Diversity on Swiss Boards of Directors in 2020: 19% top - 67% flop

After all, 19% or 1,453 of the companies surveyed have gender diversity in the range of 30% - 70% and thus already voluntarily comply with the soon-to-be applicable gender benchmarks for boards of directors of listed companies. This is a ray of light on the horizon. Significantly above this target and thus particularly positive are 274 Swiss companies with a 50/50 distribution both on the board of directors and among the authorized signatories. They are referred to as "diversity champions" in this report.

The downside: 67% or 4,961 of the companies evaluated do not have a single woman on their board of directors, 132 no men. The picture is similarly bleak in terms of gender mix among all those responsible under commercial law (BoD & authorized signatories): 2,965 operate without women, 67 without men. This means 40% of the analyzed companies work without gender mix among their officers.

14 percent share of women with little effect

In view of these figures, it is clear that the majority of the companies analyzed are giving away decisive competitive advantages. The fact that mixed teams are more successful and have a higher profile thanks to their diversity in terms of, for example, problem-solving skills, innovative strength and risk assessment, has been sufficiently proven and is well known. Behavioral research shows that the full effect of diversity is felt when the proportion of women is at least 30%. With an average share of women of 14 % on the boards of directors and 19 % among the authorized signatories, diversity is not yet sufficiently effective at the companies studied. The potential to structurally improve the chances of entrepreneurial success is accordingly high.

The Swiss "Diversity Champions

There is another way. At least 274 of the companies evaluated have long since recognized this and prove it with a gender representation of 50 % women and 50 % men on the board of directors and among the authorized signatories, which is why the Diversity Report Switzerland 2020 designates them as "Diversity Champions".

These companies include, for example

• as the largest company, over 500 employees: YX Magnetic SA, Sierre
• as the oldest company, registered in the HR in 1883: Hotel Europe Davos AG, Davos
• as companies with over 100 employees, the largest board of directors and the highest number of authorized signatories:
• Groupe Médical de Versoix SA, Versoix
• Valmont Group Holding SA, Geneva
• EF Education First AG, Zurich
• Montanstahl SA, Stabio
• AG für Liegenschaftswerte, Basel
• Société anonyme de la Colline Champel, Geneva

What is surprising in this context is that the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, which was the last in Switzerland to introduce women's suffrage at the cantonal level in 1991, has the highest proportion of "diversity champions" at 13%.

Fix the system - not the women

"If we want more Swiss companies to become 'diversity champions' in the future, or at least exceed the 30% mark, a cultural change in these companies is inevitable," states Esther-Mirjam de Boer, co-owner and managing director of GetDiversity GmbH.

Companies that lose women on their way to the top management level are said to have a "leaking pipeline." In oil companies, it's clear that a leaking pipeline is fixed at the pipe, not the oil. Some executives still believe that a "leaking pipeline" in their talent pool is to be fixed at the women, rather than at the company. "More and more companies, however, are coming to the realization that company culture, interactions, structures, processes and habits are part of the problem and are changing the system because of it. The motto is: fix the system - not the women," the expert for diversity and inclusive culture concludes.

Source: GetDiversity
Note: A hit list of the "most female companies" was recently published by the consulting firm DOIT-smart. We reported about it.