FutureBoards Cross Border Dialogue - Singapore
On 5 February, FutureBoards together with the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Singapore, Telenor Asia, Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) and the Norwegian Business Association Singapore (NBAS) co-hosted the sixth FutureBoards Cross-Border Dialogue on Board Diversity.
Published 6 February 2025
A record 80 participants ranging from high-ranking board directors, executives, academics and practitioners came together to discuss issues concerning contemporary corporate governance. Diversity, equality and inclusion are issues high on the agenda in light of global headwinds and forces undermining these efforts. Against this backdrop, the cross-border dialogue aims to create a forum and advance the agenda on diversity, representation and inclusion in corporate governance, issues of great great importance but evidently under increasing pressure.
The dialogue brought together experienced speakers and corporate decision makers to exchange views on challenges facing corporate boards where companies today are facing mounting performance requirements, increased uncertainty, geopolitical instability, technological disruptions and human capital gaps arising from gender inequality and untapped resources arising from other disparities.
Turid Solvang, the CEO of FutureBoards, kicked off the dialogue with a discussion about features that characterize board composition and functioning in ASEAN and Norway, by asking how do boards navigate in these rough waters? What’s on top of their agendas now, and do they have the competence and personal qualities that is required?
In addition to gender balance, do our corporate boards have sufficient diversity of experience and backgrounds, as well as diversity of thoughts, minds and perspectives? Not just to ask the relevant questions, but also to make the right judgment calls?
Ms. Ching Yoke Sin, chair of the SID Women, highlighted that a feature that determines the degree of success of a corporate board in Singapore relates to the foundation of perspectives embedded in a diverse board, flexibility and thereon ability to adapt and drive business forward. Marked by the saying “birds of a feather, flock together,” homogeneity in corporate boards used to be a feature of stable and effective governance in Singapore, however that no longer hold true as companies today depend more and more on diversity in people competence, perspectives and skills to navigate constantly changing circumstances.
According to Oliver Tonby, Senior Partner at McKinsey and Company whose advised global companies, being on a board today is like night and day compared to five years ago. Changing corporate environment, disruptions and increasing complexity require deeper commitment, time and focus from board members.
Moreover, as challenges become increasingly cross-cutting, senior management and boards have to constantly balance business and geopolitics at much large scale than before. Financial metrics are not the only factors of relevance. The range of risks that companies are faced with today are more complex and stratified and occur at a much faster pace than before. Thus, diversity in talent, perspectives, cultural and contextual references add valuable in governance and corporate decision making.
Concerning board composition and competence, Jeanne Stampe, Lead ESG Policy Advisor from Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), highlighted the fund’s expectations and voting guidelines regarding board diversity, independence and accountability in companies and markets that NBIM holds assets in.
Reflective of society at large, Håkon Bruaset Kjøl, Deputy Head of Telenor Asia, shared his observation that with the ever-increasing participation of women in the workforce in Asia, there are many highly qualified women candidates available for board positions. However, you still need to put in extra effort in search and recruitment to board roles. According to Håkon, having diversity in terms of gender, age and experiences brings valuable perspectives and different views that broaden discussions and better decision-making processes.
Finally, Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, COO at DNV Maritime and Swee Chen Goh from Nanyang Technological University and Co-Chair of the Singapore Council for Boad Diversity touched upon the importance of upskilling of board members, the challenge of asymmetrical information between management teams and boards of directors, how to bridge, avail knowledge and leverage multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise across board members, as well as the opportunities that technology, especially AI, presents in corporate governance.
The panel sessions were complemented by an engaging round of discussion where participants shared their perspectives, views and experiences. As one participant warned, it is important that boards and companies refrain from fitting diversity in one person to tick off boxes but instead put genuine effort to ensure inclusion and representation is achieved wholeheartedly and across the board.