Female talent ‘can’tbe ignored’ CEOs told

The event was organised by Diversity Mark NI recently.

The special guest was Gary Kennedy, chair of Greencore. and co-chair of Balance for Better Business, a business group launched by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to improve gender balance in senior leadership in Ireland.

The lunch, sponsored by Danske Bank and First Derivatives plc, welcomed more than 100 of the country’s CEOs and senior business leaders who gathered in support of working together to achieve a better diversity in business.

Balance for Better Business has set what it has described as “challenging targets” – it is seeking to achieve 33% female representation on boards of ISEQ 20 companies by 2023 and no all-male boards by the end of 2019 with the aim of increasing women’s representation in governance and senior management.

Head of business at Diversity Mark NI, Christine White said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Gary Kennedy to our event today and to learn about Balance for Better Business, where government and businesses are working together to achieve cultural change in business leadership that will ultimately position them as market leaders in corporate decision-making.

“With only 18% of board directors being female and over one third of companies in Ireland having no female representation at all, Gary stressed that businesses cannot afford to ignore the valuable talent of over half of the population.

“Hosting this series of events is extremely important as it signifies the crucial work needed to further gender balance and diversity within the workplace.

“As women make up 50% of the population, we place emphasis on gender diversity and recognise the need for a wider diversity and inclusion in organisations for them to reach their full potential. A balanced workforce is good for business, customers and profitability and I would urge companies to sign up to our Charter Mark.”