Nine year hitch

Should board directors serve longer than the recommended nine years written into the UK Corporate Governance Code? Kimberley Lewis, head of active ownership at Schroders, thinks so.

Writing for the Financial Times, she argues that the current code advice could be “preventing quality independent directors from becoming board chairs”. And that the code’s “orthodoxies” need to be challenged from time to time.

She adds that when “companies choose to explain rather than comply with the code, it should not automatically be seen as a break with best practice”.

But let’s not forget the “explain” bit of  “comply or explain”.

Banging the drum for diversity

Good news from the investment industry: equality and diversity remain important. A survey from the Investment Association reveals that 75% of investors are collecting data across six out of eight characteristics, among them age, caring responsibilities, disability status, ethnicity, gender, neurodiversity, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.

The most-collected indicators are age (94%), gender (92%) and ethnicity (82%).

That may have some shouting “Woke!” but Board Agenda is pleased to read the news.

Karis Stander, director of culture, talent and inclusion at the Investment Association, says investment firms are expanding the data they collect.

“The findings also highlight the industry’s continued alignment with equity, diversity and inclusion values, ensuring that people from different backgrounds can access careers, progress professionally and feel a sense of belonging.”

And if the investors are still focused on EDI, I think we can all agree who else has to be.

Cults and corporate culture

A blog for the Institute of Business Ethics highlights the need for corporate culture and leadership to be right if ethics are going to work.

The lesson comes from an unlikely source: Tobias Sturesson, who draws on his experience of being in a cult.

“In corporate environments, we often see similar patterns to what I experienced: charismatic leaders whose early success insulates them from accountability, cultures that prioritise short-term results over long-term sustainability, systems that silence dissenting voices in the name of unity, and mission statements that become disconnected from daily practices.”

No doubt that’s going to be thought provoking for a lot of people in business.