“As society’s expectations for companies to act in socially responsible ways continue to rise, a new conception and the corporation and what it must do to operate in society is developing” write Heidrich & Struggles in their Board Monitor survey on US Fortune 500 firms.
According to lgbtqdirectors.org only 30 board seats (0.5%) of the over 5000 US Fortune 500 companies are held by leaders identifying as LGBTQ. The number minimally changes for the non-profit sector as surveyed by Board Source’s Leading with Intent for the non-profit sector, where we see 6% of all board chairs and board members identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. A further 0.1% report as other sexual orientation.
This work starts with boards gaining an understanding of how bias influences representation and being intentional about the relationships they are building to shore up representation. It also means creating an environment where board members have a sense of belonging. Societies’ demographics are changing, future generations will be more inclusive, both in aspects of surface as well as deep level diversity. Deep level diversity encompasses everything we cannot ascertain immediately about a person such as sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs to name a few.
The Board Monitor focuses almost exclusively on surface level diversity, namely race/ethnicity and gender. A Gallup poll in 2022 reported that 7.1% of the US adult population self-identifies as LGBTQ+. It is worthwhile taking a closer look at the breakdown in age groups. Close to 21% of adult Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2003, identify as LGBTQ+ and 10.5% of Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996. By 2030 almost all baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, will have reached retirement age and are currently the least self-identified LGBTQ+ with 2.6%, a number that may be significantly higher.
Boards must take steps today to be able to compete in the fight for talent acquisition and talent retention and must prepare for upcoming professional workforces to expect to see leadership levels reflecting their own identities. We encourage boards to implement the following actions to become more intentional about their board diversity.
Firstly, boards ought to conduct a board audit and competency audit on a regular basis to capture the diversity presence or absence as well as the possibility of adding board seats. We have developed a helpful short quiz to assist in this process.
Next, boards must adopt a more transparent and equitable recruitment & succession process as well as develop inclusive onboarding practices for new or first-time board members. We have created a platform to assist organizations to publish their board vacancies and for individuals to find board appointments.
Boards who want to become more aware about their board diversity, board recruitment and onboarding best practices are invited to reach out to us for support.