Minister Hautala receives Hallitustimantti award
Today, 6 October, Heidi Hautala, Minister responsible for ownership steering, received the Hallitustimantti 2011 award granted to the ownership steering department of the Prime Minister’s Office. The objective of the recognition is to promote the implementation of diversity in company boardrooms.
Since the turn of the millennium, female representation on the boards of state-owned companies has taken a huge leap forward. In the past few years, the share of women on all boards of companies where the state has a majority holding has climbed to over 40 per cent or thereabouts. However, the world is not complete yet.
Minister Hautala has paid attention to the fact that the number of women on the management teams of state-owned companies has not grown in line with the boards of directors. This can be affected by drawing up and implementing detailed equality plans where women’s career development is taken under scrutiny.
– The issue is also about the rules of society. As long as the career breaks of educated women are vastly longer than those of men, women will face a glass ceiling. Increasing parental leave earmarked for fathers would be an excellent solution to this.
Board Professionals ry, which gave the award, states in its reasoning that, in state ownership steering, a programme on increasing the share of women on the boards of directors of state-owned companies and the state’s associated companies has been successfully implemented for years. According to the organisation, the experiences gained from more versatile boards of directors than previously been positive. Good governance and an aspiration towards optimal utilisation of resources have made a crucial step forward, creating a more sustainable basis on which to build our country's competitiveness.
– The diversity of boards of directors is important to a company, and it is much more than a gender issue. The diversity of generations, expertise, the viewpoint obtained from society and, increasingly, also ethnic background creates the best preconditions for effective corporate governance, says Minister Hautala.
BPF Hallitustimantti is a recognition awarded every year by Board Professionals BPF Finland ry. The award can be given to a company, association, person or other entity that has, through its operations, significantly promoted the diversity of boards of directors and that way created preconditions for better competitiveness.
Inquiries: Lauri Korkeaoja, Special Adviser to the Minister, +358 44 078 8282, [email protected]
