Published March 7, 2009

S'pore's best-kept secret

A register of 400 talented women, some qualified to serve on boards, if only companies would seek them out

By EMILYN YAP

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'WE love the men,' said women's association member Noor Quek with a smile. The question is, do men love women back, at least on Singapore's corporate scene? Maybe not enough, going by findings from a recent Watson Wyatt study about women in the workplace.

FEMALE RESOURCE Members of the Women's Register (from left) Juanita Woodward, Junie Foo and Noor Quek

Looking at the 100 largest companies here, it found that 72 did not have a single female non-executive director on their board. This gives Singapore the dubious distinction of being the least inclusive when stacked up against Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

A shortage of talent in the female ranks, you murmur? Then obviously you have never heard of the Women's Register - an initiative that offers companies here access to a huge female talent pool to appoint to their boards, if only they'd care to ask.

It is a gathering of more than 400 women - 63 per cent of whom have bachelor's degrees, master's degrees or PhDs and 60 per cent of whom are in the prime ages of 30-49. The irony is that few businesses here have actually used it in their search for talent.

'We want to increase the awareness of WR. We want corporations and people to know that there is such a resource they can tap on,' said Junie Foo, chairwoman of the WR committee and also director of origination and client coverage at Standard Chartered Singapore.

A follow-up in January showed little improvement - women now take up 5.7 per cent of board seats in STI firms. The Watson Wyatt study confirms the trend. The question is: what can be done about this?

The WR is a project of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO). 'The whole aim of this project is to promote women and leadership in the public and private sectors, especially with a focus on women on boards,' Juanita Woodward, a WR committee member and Eurogiro's director of Asia Pacific customer relations.

'(We are) looking to see how we can, through the WR, match women to boards and also look at the talents which perhaps in a few years would be eligible to sit on a board.'

The issue of low female representation on the boards of Singapore-listed companies is well-known. A BT study in 2006 found that women occupied just 3.8 per cent of board seats in 50 STI companies, and it helped spur the launch of the WR on International Women's Day (March 8) in 2007.

A follow-up in January showed little improvement - women now take up 5.7 per cent of board seats in STI firms. The Watson Wyatt study confirms the trend. The question is: what can be done about this?

Having a register is 'very good' as it identifies a pool of potential women directors, said Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Lim Hwee Hua. But 'if companies somehow are not conscious or aware of the availability of such women, then they won't be looking'.

In the last two years, most users of the WR were non-profit organisations such as the Disabled People's Association and the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. Organisations can only contact candidates through the WR web engine - there is no direct access until those interested reply directly.

The WR committee hopes to acquaint more companies with the database. Firms have to first sign up as corporate members by paying a one-time registration fee of $10 and an annual fee of $200. The annual fee is $10 for non-profit organisations.

The intention is to get companies to recognise talent, both male and female, Ms Foo underlined. 'We're not pushing a gender issue per se,' she stressed.

Several executive search firms agree that companies generally focus on candidates' skills only. According to Korn/Ferry International's managing director in Singapore and Indonesia Gerard Chai, most here do not ask specifically for male or female directors.

'The shortage of women at the board level could be explained by a combination of companies themselves not making more of a conscious effort to recruit women directors, fewer numbers of high-profile women to recruit from and women themselves shying away from the role,' he said.

Recognising that there are other factors keeping women from the boardroom, the WR also helps women network and share advice. As Ms Quek, a WR committee member and managing director of consultancy firm NQ International highlighted, some underestimate their own capabilities. 'That's why we also reach out to them - we recognise your skills and we think you can contribute.'

And women can contribute at a time when the economy is flagging, said Ms Woodward. Companies should tap all the resources available and with the WR, hopefully they will 'throw the net out wider'.

The SCWO has met up with the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) to promote the WR. According to the SID, there was in-principle agreement on general collaboration between the two organisations.

The WR itself plans to reach out to more women by organising one or two events every month - it is in fact having a lunch today to discuss how women can be leaders. 'We're out there, we're hunting,' Ms Quek said.