5 Expert Tips to Increase Board Diversity

How to Increase Board Diversity

Increase board diversity with these 5 tips.

1. Conduct a Diversity Audit

A diversity audit reveals underrepresented attributes, skills, and competencies in the boardroom. Go beyond the conventional scope of financial expertise and professional experience, and include personal, experiential, and demographic attributes. The audit should show the board’s progress on diversity and new opportunities to optimize its composition. 

Then, use this data to establish what a board needs in a new director. Additionally, check whether the board’s policies promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, and adjust your recruitment process accordingly. 

2. Promote the Importance of Board Diversity

Diversity is crucial, but it becomes ineffective when board members’ perspectives aren’t regularly elicited or valued. To boost the effectiveness and promote the importance of diversity, boards need a more egalitarian culture that fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion. This elevates different voices, welcomes topics about diversity, and integrates contrasting perspectives, making board members feel their differences and attributes are incorporated into the board’s work. 

Being an organization known for valuing and discussing diversity simplifies recruiting new board members, because you’ll easily attract qualified candidates with different professional backgrounds and experiences.

3. Utilize a Board Skills Matrix

Director skills are crucial when looking to create a more diverse board. Before deciding who to recruit, assess your current board directors’ skills. A board skills matrix helps you achieve that and build the right board to ensure the organization stays true to its goals. 

A board skills matrix is a grid with two axes: The board of directors (or potential directors) are listed on one axis and their skills along the other. The two axes are crossed-checked, usually with an “X” or checkmark to map out skills present and absent on the board. 

With a board skills matrix, you easily assess what your board needs and map a systematic path to recruiting the right members. When creating a board skills matrix, consider the board’s current and future diversity needs. But don’t forget to include the following skill sets/experiences: 

• Network connections
• C-suite title
• Industry background

Boards should consider the above skill sets and add their own to build a skills matrix tailored to their needs. OnBoard provides a free board skills matrix template you can customize to suit your organization. 

4. Reevaluate Succession Plans

In a Harvard Business Review survey, 10% of participants said their boards don’t have a succession plan, and one-third reported their board’s succession plans were ad hoc—created when a member is about to retire. 

Boards need clear and proactive succession plans to ensure they are well-prepared to fill the empty seat when a member retires or steps down. An eleventh-hour succession plan prevents effective recruitment, which may fail to consider diversity appropriately. 

After creating a proactive succession plan, communicated it to all board members. Regularly revisit succession plans and tailor them to changing needs. 

5. Leverage Board Management Software

Features within a board portal platform, like skills tracking, enable boards to identify gaps within their current board composition and recruit accordingly. OnBoard’s purpose-built board management platform includes Skills Tracking, among other essential tools for modern board governance. OnBoard Skills Tracking helps boards:

• Manage skills tracking 
• Identify skills gaps in their current boards
• Make informed decisions for new member recruitment or succession planning 
• Save time and minimize complexity by having their board composition data stored in a central, secure location