Daunted by Diversity Efforts? Three Experts Share Tips for Securing Diverse Board Talent

There’s no shortage of qualified candidates who can fulfill diversity goals and open board seats in one fell swoop. Here’s how to make it happen. 

1. Evaluate Where You Stand

The first step is to see how your organization measures up against current board benchmarks within your industry — and then assess the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

“You must look at where you are and how it looks against those in your industry, as well as those you benchmark against in terms of pay,” Peter says. 

Getting a baseline sense of where your organization sits on the DEI spectrum can help guide the scope and pace of change.

You can also take this evaluation opportunity to look at the skill gaps in your board itself. Are you missing specific skills? Do you have a succession plan for board members who may soon step down or phase out?

Answering these role-specific questions can shape a job description that gets you one step closer to seeking new candidates who meet your diversity and business goals. 

2. Set Term Limits

Since lack of turnover is one of the primary barriers to increasing board diversity, one logical solution would be to set term limits. This practice currently varies greatly among public, private, and nonprofit boards. 

Very few publicly traded companies have term limits for corporate board members. According to Lissa, only 6% currently have term limits, and when they do have limits in place, the average term limit is 15 years. 

“In the nonprofit boards that I’ve sat on, term limits are much more common and the terms shorter, which seems like a refreshing way to get new talent and new blood into the boardroom,” Lissa says.  

In addition to implementing term limits, consider rotating members in and out of roles of greater authority, such as committee chairs. This will ensure that one person doesn’t monopolize a high-profile board role for too long and give a chance for diverse faces to sit at the proverbial head of the table. 

3. Conduct Annual Evaluations

We mentioned that the practice of evaluating board members is rare-to-nonexistent. You wouldn’t hire an employee and then skip their annual review for 10 years. So why would you bring on a board member with no intention of counseling or checking in?

But in addition to evaluating individual board members, there are other ways to conduct holistic board checkups and self-reporting.

Many companies are creating Human Capital Management committees to facilitate organization-wide diversity and SEC reporting requirements. If your organization follows that path, one possibility is to turn the committee’s attention to the organization’s workforce and the board itself. 

“If there is a human capital strategy committee, what is the authority of that committee?” Marilyn says. “Not only should the board look at the company in terms of diversity and inclusion and equity, but it should also look at itself for that — and report on its own structures.”

Boards that take steps to self-reflect and self-govern will quickly gain internal awareness of what needs to happen to generate more inclusion. 

4. Fill Openings Intentionally 

While it’s easy to fall back on filling board seats by asking who knows whom or tapping non-diverse networks, there are other ways to find and attract diverse talent.

First, start contributing to efforts to increase the transparency of board composition. Showcase the diversity you already have, or publish your goals to make prospective board members feel welcome.

Next, seek out new recruitment platforms. Lissa and Marilyn facilitate registries where diverse directors and potential directors can upload a resume and showcase their industry expertise. They regularly conduct searches at the request of for-profit and nonprofit boards to provide candidate lists that meet their specifications. 

5. Add Net-New Board Seats 

Finally, if you don’t want to force current board members to step down or shorten their terms, the ace move is to increase the size of your board.

According to Peter, you can approach this in different ways. One way would be to expand the entire board footprint if changing business needs warrant additions. 

Another option is temporarily increasing the size as you pass the reins to new talent. This allows you to bring on someone new and comfortably onboard them while the current director prepares to phase out. 

Both options allow you to get fresh, diverse faces into your boardroom more quickly.