Young board members bring unique value to the table

livemint.com:

Leadership Initiative. As a chief executive officer in one of the world’s most exciting and rapidly changing economies, India, one is faced with a multitude of challenges. With other economies slowing down, an exponential rate of technological progress and a shifting culture in a post-pandemic business environment, it is imperative to remain ahead of the curve.

The table at a typical board meeting in India in not something that exercises one’s imagination. Its members are usually male and well above a certain age. A 2020 study of the board composition of Nifty 500 companies over a period of three years found that the average age of directors was 64, with 40.6 being the average of the youngest board.

As per the same study, women comprised 17% of all directors, and only nine companies had board members below the age of 30. This, however, stands out starkly in a country whose demographic profile is young. Between 2019 and 2021, the median age of Indian citizens was estimated at 27.3 years.

Considering that our young population represents the future of India, this data requires us to relook at the structure of our organizations and ask an important question: Are we out of touch? As spoken about in the corporate context, boardroom ‘diversity’ often refers to a wide representation in terms of gender, work experience and geographical background. However, age is a factor that is often left unaddressed. This creates a significant delta gap on perspectives and insights vis-a-vis a generation that is rapidly evolving and differs significantly by way of values, attitudes and behaviours.