REC’s executive recruiters group to lead review into board diversity
Sir John Parker, chair of the Parker Review Committee, has asked members of the Association of Executive Recruiters to lead an industry review into improving ethnic diversity within UK boardrooms.
A specialist group of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, AER members will review the government’s voluntary code for executive search firms.
The move follows a roundtable event earlier this month in which AER members hosted Sir John and his co-chair David Tyler to discuss strategies to improve the ethnic diversity of UK boards.
In November, a report published by the Parker Review Committee found just 1.5% of directors in FTSE 100 boardrooms are UK citizens from a minority background, despite the fact 14% of the population identify as black and minority ethnic.
Parker’s report recommended that each FTSE 100 board should have at least one director of colour by 2021 and claimed executive search firms are key to ensuring this happens.
The AER’s review of the voluntary code to address ethnic diversity builds upon the Davies Review in 2011, aimed at improving the representation of women at board level and which resulted in women’s representation on FTSE 100 boards doubling in less than five years.
