It’s encouraging that boards are more focused on gender and ethnicity as well as diversity, yet many are still struggling to reach their full potential. Boards who rely on the recruiting of diverse directors to «check boxes» could end having a board that is demographically diverse, but lacking in cognitive diversity, which can decrease the effectiveness of boards.
When the right amount of diversity is brought to a board, the results can be transformational. If women are represented on the board, their perspective on topics such as merchandising, and marketing can be incorporated on the deliberations. The result is a better understanding of the customer and their needs, which will likely increase sales and profits.
The benefits of diversity can extend to the external environment of the company. A board with a diverse demographic is more aware of issues such as discrimination in the workplace and sexual harassment and better able to anticipate changes in attitudes of employees regarding equal pay and corporate practices.
If a board is considering to expand Board Diversity its efforts in diversity to the next step, it’s a good idea to think about what the board will look like and how it will identify and recruit candidates that possess the knowledge, skills, experience and contacts necessary for that. To achieve this it could consider conducting self-assessments of its current composition and using resources such as Michigan Nonprofit Association’s diversity tool to spark candid discussions among board members and important stakeholders about what the board looks for in terms of diversity.