Companies must focus on diversity, equity and inclusion to attract and retain talent: panel

The results of implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) may not reflected in company’s profit, but it will certainly help to gain social recognition and increase the chances to win the battle for talent, said speakers at a panel discussion on Thursday (June 9).

Soraphol Tulayasathien, senior executive vice-president and head of corporate strategy at the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said the effect of implementing DEI may be hard to quantify, but generally, people respect companies that put in effort when it comes to DEI development.

In Thailand, public awareness towards DEI has increased over the years and some companies are promoting DEI in their daily operations, he said during a session at Maybank’s Invest Asean conference.

He cited the example of a manufacturing company that hires hearing-impaired people to work in the factory, and a call centre that gives jobs to the visually-impaired. These firms have performed well in terms of productivity and are able to stand out from others in competing for workers, he said.

Maybank Investment Bank Group chief executive officer Ami Moris said that women empowerment is one of the key issues in promoting DEI, and publicly-listed companies around the region should take the lead to increase the number of females on their boards.

Currently, women hold 21 per cent of the board seats in listed companies in Thailand, while the rate is around 18 per cent for both Malaysia and Singapore, she added.

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Yeoh Ken Kyid, the vice-president of corporate governance and sustainability at Bursa Malaysia, noted that the stock exchange is working on enhancing the requirements of listed companies to have at least 1 female board member.

“With this, we hope to gradually change the corporate culture and move to our target of companies having 30 per cent of their board be females. We believe this is the right step forward, as once there is one female joining an all-male board, it will break this cultural barrier, he added.