Although women make up roughly half of the labor force, executive decisions are still dominated by men — including corporate boards of directors.
Currently, only 20.2 percent of board seats for the largest public companies in the U.S. are held by women. To correct this imbalance, California passed a law in 2018 that required any public company headquartered in the state to have at least one woman on its board. Corporate America and the #MeToo movement have been pushing to add more women to boards as part of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
The expansion of corporate board opportunities for women can particularly help human resources leaders. “Many HR people are invited to be on a corporate board because they are subject matter experts,” says China Gorman, aPHR, HRCI board member and chair-elect. Gorman is also an independent director and adviser on several corporate boards.
Here are three ways to prepare yourself for corporate board service.
Boards are especially interested in talent at the C-suite level. For the most part, public and private company boards are filled with people who are senior executives at their respective organizations.
While boards seek members with a wide range of skills from strategic planning to risk management to finance, HR professionals have an edge for board positions because workforce planning is so central to strategy. “They can position themselves as experts in compensation, benefits, as well as diversity and inclusion,” says Stephanie Sonnabend, co-chair and founder of 2020 Women on Boards. “As we know in this current climate, experience managing a diverse workforce can be a plus for potential board members.”
Board service is fundamentally about leadership, and those skills can be developed at your paid job and through volunteer work.
Committee experience is particularly helpful for board members, Sonnabend says. Seek out opportunities to contribute to cross-functional committees at your organization, focusing on those with high strategic value. Your perspective as an HR professional can be very valuable as various initiatives are evaluated and executed.
If your current role doesn’t allow you to gain that type of leadership experience, consider joining a nonprofit board. “A small or medium-sized local nonprofit is a great way to get started,” Gorman says. Once you serve on one nonprofit board, you can transfer your experience into bigger boards at larger nonprofit organizations — and into corporate boards.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself forward and make it specific to the kind of networking required to land a board seat. This type of networking usually happens more on golf courses and ski slopes rather than just virtual conferences and industry meetings.
“It's really important for women to determine who their network is and reach out to those who know who are on boards or who might know other people on boards,” Sonnabend says. Don’t limit yourself to current colleagues and friends because old contacts can lead to new opportunities.
Finally, networking is a powerful tool. Build allies among women in business by building each other up. “It’s really important for women to support other women,” Sonnabend says. If you see women being overlooked, for example, draw attention and recognition back to them. Amplify each other’s voices: One woman might be overlooked, but several women demanding to be heard will change society and the boardroom.