TROPHY AND PUPPET WOMEN DIRECTORS
A trophy woman director is on who sits on the board of directors of multiple companies because of her experience, skills, and knowledge. In Norway, the group of elite women directors who are over-boarded is holding too many pivotal positions and are sought after area known as the ‘Golden Skirts’. This is a rising trend in the Indian corporate sector where every company tries to poach the same set of women for their boards. The issue with trophy women directors is that they are over-boarded that is they are simultaneously on multiple boards leading to low efficiency. The second issue and pretty major one is that if one woman occupies places in 10 board of directors then she reduces the chance of 10 aspiring and equally talented women if not more qualified to sit on that board. The company does not take into consideration the women with high potential in its talent pool instead outsources an over-boarded woman director causing the death of the aspirations of the other competent women eyeing the same position.

Over-boarding of women directors is not only bad for these women but has a serious impact on organizational performance. This is because the concerned director will never be able to devote in entirety her time and take up a core governance role or duties. Over-boarding, to comply with the mandate and also add value to the board, has led a serious impact on the performance of the board which should be discussed by the chairman and the directors. There should be a standard measure to analyze the performance of directors individually and if over-boarding affects it. This might be seen by a lot of directors as a storm in a teacup by most but it is a huge red flag in terms of commitment. To mitigate these concerns, the current regulations have put a cap on the maximum number of directorships or boards a person can be part of. It is eight of listed companies by 1st April 2019 and seven by 1st April 2020. It has been provided that a director holding the position of managing or full-time director in a listed company can be an independent director for not more than three other listed companies.

Coming to Puppet women directors these are usually female family members who are introduced just to comply with norms and hold apposition the board as a mere signatory authority. These women have no say in the works of the board and are not usually involved in the decision-making process. They are puppets in the hands of the male directors or counterparts who act as puppeteers controlling them by the strings. When SEBI made the inclusion of women compulsory and set a timeline many companies hastily introduced family members to adhere to it. This was a last-minute desperate resort. Several companies, for example, Apollo Hospitals, UB Group, Raymond, JK Tyres, etc have appointed their relatives as directors on the board.

Many companies are uncomfortable with regards to changing the composition of the board and with the government putting a limitation of having only seven boards that a person can be a part of is making it more complicated because there is a limited pool to select from because of the deadline to be adhered to and lack of mentoring/ training programs for new entrants. The process of introducing and appointing competent women directors is not something that can be done overnight because it takes at least two to three years to train the person to handle the responsibilities. But it is shameful and pathetic that the companies are unable to hire 1500 women as per the number of listed companies who need to comply with the mandate. The problem is that boards search for people who have the same train of thought and idea chain but instead they should try to make the boards as diverse as possible for better growth and expansion of horizons.

This Article Does Not Intend To Hurt The Sentiments Of Any Individual Community, Sect, Or Religion Etcetera. This Article Is Based Purely On The Authors Personal Views And Opinions In The Exercise Of The Fundamental Right Guaranteed Under Article 19(1)(A) And Other Related Laws Being Force In India, For The Time Being.