| The Norwegian Revolution |
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From 3% to 40% board representation in 16 years By Jannik Lindbæk, Leading The Way In 1992 the percentage of women on the boards of Norway’s Public Listed Companies was 3%. Sixteen years on, the figure has soared to 39%. It took government intervention to make this happen so quickly. In 2002, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Ansgar Gabrielsen, surprised the nation with a new piece of legislation designed to force Norway’s biggest companies to comply with a quota of 40% women on their boards. By this time, the percentage of women on the board had reached 6%. In 2005, the law was passed to the consternation of many business leaders, who feared it would force them to bring in less able candidates at the expense of men who had the required experience. Nonetheless, the new law was passed in 2005 requiring all companies to comply by January 2008. Those that did not could actually face the dissolution of their companies, though this measure was never taken. The latest figures suggest that the quota has been met and Norway has reached an approximate figure of 40%, four times higher than the European average, which is currently at about of 9.7%, according to research from the US non-profit organization Catalyst This ranges from Sweden with a relatively high percentage figure of 26.9% to the lowest of all, Portugal with 0.8%. Jannik Lindbæk, a leading Norwegian businessman, fully supported the changes. During this period he was chairman of the Den Norske Bank (1999-2004) and chairman of the Norwegian petroleum company Statoil, now part of StatoilHydro 2003 to 2007). He was also the founder and chairman of the anti-corruption body Transparency International’s Norwegian office, where he worked from 2000 to 2006. He was an early supporter of the quota initiative. "I thought it was a very good idea, though of course it was radical and controversial…I liked the proposal and always supported it." He says that he had come from a family where the women had taken on various roles in society and he believed that it was a matter of social justice to improve the representation of women at the top of the country’s major companies. In addition, he believed that the measure would improve corporate performance as it opened up the talent pool. "It is obvious if you are disregarding a very large part of the talent pool just because it is the tradition, then it is likely that you will miss out on some very important talent," he says. He also has always believed that the debate at the top table would benefit from having both sexes there. Whilst many businessmen groaned at the prospect of having to find their quota of women, Lindbæk says he had always found it relatively easy. Obviously, the nominating committees had to work hard to canvas the previously untapped pool of female talent but with the help of outside professional recruiting firms, it was not a problem, he says. "It is obvious if you are disregarding a very large part of the talent pool just because it is the tradition, then it is likely that you will miss out on some very important talent." Women make the right call in bribery scandal Currently, other European countries such as Spain, the Netherlands and the UK are debating how to increase the proportion of women at the top. But none of them, so far, want to copy the Norwegian model. Lindbæk thinks they should consider it. For one thing, there is always going to be natural resistance to such change, which needs to be given a hefty jolt. "I think it is a general human trait that we tend to recruit in our own image, which means that middle-aged or older men like myself tend to recruit older men unless you have an impulse or impetus to change that," he says. This requires strong commitment from the top, something that may only take hold in a few enlightened companies. In Norway, every board had to act or face the possibility of being dissolved. In 2003, Lindbæk was recruited to become chairman of Statoil, following a scandal in which the company was alleged to have been involved in bribery to secure advantage in regard to its operations in Iran. When the issue came to the attention of the previous board, Lindbæk recalls, it split between those who made the judgement that nothing untoward had taken place and those that felt it warranted further investigation. The latter group included the board’s three female directors of the time. Their judgment proved sounder as a subsequent investigation cleared Statoil of bribery but still fined it 20 million Kroner for hiring a lobbyist to secure drilling rights in Iran. Lindbæk was the perfect person to take over and ensure the company stayed clear of future scandals of this nature, given his role in Transparency International. Looking back on this time, during which the then Chairman and CEO of Statoil had both resigned, Lindbæk does feel that the female board directors proved in very real terms the value of having women well represented at the top. "I think, first of all, the board did the right thing and that the three women representatives on the board played a very key and very active role on this issue." "I think it is a general human trait that we tend to recruit in our own image, which means that middle-aged or older men like myself tend to recruit older men unless you have an impulse or impetus to change that." More work to be done for women in Norway So, has the fight been won for women in Norway? Lindbæk does feel that things have progressed enormously since he first came into business forty years ago. He recalls the time in the 1980s when Norway’s female prime minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, said she would put more women into her cabinet. "And she did it," says Lindbæk. "This set an example, I think." Prime Minister Brundtland had committed herself to having at least 35% of her cabinet made up of women. In fact it was almost 50% (eight out of eighteen). Women have also taken on roles that would have been almost inconceivable forty years ago, says Lindbæk. "At Statoil women are in senior management. They are handling huge responsibilities as project managers and taking on technical jobs." But at the same time, Lindbæk feels that more could be done to improve the opportunities for women to advance through all levels of their organizations. Here, he thinks, it is changing more slowly. In Norway, 65% of university and college graduates are women, 50% of law graduates, 40% of MBAs, 70% of veterinary graduates and 60% of medical students. Responding to this overwhelming pool of talent is a big challenge for organizations, says Lindbæk. "You have to work systematically at all levels right from the recruitment side onwards. You have to monitor progress and work on the development of women from the early stages of their career to the management level and further to senior levels in the organization. It is up to the HR departments and senior management to make sure that happens." In a nutshell: Radio 4's In Business, Forty percent female
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