average of 3 or more women have quotas or regulations requiring women to be hired.

In addition to quotas, there are other actions that have proven effective. In Canada, from the beginning of 2020, listed companies must provide annual reports on diversity policies and practices at both board and executive level. Institutional investors like BlackRock are also pushing companies they invest in to prioritize diversity on their boards.

Searching for talent without geographical constraints: Another opportunity to increase diversity on a board, especially in countries where women have limited roles in business culture, is to look for talent elsewhere. In 2020, 21% of the board members worldwide and 37% of the boards of directors of Western Europe were non-residents in the area of ​​their company headquarters. A quarter of them were women, but in Western Europe, the number rose to 41%.

The next steps for equality and inclusion:

Apart from the presence of women on the boards or in high-ranking positions in companies, the discussion now extends to the equal representation of other sub-groups. Particularly:

– Ethnic and racial diversity: 59% of FTSE 350 companies do not have ethnic diversity on their board. Only 15 non-white executives hold the role of president or CEO in the FTSE 350 companies (analyzed). In the US, black executives make up just 4.1% of the Russell 3000 index. This debate has risen higher in the public sphere since the assassination of George Floyd in 2020 and the movements that followed. Boards are now under pressure from activists, workers and consumers. There is also pressure from shareholders demanding greater diversification.

– LGBTQ +: This is a category with minimal data for its representation on the BoD for reasons of personal data protection. However, out of 5,000 positions on Fortune 500 companies, only 24 are held by openly LGBTQ + individuals. Only 9 of the Fortune 500 companies in the US include sexual orientation and / or gender identity as criteria for diversity in their candidacy and governance policies.

St. Ioannou (Deputy Managing Director of Eurobank) – Eurobank has created and continuously strengthens a working environment open to all

Speaking at the event, Eurobank Deputy CEO Stavros Ioannou pointed out that diversity is a driving force for business and innovation, as it contributes to the emergence of different perspectives and approaches that are beyond the established. In today’s world, a culture of inclusion is a serious competitive advantage for all companies and every employee, along with the specific characteristics and choices he / she has, must be able to feel fully accepted and receive the necessary support for his or her development. he added.

As she pointed out, last January, Eurobank was included in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI) 2022, an index that aims to monitor the performance of companies in the field of gender equality, on a five-pillar basis: Women’s leadership and talent, gender pay, a culture of inclusion, anti-sexual harassment policies and, finally, female empowerment policies. Eurobank is among the 5 Greek, in a total of 418 companies worldwide, included in the index. This important development, said Mr. Ioannou, is another recognition of the commitment that Eurobank has to support women workers in every moment of their career, as well as its commitment to the application of ESG criteria (Environmental, Social, Governance) in all aspects of the operation of the Group.

Mr. Ioannou pointed out that in Eurobank almost 60% of the employees are women, over 40% of the heads of units are women, 38% in senior management positions are held by women and 15% are women in executive positions (executives) .. Also 31% of the members of the Board of Directors are women.

Mr. Ioannou mentioned, among other things, that Eurobank has created and is constantly strengthening a working environment open to all, applying high standards of professionalism and policies against discrimination and exclusion. In fact, it recently implemented the “Women In Banking” initiative, indicative of the Bank’s long-term goal of creating a meaningful corporate culture of inclusion. This is a mentoring program from women to women with the aim of developing modern leadership skills in order to overcome obstacles or perceptions that limit their professional development, but also to strengthen their professionalism in the Organization.

The event was also addressed by Vasiliki Lazarakou, Chairman of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission, Diana Markaki, Founder of “The Boardroom”, Natasa Paschali, General Manager of Human Resources, Eurobank and Konstantinos Vassiliou, Deputy CEO, Eurobank.

The Boardroom in Greece with the support of Eurobank

Hailing from Zurich, where it has over 100 members, C-level and ExCom level women from the largest companies in the world, “the Boardroom” in one year expands to the United States and Europe, including Germany , Denmark and Greece. “The Boardroom” was founded in Switzerland by the Greek Diana Markaki as part of her EMBA studies at Harvard Business School. It has developed a holistic approach to the preparation of aspiring BoD members, with a view to strengthening Corporate Governance and diversity and board membership.

The choice of our country by the Greek founder Diana Markaki at the moment is not only accidental. Greek legislation from 2020 stipulates that at least 25% of the members of the board of directors of listed companies must be women. According to a report by the European Commission in 2019, in Greece less than 10% of people in such positions were women.

In Greece, “the Boardroom” is actively supported by Eurobank. Eurobank, the first member bank of the Boardroom, adopts as a strategic priority the strengthening of inclusion, of course in the field of women’s empowerment.

SOURCE: AMPE